Author Zhadan joins Ukraine's National Guard

Ukrainian writer, poet, and musician Serhiy Zhadan confirmed on June 6 that he had joined Ukraine's National Guard's "Charter" brigade.

Zhadan expressed willingness to join the "Charter" in March, saying, "There are no writers or non-writers, musicians or non-musicians – there are citizens of Ukraine who feel responsible for their country."

"I joined the 13th Brigade of the National Guard 'Charter.' I am undergoing training. I serve Ukrainian people," Zhadan wrote on Facebook, adding a photo of him from the training.

Zhadan is also a translator and frontman of the bands "Mannerheim Line" and "Zhadan and the Dogs."

The Committee of Literary Studies of the Polish Academy of Sciences nominated him for the Nobel Prize in Literature in 2022. The same year, he won the Peace Prize in the German Book Trade.

Zhadan previously worked as a volunteer, helping to transfer aid to the Ukrainian military. He also actively participated in and supported Ukraine's Orange and EuroMaidan revolutions in 2004 and 2013-14, respectively.

Before joining the National Guard, Zhadan held one of the biggest poetry evenings in Ukraine on May 25, gathering nearly 4,000 people in Kyiv's Palace of Sports. He presented his collection of about 700 poems, "All the poems," written over 30 years, from 1993 to 2023.

Zhadan said that all the proceeds from the event would be donated to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, in particular, to the "Charter."

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The Kyiv IndependentAlexander Query