In Kyiv’s Independence Square, the Kyiv-Classic Symphony Orchestra assembled before a small crowd to play the national anthem as Russian forces advanced on the city.

The orchestra also performed an excerpt from Beethoven’s Ode to Joy, on which the European Union’s anthem is based, in the Ukrainian capital on Wednesday.

Dozens of people gathered to watch, some waving Ukrainian flags. They applauded when the national anthem was finished and a woman cried out “To Ukraine!”

Conductor Herman Makarenko told reporters that the concert was a call for peace.

“We would like to support our president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who called, calls and will call to all governments of the world [to] stop the war in Ukraine.”

He said he managed to gather around 20 musicians for the performance, instead of the 65-70 who normally make up the ensemble.

Tens of thousands of people have left the capital as Russian forces are advancing from several directions, although heavy fighting on the outskirts has slowed their progress.

Kyiv has mostly been spared the heavy shelling that devastated parts of other urban centres including Kharkiv, Mariupol and Sumy, but Ukrainian forces are bolstering their defences in anticipation of a full assault.

Wednesday’s concert was held on the vast square where thousands of Ukrainian protesters set up a tent city in 2013 and 2014 to oppose then-President Viktor Yanukovich’s shock decision to suspend talks with the EU and revive ties with Moscow.