The legendary Ukrainian band TNMK, with the support of East Europe Foundation and the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, released a song and a video called “Watch Where You’re Going!”
Fascinating, catchy, cool rhythmic beats touching upon serious content were created by TNMK primarily for children in order to tell them about vitally important things in a way that is both fun and educational. In the process of the video creation, the message changed, and it was adapted for all ages.
“Watch Where You’re Going!” is a slogan for all Ukrainians, both in recently de-occupied territories as well as in relatively safe regions of the country.
Landmines and booby traps, grenades and unexploded shells pose a huge deadly threat. Ukraine today has become the world’s largest minefield.
“For Ukraine, one of the major problems is contamination of our territory with explosive ordnance. From day one of the war, Russian troops have been mining our cities and villages with thousands of tons of deadly iron. 174 thousand square kilometers, which is 30% of the total area of the state, are potentially mine contaminated and need to be cleared,” says the representative of the State Emergency Service. “The priority for the State Emergency Service, in addition to demining, is to raise awareness of Ukrainians about landmine safety and what to do when unexploded munitions are detected.”
Ukrainians can learn about landmine hazards from news or information materials, yet it is important to remind them about safety precautions on a daily basis. Besides, children require a special approach. Thanks to the creative talent of TNMK musicians, we managed to develop a special outreach technique for children. Lyrics of the song “Watch Where You’re Going!” are easy to remember. You listen to this song once, and then the melody starts spinning in your head, while your legs tap out the rhythm and you just begin singing memorable rhymes. The more often Ukrainians repeat the landmine safety rules – even in the format of a song – the better.
“We, at East Europe Foundation, always focus on the most important societal concerns. Therefore, last year, we started working on landmine safety,” says Victor Liakh, President of East Europe Foundation. “Our objective is to raise awareness of as many Ukrainians as possible about this vitally important area of knowledge. We are very happy that our partners – both the State Emergency Service and TNMK – supported this initiative. We hope that both the song and the video will be appreciated by millions.”
A bright addition to the music track “Watch Where You’re Going!” is an animated video in anime style. Expressive characters, vivid effects, understandable symbols and meanings – this is a real cartoon film created by a talented Ukrainian illustrator and comics artist Olexander Koreshkov.
The song’s lyrics by Fozzy (Olexander Sydorenko) are striking phrases that get right into the minds and hearts of listeners and readers; ultimately, Fozzy is also the author of many books. The song’s text is clear to everyone, the importance of landmine safety is duly emphasized.
The music was created by Fahot (Oleg Mykhailiuta), the author and sound producer of most TNMK blockbusters.
The premiere of the song and the video “Watch Where You’re Going!” took place on January 13, 2023, at UNIT City Innovation Park in Kyiv.
We believe that Ukrainians of all ages should learn about landmine safety.
The song and video were created by TNMK with the support of East Europe Foundation in cooperation with the State Emergency Service, within two Programs – “Watch Your Step!” Program funded by DanChurchAid, and the “Spilnodia” Program funded by the European Union.
Link to the video clip. Listen to the song on streams.