Baltic States – CIS, Financial Services, Forum, Lithuania, Ukraine

The auction is organised in cooperation with Member of Parliament Remigijus Simasius, pianist Grazina Rucyte-Landsbergiene and Vilnius City Municipality. Donations will be extended to support the Ukrainian Armed Forces and Ukrainian volunteers.

According to Jonas Ohman, one of the directors of the film the Invisible Front about Lithuania's resistance against the Soviet occupation, the contribution of Lithuanian public figures in Ukraine's fight for freedom is unquestionable and invaluable. This is acknowledged both by Lithuanian politicians and the Ukrainian government.

The invitation by the group Blue/Yellow to participate in the auction was answered by 54 artists from Lithuania, Ukraine, Sweden and Germany.

"Speaking about the events in Ukraine we are in the stage of testing our patience and resolve. We must acknowledge that people in eastern Ukraine are fighting for our independence too. Each of us should honestly answer the question if we have done anything at all to help them," said liberal MP Simasius.

Nearly 80 works of art were submitted for the auction. These include paintings, sculptures, textile and jewellery items. Since summer, the international support group Blue/Yellow has provided aid to Ukraine worth LTL 200,000 (EUR 58,000).

On Monday, a charity concert Selsta ir Gaudzia Dniepras Platusis will be held in the Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania in Vilnius. The concert will mark the beginning of the long-term support campaign for Ukrainians who have suffered in the war.

The donated funds will be used to purchase prosthetic limbs for the injured Ukrainians.

According to the organiser of the campaign Gintaras Kamsiukas, the project will continue for at least a year and may expand to other countries with large Lithuanian and Ukrainian communities, the United States, Canada, Israel, Great Britain, Norway and elsewhere.

The organiser says the campaign differs from others because the collected funds will not be transferred abroad but instead will be used to purchase prosthetic devices for the injured Ukrainian civilians and soldiers who will arrive to Lithuania for short rehabilitation. Patients of Dnipropetrovsk Hospital will travel to Lithuania because of the well-developed relations.

At the concert Ukrainian songs based on poems of Vasyl Stus will be performed by the Telniuk Sisters, guitar player Robert Semeniuk, ensemble Blezdinga, Lithuanian Armed Forces' and Air Force orchestras as well as other artists. The event will be broadcast live by the Lithuanian national television LRT and Ukrainian television channels.

The project has been inspired by Veronika Povilioniene, while the main organiser is association Ars Libera. The patron of the event is President Dalia Grybauskaite.