"Another bombing of a hospital in Kharkiv", "More fighting in the border area", "Largest drone attack on Ukraine since the start of the war". And then you see a Ukrainian boy on TV. With a petrified expression and a sad look on his face, he stands in front of the remains of his house. The camera pans and shows rockets that are simply stuck in the ground. They have not fulfilled their deadly mission, they have not gone off. Anyone who thinks this is an appeal for donations for Ukraine is mistaken. It is a music video.
Odessa, early 2023: A man in a baseball cap is loading the last of the relief supplies onto the back of a truck. "Food, flares, water purifiers... Where are the chainsaws, Igor?" Ty Arnold is under stress. He wants to get the goods to a small village near Kherson as quickly as possible. The residents of Novohryhorivka need the relief supplies as quickly as possible after a bomb attack. The journey there is a challenge for the nerves. After all, new attacks are possible at any time. When they finally arrive, the team is confronted with a scene of destruction. The village had almost been razed to the ground by the attacks. The whole place seemed deserted and almost eerily silent. Except for this one boy. The teenager wanders alone through the ruins of his village. Arnold reaches for his camera. Little did he know that these pictures would be seen by more than seven million people.
The US band Imagine Dragons gave the horror of war a face with "Crushed". The musicians from Las Vegas, Nevada are very successful with hits such as "Believer", "Radioactive" and "Enemy". What is less well known is that they actively support the aid organization of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. In July 2022, they officially became ambassadors for his charity project United24. When your friend Ty Arnold was in Ukraine on an aid project, you asked him to make a music video. One that shows the cruelty and effects of war in the best possible way.
Video shoot backwards: first the material, then the request.
Arnold was almost on his way home again when he heard about the assignment. "I was just about to leave Ukraine. During my trip, I was just filming to film things. I didn't have any footage that was intended for a music video," Arnold explains in a Zoom interview. Looking through his footage, he stumbles across the scenes he filmed with the then 14-year-old. Sashko, who lived with his mother in one of the destroyed houses, had shown Arnold the village and the surrounding area. A dangerous undertaking. "You had to be very careful where you stepped because there were still mines that hadn't exploded. There were also unexploded small cluster bombs on the ground."
The cameraman followed the introverted boy wherever he went. He assumed that Sashko knew the area well enough to recognize potential dangers. This trust paid off. Arnold saw chaos, destruction and hopelessness in the boy's eyes. And he was able to capture it all on film. After reviewing his footage, the filmmaker was certain that he would be able to create a suitable music video with this material. But first he had to go back to inform Sashko and his mother about the project.
Will Sashko and his mother agree?
Igor Shcherbyna, Arnold's friend, acted as interpreter when the cameraman tried to explain the plans to the two Ukrainians. "And I explained to them that it was fine if they didn't want to do it. But they had to understand that this is a really big band and a lot of people are going to see it," says Arnold. After his explanations, they both agreed to the music video. For the introverted boy, this acceptance was a big leap over his shadow. But he saw it as his contribution to supporting his homeland.
They wanted the world to see what had happened to their village. Mother and son had been through terrible things during the attack a few weeks earlier. "They had to hide underground in a bunker while the Russians were practically on top of them. Sashko had shown me the small cellar where they held out. They hid there with a few other neighbors for almost a month until they were able to escape. But they all survived," says Arnold, describing the situation.
Effects of the video
When the music video for "Crushed" was released on May 10, 2023, it made big waves. In addition to the world press, the Ukrainian media were naturally extremely interested in the video. "I don't know if they realized how big it would be. Everyone saw Sashko on the news," Arnold summarizes. He himself was of course also of interest - and not just to the media. The cameraman was with soldiers on the eastern front when he received a message from United24. He was told to come back to Kiev as soon as possible, as some people wanted to talk to him.
He had no idea that one of them was Ukrainian President Zelenskyy. "I hadn't expected that. Not at all. I'm an introverted person, I like being behind the camera. It was a shock for me that President Zelenskyy wanted to meet me," Arnold says in the video chat, still a little stunned. "He listened to our stories. He was just friendly, such an open, nice person." He has since met the head of state again. The second encounter was at a special United24 presentation together with the main actor of the video, Sashko.
Surprise!
In a way, the story of Sashko and his mother has a happy ending. United24 and the "Aurora" store chain have rolled up their sleeves and rebuilt the house that was destroyed by rockets ! When asked, the teenager and his mother had emphasized that they wanted to stay in the village. Their new home was therefore rebuilt on the site of the original house. Arnold, who got the ball rolling with his film footage, had the honor of handing over the keys.
Imagine Dragons in a video chat handing over the keys to Sashko (December 2023):
"Hey, Sascha! This is Imagine Dragons. We are incredibly proud of you. You've inspired us, you've inspired thousands of people around the world. Thanks to all the great donors who made this possible. And most of all, Sascha, welcome home."
Even long after the end of filming, Arnold has not lost sight of the boy. "I contact Sascha every now and then. They're still doing well, the house is still there. The good thing is that the village is in a relatively safe situation at the moment. There's no reason for the Russians to bomb it as there's really nothing of interest there. So the house is safe and, more importantly, Sashko and his mother are safe."
But the video shoot has not only changed life for Sashko. "I've been back there many times since the music video and have founded a charitable organization. We look for families who live near the front line. If they are trapped there and have no financial means, we buy a house for them in the safety of western Ukraine and then take them there. It is the most beautiful and satisfying experience to help these families. Families like Sashko's."
If you would like to support Ty Arnold's organization:
For more information and donations for United24:
References:
Interview with the cameraman of the music video Ty Arnold on May 21, 2025 (Zoom Videochat)
Information from United24
Quote from the band Imagine Dragons
Photocredits: Ty Arnold
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