As the conflict in Ukraine stretches past four years, an ambitious new opera titled “The Mothers of Kherson” has arrived to focus international attention on one of the most painful legacies of the invasion: the separation of families. The production, a co-collaboration between Poland’s National Opera and the Metropolitan Opera in New York, premiered in Warsaw this week, with plans to reach stages in the United States by next spring. Playwright George Brant crafted the English-language work as a direct response to reports of Ukrainian women embarking on arduous, dangerous journeys into Russian territory to locate and retrieve their children. At a media pre-show, AFP saw opera singers filling an old bus on the stage of Warsaw’s Grand Theatre, with images of Soviet housing blocks behind it, telling the story of one of the most difficult topics of the war. Where it will be shown in New York next year, President Donald Trump’s recent statements have made many in Kyiv and Europe wonder what side of the war the White House is on, in the United States. According to in 2022, he had looked for the right angle for the opera and was soon inspired by news, About women braving hundreds of kilometres and Russian interrogations to get their children. Which fell to Russia in 2022 before being retaken by Kyiv, who wanted to bring their children home from Moscow-controlled Crimea, the opera is inspired by women from the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson. The opera has scenes including a children’s camp in Crimea and a performer’s portrayal of a mother recording a scathing video to Lvova-Belova on Telegram, with an ambitious set. A government group helping bring children back, it was produced in close association with Save Ukraine. And some Russian officials adopted Ukrainian children and gave them Russian identities, but Moscow has handed out Russian passports on a massive scale. “Beautiful music and drama magnifies this in a way a news cycle never could. Well done – I’m lost for words,” one user, Ivan Tykhenko, posted to Facebook.
The opera follows the stories of mothers from Kherson who navigated the treacherous path through Poland and Belarus into enemy-held regions.
The stage production utilizes imagery of Soviet-style architecture and scenes from children’s camps to emphasize the reality of the situation.
Composer Maxim Kolomiiets emphasized that the production aims for maximum realism, describing the work as a story about love and human resilience. According to the opera’s composer Maxim Kolomiiets, While not everything in the opera is exactly how it happened, “we tried to keep it maximally realistic.”. “It’s about people, about love,” he said, adding that seeing the play come alive has been “as a composer, as a person and as a Ukrainian, the best feeling.”.
Conductor Keri-Lynn Wilson, who established the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra at the start of the hostilities, noted that the project was developed with a sense of extreme urgency, arguing that art can capture public attention in ways that political rhetoric and sanctions have failed to achieve.
The context for this performance is grave, as the International Criminal Court currently seeks the arrest of Russian President Vladimir Putin and children’s rights commissioner Maria Lvova-Belova regarding allegations of war crimes, specifically the forcible transfer of children. Kyiv estimates that thousands of Ukrainian minors have been taken to Russia or occupied zones for what authorities describe as “re-education” and potential adoption. While Moscow denies these claims, characterizing the actions as safety measures, returning teenagers have provided accounts of forced indoctrination and identity erasure.
Brant, speaking shortly before the premiere, expressed hope that the opera will “re-awaken” Western concern for the conflict. The project was created in partnership with Save Ukraine, an organization dedicated to the repatriation of children. The production arrives at a sensitive moment in international diplomacy, as shifting political climates in the West have left many in Ukraine uncertain about the future of global support.
While the cultural sector addresses the human cost of the war, the reality in Kyiv remains defined by survival. The city is currently grappling with a surge in Russian aerial strikes that have impacted essential infrastructure, including schools, rail lines, and residential districts. Amidst near-constant air raid alerts, the city administration has begun installing concrete, tent-shaped shelters at public transport stops. Petrol stations, schools, rail and communications infrastructure and major bridges in the capital, round-the-clock attacks have hit residential areas.
The initial pilot shelter, intended to protect up to 10 people and accommodate wheelchair access, was installed this week. Kyiv plans to deploy 14 additional units, though the rollout has faced criticism from residents and lawmakers. Politician Yaroslav Yurchyshyn noted on social media that while the protection is welcomed, the necessity of installing such basic infrastructure in the fifth year of the war highlights the severity of the constant missile threats. For the people of Kyiv, the divide between the stage stories of the mothers and the daily threat of aerial bombardment serves as a stark reminder of the ongoing struggle. Kyiv, a city of three million people, plans to buy and install another 14 shelters, which provide seating for up to 10 people and space for a wheelchair, a statement read. According to ukrainian lawmaker Yaroslav Yurchyshyn, On social media that “the capital has been under attack from cruise missiles for three months, and now the people of Kyiv will have a chance to take cover.”.
