CONTEMPORARY

Jonas Öhman, Donbass Jazz (Donbaso džiazas), Vilnius: Alma littera, 2021, 349 pp.

Written in the catchy spoken register of a Swede based in Lithuania, this story is not only about present-day Ukraine, but also about Lithuania, both the contemporary one and the one from thirty two years ago when it was courageously aiming to set itself free from under the Soviet Union’s yoke. It is also about Latvia and Estonia but, most importantly, about Russia – of the past and the present – and its means of operating. Öhman admits that when “Russia suddenly occupied Crimea and invaded Eastern Ukraine, I realized that we, the Baltic States, would be next on the list.” Guided by this thought, he began to organize and transport humanitarian support to the Ukrainian soldiers in Donbass. All the stories, seen, heard, and experienced during these years, wind up in the pages of this book, which is a personal and societal narrative about a never-ending fight for freedom, inseparable from war, despair, and the fear of dying. At the same time, it is also a reflection on what hybrid war means in the 21st century and what role in it is played by… jazz.

Jonas Öhman – a Lithuania-based Swedish journalist, translator, documentary film-maker, and theologist. Head of “Blue/Yellow” – an NGO which has supported Ukrainian armed forces and civilians affected by war since 2014.