Three Ukrainian musicians working for an orchestra in South Korea have returned to their homeland to fight the Russian invasion, it has emerged. Contrabass player Ziuzkin Dmytro, 47, sent a picture of himself back in Ukraine , rifle in hand and dressed in military uniform, to his former colleagues on Tuesday, said Ha Sung-ho, conductor of the Seoul Pops Orchestra. His fellow musicians, violist Lev Keler, 51, and trumpet player Matviyenko Konstyantyn, 52, are also understood to have returned home to take up arms. “They have been working with us for many years as key members of my orchestra. It made my heart ache when I learned they had gone home to fight for their country even if they are not young”, Ha told This Week in Asia . “I was also deeply moved as these career musicians left their instruments to take up arms and risk their lives for their fatherland. This is what patriotism is all about”, he said. He added that the orchestra had been unable to pay its members for the past two years due to the coronavirus pandemic and this had left many of its musicians in dire financial situations. “I suspect Dmytro drew a bank loan to buy his plane ticket,” Ha added, saying the musician had asked for documents from the orchestra to take out the loan before taking his recent flight. “I am greatly worried about their safety, I just cross my fingers they come back healthy.” How do Myanmar’s flash mob protesters evade arrests? By acting ‘like an octopus’ Dmytro’s wife Natasha, 48, confirmed her husband had entered the war-torn Ukraine via Poland. “My husband went to Ukraine where a war is raging. He sent me a picture of him holding a rifle,” she told the Hankyoreh newspaper, choking back tears. Since the invasion South Korea has joined international sanctions and committed US$10 million in humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.