Daria Kolomiec

On May 22, 1979, thousands gathered in Lviv to bid farewell to Volodymyr Ivasyuk, one of the most influential figures in modern Ukrainian music. Weeks earlier, the composer had disappeared under mysterious circumstances before being found dead in a forest near the city of Lviv, in what Soviet authorities declared a suicide. Yet for Ukrainians, Ivasyuk's death became inseparable from the broader machinery of Soviet repression aimed at silencing Ukrainian culture and identity. His funeral transf

Editor’s note: Daria Kolomiec is a Ukrainian cultural activist, producer, DJ, and author of the documentary project Diary of War. Since the summer of 2022, Daria has been volunteering in New York City, where she talks about and shows Ukrainian music and culture to Americans, raises money to support Ukraine and fights Russian propaganda. Time magazine included Daria in its list of Next Generation Leaders for her cultural work. Among other things, Daria brings documentary stories of Ukrainians in