WOMEN'S T-SHIRT REBELIA

You’ve probably heard the claim that Ukraine’s Independence in 1991 came “without blood”? Without a fight, without sacrifice — almost “for free”? Maybe it’s time to dispel this myth finally.

For a free Ukraine, millions laid down their lives long before 1991. Generations of them. In Cossack coats, hetman hats, and UPA uniforms. For centuries. Each new generation carried the dream of freedom through revolutions, wars, terror, repression, and genocide.

In every era, some fought in their own way: from the Notebook in the Bootleg — to the bayonets at Kruty, from Cossack raids on the Ottoman Empire — to the student tents of the Granite Revolution.

This is the Rebellion of our generations. And it continues.

Together with MUR, we created a limited series of T-shirts dedicated to this Rebellion. It’s about never letting anyone lull our memory, numb our anger, or dissolve the truth. History is knowledge, and knowledge is a weapon. Arm yourself!

At the heart of this T-shirt is a quote from Vasyl Symonenko’s poem “To My Kurdish Brother.” This allegorical piece first appeared posthumously in the German journal Suchasnist and circulated in samizdat until 1965. The Soviet regime exiled those who spread it — often replacing the word “Kurd” with “Ukrainian.”

The poem became a cornerstone of Symonenko’s legacy as a defender of oppressed nations. During his lifetime, he warned: Ukrainians would face the same fate as the Kurds if they did not resist Soviet rule. He clearly revealed the language of the enemy, the narratives they spread, and left us a prophetic call:

“Speak to them with bullets.
They came not only to your land.
They came to steal your name, your language.
To make your son a bastard.”

This is our Rebellion.