AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
Russia's full-scale war on Ukraine has disrupted the lives of Ukrainian children, but not their ambitions. Two brothers have gone viral for their heavy metal and grunge covers. NPR's Hanna Palamarenko met them in Kyiv and has this report.
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HANNA PALAMARENKO, BYLINE: In an improvised stage in a large room usually reserved for meetings, two pint-sized rock stars tune their electric guitars.
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DAVID: (Speaking Ukrainian).
PALAMARENKO: "We are rocker brothers," says David, who is 10 years old. David is on stage with his sibling, 12-year-old Sasha. They are playing their first solo concert in Kyiv. Sasha has a neat haircut and a restrained smile. David's wavy hair flops over his eyes as he tunes his bright green Fender replica.
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PALAMARENKO: They open with Ukraine's national anthem.
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PALAMARENKO: They are playing for severely wounded soldiers at a rehabilitation center. The wounded men are in wheelchairs, but insist on standing during the anthem. Others lean on crutches. One places his prosthetic hand over his heart. Many recognize Sasha and David, who are kind of famous in Ukraine. The brothers have an Instagram page where they upload videos of themselves performing songs by Ukrainian artists, as well as Metallica.
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PALAMARENKO: In this video from last year, they rocked out to "Master Of Puppets."
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PALAMARENKO: Metallica's official account re-posted the brothers' videos.
SASHA: (Speaking Ukrainian).
PALAMARENKO: Sasha says he and his brother played with plastic toy guitars when they were preschool age. Then they took music lessons.
DAVID: (Speaking Ukrainian).
PALAMARENKO: David says acoustic guitars may be lyrical, but electric guitars like theirs are for rockers. The mother of the two boys, Olha Podliashchuk, says her sons did not stop playing after Russia's full-scale invasion in early 2022.
OLHA PODLIASHCHUK: (Speaking Ukrainian).
PALAMARENKO: She says they took their guitars to a small basement, which the family used as a shelter. It became the brothers' rehearsal studio.
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PALAMARENKO: As wartime rockers, they believe they have a mission.
SASHA: (Speaking Ukrainian).
PALAMARENKO: "Our guitars," Sasha says, "are our weapons."
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UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #1: (Speaking Ukrainian).
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PALAMARENKO: The studio's walls are filled with flags signed by units and patches sent by brigades. One soldier even sent them a bass guitar. The brothers recently found out he went missing in eastern Ukraine.
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UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: (Speaking Ukrainian).
PALAMARENKO: Back at the concert, a soldier asks if he can sing alone during one of their songs.
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UNIDENTIFIED SOLDIER: (Singing in Ukrainian).
PALAMARENKO: It's a folk-metal song about war. The soldier's military call sign is Skripal, and he says he sang this song with his comrades during the darkest times. For the concert finale, Sasha and David play their first original composition. It's called "Light Up Your Sound."
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UNIDENTIFIED CHILD #2: (Speaking Ukrainian).
PALAMARENKO: "Even when it's dark all around," they sing, "my sound is like fire through the cold and fatigue. I will not give up. I'm playing on - playing on for fun and the morale of Ukrainians and the soldiers on the front lines."
Hanna Palamarenko, NPR News, Kyiv.
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SASHA AND DAVID: (Singing in Ukrainian). Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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