Ukrainian Eurovision winner Jamala has said she fled the country following Russia’s invasion while her “family, husband and friends” remain in a bomb shelter in Kyiv.
The singer, 38, who won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2016, has said the conflict in her native country is “really hard to understand because it’s insane.”
Appearing on BBC Breakfast live from Istanbul in Turkey, Jamala said: “My family, my husband, all my team, all my musical band, all my friends are in Kyiv in bomb shelters, that’s why unfortunately I don’t want to be rude but I can’t say that my morning is good because now it is a really hard time for my country, for (the) whole world.
“I think we have to realise it’s not war only against Ukrainian people, it is war against all European values, values that were built together after the Second World War.
“That’s why nowadays it’s really hard to understand because it’s insane, it’s nonsense.
“There are people dying, they don’t have any food, any water. Kids are dying.”
The musician, whose real name is Susana Jamaladinova, also said she will do everything in her power “every day, every minute” to help her country.
“Anywhere my voice can be heard, anywhere my voice can help my country, I will do everything in my power to spread the word about Putin’s bloody crime in Ukraine,” she said.
Jamala secured victory during the Eurovision contest in Sweden with her song 1944, about the forced deportation in Crimea during the reign of Joseph Stalin.
Speaking on BBC Breakfast, she added: “When I wrote this song 1944 I did not know history repeats itself.
“It was about my family, it was about my granny, it was about deportation in 1944. I thought I wrote this song about 1944 but nowadays it sounds so real and it’s horrible.”
