In mid-May, Eurovision will be decided in Turin, Italy.

According to the betting agencies, the Ukrainian contribution has the lowest odds and is thus a favorite bet.

Just days after the Kalush Orchestra found out that they were going to represent Ukraine in Eurovision, the war started and all men between 18 and 60 were ordered to fight for their country.

Tribute to Ukrainian mothers

The Ukrainian band Kalush Orchestra competes with the song Stefania, which the singer Oleh Psiuk originally wrote as a tribute song to his mother.

Now it has become something of a national anthem and a tribute to all mothers in Ukraine.

Oleh Psiuk tells SVT Nyheter that the band was on its way back to Kyiv from a concert tour when the war broke out.

Now one of the band members has joined the military defense of the country while he himself has started a volunteer organization helping internally displaced people and who has also collected money for the army.

- What we hope for the most now is that the war will end.

Eurovision is very important for us but it is even more important that our friends and families get to live, says Oleh Psiuk to SVT.

He tells SVT that he does not want to be "a hero in a war movie" but hopes that the war can end.

He is now sending a message to everyone around the world:

- Even if individual citizens in Europe or in the world can not stop this, you can write about it on social media and protest loudly against it.

Go out and protest and appeal to NATO to close our airspace, so we do not get shot with robots every day and instead get help.

Now the band's Eurovision contribution is also used for propaganda purposes.

In a nationalist video full of images from the war and Ukrainian flags, urging the outside world to support the country, their song is heard in the background.

The winning entry withdrew

The band hopes that the war will be over in May so that they can compete in Turin.

The Kalush Orchestra did not win the Ukrainian selection for Eurovision but came second, but may represent its country after the winning entry was withdrawn after singer Alina Pash was accused of an illegal visit to the Crimean peninsula occupied by Russia.

At the same time, Russia has been thrown out of the competition after the invasion of Ukraine.