Shortly after Russia invaded Ukraine last February, Arnold Schwarzenegger posted a nine-minute video to “reach my dear Russian friends” and educate them on “terrible things you should know about.” The Austrian action-movie icon and former California governor relayed what his Nazi father had experienced during World War II as a cautionary tale. Predictably, Russian state TV did not like it. But, Schwarzenegger won’t be silenced as the war in Ukraine rages on.
Ukrainian rap group Kalush Orchestra shared the video for their single “Shchedryi Vechir” on Wednesday, January 11, and it begins with a voiceover from Schwarzenegger: “And that is a great message for all Ukrainian people, especially now in this very, very difficult time. That everyone can have a dream, and you can make this dream become a reality.”
Kalush Orchestra’s YouTube description of the video further contextualizes, “Yo, when we were in the US on tour, we shot a video for one of our songs. We didn’t even think that it would be such a cool video. We used to run through these streets in the game [Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas], and now we made our own interpretation of Shchedrivka there, + visited Arnold Schwarzenegger.”
The end of the video features a cameo from Schwarzenegger simply saying the song’s title, which translates to “Generous Evening.”
Kalush Orchestra has contributed significantly to their home country during this horrific time, according to their Instagram post from December 30.
The group summarized a “very productive” 2022, which included raising 60 million in Ukrainian hryvnia and spreading Ukrainian music across “half the world.”
Watch the “Shchedryi Vechir” video above.