Watch: Sting performs Cold War-era “Russians” in plea to end war in Ukraine

Admitting he never thought it would be relevant again, Sting this weekend posted to Instagram video of himself performing his 1985 single “Russians,” a plea to stop the nuclear brinksmanship between the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War.

Sting introduced his new performance of the nearly 40-year-old song, backed by cellist Ramiro Belgardt, as a “plea for our common humanity” in the face of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “bloody and woefully misguided decision” to attack the people of Ukraine.

He says:

“I’ve only rarely sung this song in the many years since it was written, because I never thought it would be relevant again. But, in the light of one man’s bloody and woefully misguided decision to invade a peaceful, unthreatening neighbor, the song is, once again, a plea for our common humanity. For the brave Ukrainians fighting against this brutal tyranny and also the many Russians who are protesting this outrage despite the threat of arrest and imprisonment — we, all of us, love our children. Stop the war.”

See Sting’s performance below, as well as the original music video for the song, which was the fourth single released off the singer’s post-Police solo debut The Dream of the Blue Turtles.

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