Ukrainian-born Eugene Hutz doesn’t mince his words when describing Russia’s war on his homeland.

“Moscow was always obsessed with Ukraine because Ukraine is the heart and soul of everything they always wanted to be. Their jealousy is just pathological.”

Having formed Gogol Bordello in the late 1990s, Hutz rose to prominence throughout the early 2000s, in part thanks to the band's exhilarating and raucous live performances.

Gogol Bordello will be playing at Aria Complex in San Ġwann on Tuesday, the second time the band have played in Malta, following a hugely successful concert in 2018. Proceeds from the concert will go to Nova Ukraine.

Their breakthrough third album Gypsy Punks: Underdog World Strike showcased their unique combination of punk rock and Eastern European gypsy music, borrowing equally from influences as disparate as The Clash, Fugazi and Taraf de Haïdouks, the legendary Romanian gypsy band.

Gogol Bordello playing in Malta in 2018. Photo: Martin Korelus

Speaking to Times of Malta from France, the latest leg of the band’s ongoing European tour, Hutz describes the band’s most recent album, Solidaritine, as a return to their roots.

“The times have been rough for several years, so the band’s baroqueness shed itself. The last record was very cut-to-the-chase, show the bare bones of awesome songs, get the catchy songs with a strong message to the people fast.”

Born in Soviet Ukraine to a mixed Ukrainian family, Hutz escaped the iron curtain in the late 1980s when he was still a teen, living in several refugee camps around Eastern Europe before eventually making his way to the USA.

Hutz’s career has taken many turns, including a brief stint as an actor starring alongside Elijah Wood in the film adaptation of Jonathan Safran Foer’s novel Everything is Illuminated. In the film, Hutz plays a Ukrainian tour guide helping a young American Jew rediscover his Ukrainian roots.

The concept of Ukrainian identity has long been key to Hutz’s music. He points to the band’s name as an example of this, a tribute to Ukrainian novelist Nikolai Gogol who he argues has been a victim of Russian cultural appropriation and misrepresented as a Russian writer.

“Naming the band Gogol Bordello was a deliberate act to reclaim Ukrainian identity, that’s why I didn’t call it Dostoevsky’s Bordello.

“Gogol championed Ukrainian identity at a time when it was forbidden. He is just one of the many people who represent that tradition. There are others like the philosopher Hryhoriy Skovoroda and great poets like Taras Shevchenko, Lesya Ukrainka and Ivan Franko.”

Nonetheless, Hutz’s focus on his Ukrainian roots became even more central the minute Russia attempted to invade Ukraine in February 2022.

Hutz immediately sprang into action, becoming one of the flagbearers of rock music’s pushback against the invasion.

Several charity singles followed, involving collaborators from bands such as Green Day, Fugazi, Dead Kennedys and Primus, as well as fundraising concerts with the likes of Patti Smith and visits to Ukraine to play shows for soldiers fighting on the war’s frontline.

Eugene Hutz has played several benefit concerts for soldiers on Ukraine's front line. Photo: Dima Taranenko

Hutz has also teamed up with several charities including Kind Deeds, which provides prosthetic limbs for Ukrainian soldiers injured in the fighting, and Nova Ukraine, which offers humanitarian relief for Ukrainian citizens.

Hutz reserves praise for his fellow musicians who have stuck their necks out to condemn the invasion, arguing that punk rock is leading the way. “Of course, punk rock musicians are the first ones because that’s just what punk rock is”.

He is less impressed by those who initially stood on the fence.

“Making statements about supporting Ukraine now that Ukraine is kicking ass is easy. Making statements to support Ukraine on the day that the war starts and everybody is wondering how you can fight against this gigantic Russian monster – that’s when it’s time to make that statement.”

One charity single released shortly after the invasion, titled “Zelensky: The Man With The Iron Balls”, makes his thoughts on the Ukrainian president clear.

“When Zelensky was offered the opportunity to leave the country he did not leave. He’s there now, he’s been there all along visiting the front line regularly, and he’s going to be a huge part of the victory,” he says.

“I was never opposed to the fact that he was an actor. Besides, his team is made of strong people like General (Valery) Zaluzhny, classic Ukrainian archetypal people who don’t fuck around.”

Hutz is bullish about what he describes as Russia’s attempt “to incorporate Ukraine into a subservient role”, arguing that “Ukraine never looked to the East as its guiding light, it always had a lot more in common with central Europe.

Pointing to Ukraine’s “tremendous perseverance”, which he describes as “the very fundamental quality which shapes Ukraine as a nation”, Hutz believes that Putin’s war is destined for failure.

“Do you think Russia is going to win? You’ve clearly never met one single Ukrainian, now watch what happens.”

For their Malta concert, Gogol Bordello will be supported by local stalwarts Brikkuni, whose iconic 2008 debut album Kuntrabanda wore Gogol Bordello’s influence squarely on its sleeve.

Tickets for the concert are available from showshappening.com.