Oleksandra Nazarova and Maksym Nikitin fled their Ukrainian hometown of Kharkiv—surviving days of bombing—to compete in the 2022 World Championships for ice skating. The song they chose: ‘1944’ by Jamala which is about killings and forced deportations of Crimean Tatars by Josef Stalin's regime in 1944. They, however, will not be competing in the rest of the tournament—and have announced their withdrawal. But this lovely performance is testament to the endurance of perseverance in the face of suffering.
