Vera Logdanidi

The night Russia invaded Ukraine, DJ Vera Logdanidi huddled in her apartment with her family and contemplated remaining in Kyiv. The family did not have a car, so their best option was a 10-hour night train to Lviv. “It was a slow road without lights. Our windows were covered. It was super creepy,” she says. Because women are not required to remain in the country for potential military service, Logdanidi, 33, was allowed to cross the border, so she spoke through Telegram from Budapest, Hungary. She recently posted on Instagram that she is “ready to travel” and work to help her family. She’s aiming for European gigs, but she struggles with the idea of dancing with fans in wealthy countries while her country is suffering. “It’s a psychological problem,” she says. “But I will do it because it’s necessary and I have to work.”