Media Center Ukraine Producer Department

A free project management course in solar energy, launched by the Energy Act for Ukraine Foundation, has brought together 50 women from across the country at a pivotal moment for Ukraine’s recovery.

The group includes women who endured life under occupation, those who lost their homes to the war, and others who have made a deliberate decision to change careers to take part in rebuilding the country. Their paths differ, but their experiences speak to resilience, regional renewal, and the determination to move forward despite profound challenges.

Participants say they are ready to share their personal stories, professional ambitions, and plans to contribute to Ukraine’s reconstruction through green energy. They represent a wide range of professions, ages, and backgrounds, united by a common purpose: helping to rebuild Ukraine while advancing its transition to sustainable energy.

By prior arrangement, journalists will be able to speak with course participants in online interviews.

• women

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

Before russia’s full-scale invasion, a serviceman known by the call sign “Morok” worked as a tattoo artist. In the summer of 2022, he volunteered for the armed forces and was assigned to a rifle company as a grenadier. He saw combat in some of the war’s fiercest battles, including Bakhmut and Soledar, where he was wounded in 2023.

While undergoing medical treatment, Morok was reported by his commander as absent without official leave. As a result, he did not serve for the next year and a half. After completing his recovery, he returned to civilian life, resuming his work as a tattoo artist and volunteering.

During this period, Morok was invited to join Yasni Ochi (Clear Eyes), a drone unit within the 13th Khartiia Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine. He now serves as an operator of an unmanned ground vehicle, bringing his experience back to the battlefield in a new, technology-driven role.

Interviews with Morok can be arranged online or in person, subject to prior coordination with the brigade’s press officer.

• military

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

Markiian Krasno joined the Ukrainian army a year before russia’s full-scale invasion, a decision that would place him on the front lines from the earliest days of the war. On February 24, 2022, he and his unit defended the Kyiv region before rotating to positions along the border, where russian forces were pressing forward.

Away from combat, Krasno found an unexpected way to support his fellow soldiers – through food. In rare moments of downtime, he began cooking for his unit. When circumstances allow, he marks his comrades’ birthdays by baking cakes or roasting meat, turning makeshift kitchens into small spaces of normalcy amid the war.

In 2024, Krasno recorded and shared his first cooking video on social media. To his surprise, it quickly went viral, prompting him to continue documenting his culinary work from the front lines. He now runs a food-focused blog and is looking ahead to new ambitions, including launching a cooking show and publishing his own recipe book.

Interviews with Markiian Krasno can be arranged online or in person by prior agreement.

• food
• military

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

For the third consecutive year, soldiers undergoing treatment, prosthetic fitting, and rehabilitation at the UNBROKEN Center in Lviv are marking Christmas in the Ukrainian tradition – gathered around a shared table with traditional dishes, carols, and a nativity scene. This year, the nativity play has emerged as the central symbol of the holiday, blending the sacred and the everyday, pain and hope, history and the lived reality of war.

At UNBROKEN, the nativity scene is conceived as a fully developed theatrical production, carefully shaped with the audience’s traumatic experiences in mind. The production is directed by Igor Bilyts, chief director of the Maria Zankovetska Theater, who views the nativity scene as a distinctive form of folk theater in which the sacred naturally coexists with the mundane, and timeless archetypes remain recognizable across generations.

Among the performers is Mykhailo Fatieiev, a soldier with the 103rd Brigade of the Territorial Defense Forces who sustained a severe spinal injury on the front lines. During rehabilitation, Fatieiev has turned to writing plays, painting, and acting in stage productions, including Sam na Sam (“Alone with Myself”), a performance based on his own text.

Sharing the stage is Valentyn Oleksienko, a tank driver from the Kyiv region who survived a complete spinal cord injury. After months fighting for his life and nine months of daily rehabilitation, he appears in the production not in pursuit of a role, but for the experience of presence – a sense of support and shared rhythm. According to the director, this is where the strength of theatrical practice for veterans lies: the chance to simply be themselves, without the need to explain or prove anything.

This year’s Christmas dinner for veterans will be held on December 26. On December 27, the nativity scene will be performed on Lviv’s Rynok Square and will be open to the public.

Media representatives must be accredited to attend the event.

For reference: The Ukrainian nativity scene is among the country’s oldest and most intricate forms of folk theater. First mentioned in the 17th century, it was initially performed by members of the Kyiv and Lviv brotherhoods and students of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy. Over time, it evolved as a puppet theater, a live dramatic performance, and a Christmas ritual – all at once.

• culture
• Lviv

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