Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos pays tribute to “open and welcoming” people of Kyiv

nme.com:

Franz Ferdinand’s Alex Kapranos has paid tribute to the “open and welcoming” people of Kyiv in a new Instagram post.It comes after Ukraine severed diplomatic ties with Russia and declared martial law after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an attack on the neighbouring nation yesterday (February 24).Writing on Instagram, Kapranos paid tribute to Ukraine sharing a picture of the time he and his band visited Kyiv.He wrote: “This is Kyiv when we visited less than three and a half years ago.

I loved this city which had a sense of optimism in amongst the deep history. The people were welcoming, open and comfortable in their identity.

In some ways it reminded me of Berlin 25 years ago: a flower of opportunity unfurling in the spring sunlight.“To see missiles crashing onto its streets and the advance of tanks towards it fills me with incomprehensible horror and foreboding for what is to come and what will be destroyed.

The people. All those people on the streets, in the cafes, just going about their lives. All because of the paranoia and ego of one criminally insane man.”A post shared by Alex Kapranos (@alkapranos)Kapranos had previously wrote a lengthy post on social media condemning the invasion.“My heart goes out to the people of Ukraine and I unequivocally condemn the invasion by the Russian state,” he wrote.“I was fortunate enough to spend time in the beautiful cities of Kyiv and Odessa when I played there with our band.