Russia.Oleh Psiuk, Ihor Didenchu, Vlad Kurochka, Vitalii Duzhyk, Tymofii Muzychuk and Oleksandr Slobodianyk auctioned off the glass microphone they won with their performance of Stefania in Turin earlier this month.They raised a further $370,000 (£293,000) by raffling off the pink bucket hat frontman Oleh wore during the performance.The winning bid for the trophy was attributed to Whitebit, a cryptocurrency exchange, and came in the form of 500 Ethereum.Addressing the huge amount of money raised, the band wrote on Facebook: ‘You guys are amazing!‘We appreciate each and everyone of you who donated to this auction and a special thanks to the team Whitebit who purchased the trophy for $900,000 and are now the rightful owners of our trophy.’The money will go to a charitable fund which raises money for Ukrainian forces against the Russian army.Ukrainian TV presenter Serhiy Prytula, who hosted the auction, said there were 31,088 entries into the hat raffle, and that the winner was in the Czech Republic.Kalush Orchestra won the 2022 Eurovision Song Contest after a landslide in the public televote.According to those present at Eurovision, at the end of their performance Kalush asked the audience to help Ukraine and Mariupol amid the ongoing Russian invasion.The band had been granted special permission to leave Ukraine, where men aged 18 to 60 could be called up to fight and are not allowed to leave the country during the conflict.Speaking on a press conference live stream following their win, Oleh said: ‘I’m going back home as I run a volunteering organisation that helps refugees with food, accommodation, and medication.‘I will keep doing that.
