Media Center Ukraine Producer Department

Kyiv Military Hub, together with the Kyiv Hippodrome, holds horse riding classes twice a week for Ukrainian defenders and veterans.

Each session lasts 40 minutes — enough time to learn basic riding skills, enjoy the experience and simply recharge.

Equine-assisted therapy for veterans includes:

• physical impact, as the horse transmits rhythmic movement impulses to the rider, activating muscles and the vestibular system;
• psychological and emotional support, as interaction with animals — even without riding — helps reduce stress, alleviate depression and support emotional recovery.

By prior arrangement, journalists are welcome to attend and cover the classes held in Kyiv.

Background: Since the initiative was launched, more than 2,000 defenders, veterans and their family members have taken part in the classes.

• animals
• culture
• military
• Kyiv

If you are interested in this topic, you can obtain the subjects’ contacts from the Producer Department of Media Center Ukraine.

Building Ukraine Together (BUR) is launching a new season of BUR camps — volunteer construction camps held in cities and villages across Ukraine that engage young people from around the country in volunteer work.

This year’s BUR camps will take place in Kyiv, Sumy and the village of Byshiv in the Kyiv region. In Kyiv (May 23 — June 1), volunteers will work on renovating an annex attached to a residential building in one of the city’s districts that had long stood abandoned.

Work will focus on two premises within the annex to create the “Svitlychnykh Space” cultural center — a community-oriented venue aimed at strengthening local ties, expanding the district’s cultural infrastructure and preserving local history.

Background: Building Ukraine Together is a civic organization that creates opportunities for young people to drive change in Ukraine through volunteering.

• volunteers
• Kyiv

If you are interested in this topic, you can obtain the subjects’ contacts from the Producer Department of Media Center Ukraine.

On May 15, Kyiv’s War Museum will host a public discussion titled “Chingene in Crimean Tatar Lists — From Rescue to Deportation: Little-Known Stories of Crimea’s Roma.”

The discussion will focus on the dramatic history of the Chingene — Crimean Roma (literally translated from Crimean Tatar as “Gypsies”) who were partially assimilated with the Crimean Tatars, or Qirimli. The Chingene are considered guardians of the Crimean Tatar musical tradition.

During the Nazi occupation of Crimea and the genocide of the Roma, many Chingene identified themselves as Qirimli, while Crimean Tatars in turn tried to save them by including them on Crimean Tatar registration lists. After the soviet reoccupation of Crimea, those same lists were used on May 18, 1944, to deport the Chingene alongside Crimean Tatars to Central Asia, the Urals and Siberia.

After they were later allowed to return to their historical homeland, many Chingene came back to Ukraine together with Crimean Tatars and continued preserving Crimea’s musical traditions by performing at weddings and ethnic celebrations within the Qirimli community.

The discussion will explore the history of the Chingene, the origins of the parallel name “Daifa,” and the differences between Chingene and Krymy Roma communities. Speakers include Romani studies scholar Natalia Zinevych, ethnologist Oleksandr Rybalko and researcher of Romani culture and literature Yanush Panchenko. The discussion will be moderated by Roman Kabachii, a researcher at the War Museum.

• culture
• Kyiv

If you are interested in this topic, you can obtain the subjects’ contacts from the Producer Department of Media Center Ukraine.