A Sydney Band Became Very Popular in Ukraine During Wartime

Topic: War

Saturday, 1 Aug 2026, at 4:58 am

'Ninth intercepted, tenth, we can't keep up, eleventh, twelfth … another one.'

It's nighttime in Kyiv. An Australian band is in a hotel bomb shelter. They are counting the number of missiles intercepted.

It's not the first time they've gone underground that night. They try to sleep in the shelter.

Kyiv is having one of the largest ballistic missile attacks since the war started.

Band members are in a bomb shelter under their hotel in Kyiv.

The band, breathe., will play their biggest show ever if Russian missiles don't stop the Atlas music festival.

Breathe. is the only international band playing at the festival.

The band's Andrew Grant said, 'We've wanted to play in Ukraine for many years.'

Andrew Grant, Dylan Wright, and Sean Walker are interviewed by local media after arriving in Kyiv.

Breathe. is an electronic and soul band. Their music is on Netflix and other shows.

The band started uploading music online seven years ago. Millions of people listened, mostly from Ukraine, Moldova, and Türkiye.

Their song 'Are You All Good' has over 13 million streams on YouTube.

Breathe. is very popular in Ukraine. It's their number one audience on YouTube.

After Russia invaded Ukraine, the band got messages from fans living in a war zone.

A fan sent a video of himself playing piano at night with drone strikes in the background.

The main stage at the Atlas Festival in Kyiv is ready.

Some fans wrote about family members and friends being killed in the war. Others are fighting on the front line.

The band's music helps people feel safe during a time of fear.

A war-time music festival is happening in Ukraine.

Breathe. is at a press conference during the festival.

The festival's program director, Vlad Yaremchuk, doesn't understand how the band became popular in Ukraine.

Vlad Yaremchuk thinks it was luck that Ukrainians found the band's music online.

People were listening to a random playlist and discovered breathe..

The band was invited to play at the Atlas Festival in Ukraine.

Dylan Wright, the winner of Australian Idol, will go with the band to Kyiv.

Vlad Yaremchuk is with the Australian musicians at the festival.

Dylan Wright said yes to going to Ukraine.

The band felt a deep solidarity to make the concert happen.

Before the war, the festival had over half a million people attending.

The festival was cancelled, then relaunched as a three-day event.

The festival can evacuate everyone to a bomb shelter in minutes.

Thousands of people are at the main stage at the Atlas Festival.

The festival is now a fundraising event for the war effort.

There are stalls from military brigades with information about the war.

Some stalls are looking for recruits and have VR simulators.

A woman holds a replica anti-armour launcher at the festival.

The festival helps people decide to join the army and support the war effort.

NGOs are raising awareness about life in Ukraine during the war.

People can sit in wheelchairs to experience life with a disability.

The topic of disability is important in Ukraine.

People are invited to try sitting in wheelchairs at the festival.

Ukrainian cities need to become more accessible for people with disabilities.

There are stalls teaching first aid and how to tie a tourniquet.

The concept of war is difficult for other countries to understand.

A man is holding a replica weapon at the festival.

Breathe. is donating profits to the festival's fundraising initiatives.

The initiatives include a children's hospital and a music school.

Beats and bombs are a reality in Ukraine.

Dylan Wright performs with breathe. at the Atlas Festival.

After a night of bombing, the festival continues, and the crowd pours in.

Despite the tiredness and sleepless night, people are excited to see breathe..

Less than an hour before the band performs, air sirens wail.

The act before breathe. only got to play two songs before the festival was evacuated.

Breathe. performs at the Atlas Festival.

The band takes the stage as the crowd exits the bomb shelter.

The crowd sings along to breathe.'s lyrics after sharing a difficult night.

The enthusiastic crowd watches breathe. perform at the festival.

The band's music echoes through the mall, 'Are you all good? Are you alright?'

Music in Ukraine reflects the wartime reality and helps people cope.

Before leaving Kyiv, breathe. visits where the bombs were falling during their stay.

The band was emotional about what they saw, and it had a profound impact.

The band returns to safe Australia, while Ukrainians remain in the war zone.

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