Themes by tag: culture
The Grandma’s Hares project was launched four years ago by the Nasha Peremoga (Our Victory) Charitable Fund, which supports the elderly. This initiative aims to foster intergenerational communication by having participants, aged 60 and older, create hares from socks following a specific pattern. These soft toys are given to children in stressful situations, those who have suffered violence, or witnessed traumatic events. Police officers use these comforting toys to establish contact with or calm the children. For instance, the first doll hare was given to a young child who got lost and was found by the juvenile police.
Since the outbreak of the full-blown war, these toy hares have aided police officers in working with children affected by the warfare, including those who have lost parents or endured occupation. They are also distributed to children in shelters and hospitals. Additionally, hares in reflective vests have been used to teach preschoolers about traffic rules. During the winter blackouts, they provided comfort at the Points of Invincibility.
In May 2023, the elderly women crafted a special batch of brightly colored hares at the request of the White Angel unit of the National Police of Ukraine, which is responsible for evacuating children from the war zone.
Since the project’s inception, volunteer craftswomen from Kyiv, Khmelnytskyi, Lutsk, Ternopil, Mykolaiv, and Kharkiv regions have produced over 1,300 handmade doll hares, which have been distributed to the police. These toys are now used by Ukraine’s Juvenile Police across 20 regions and by the White Angel evacuation teams.
Journalists can arrange interviews with the project participants and organizers in Kyiv or other cities, and online communication is also available.
For reference: The practice of distributing Trauma Teddies to police is common in the USA, Canada, the UK, Australia, the Netherlands, and Germany.
On May 25, as Ukraine’s capital celebrates the Day of Kyiv, an open cultural and educational gathering for children and parents “Nytochka” (The Little Thread) will take place. The event will feature a conversation on culture in times of war, along with a music and dance workshop led by the folk band ShchukaRyba and the Voices of Children charity foundation.
Over the past six months, the Voices of Children Foundation and ShchukaRyba have met with teenagers in frontline cities, including Kryvyi Rih, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Zaporizhia, Chernihiv, and Dnipro. A planned session in Sumy was canceled due to a russian ballistic missile strike just hours before it was set to begin. The Kyiv event will mark the final stop in the series.
Singer and poet Maryna Krut, the Ivan Honchar Museum, the Patron Pets Center, and other partners will also take part in the “Nytochka” gathering.
During the event, the Voices of Children team will share information about psychological and psychosocial support available to families and children affected by the war, and help those in need access professional assistance.
For reference: The series of cultural and educational meetings with ShchukaRyba is part of the art laboratories launched by the Voices of Children Foundation. The project helps teenagers process the trauma of war through creativity, rebuilding their confidence and sense of trust in the world.
A reminder: International Children’s Day is observed globally on June 1.
The Polish Legion is inviting journalists to attend the upcoming award ceremony honoring the Polish-Ukrainian Brotherhood of Arms, scheduled to take place in Kyiv on May 22.
The event will also include an exhibition commemorating Polish nationals who have fallen in the ongoing russia-Ukraine war.
Among the guests are military personnel, veterans, volunteers, family members of fallen soldiers, representatives of Polish organizations, public figures, and politicians. All are united by a shared commitment to Polish-Ukrainian cooperation, including support for the Intermarium concept.
Media accreditation is required to attend the ceremony.
For reference: The Polish Legion is a volunteer military formation that supports Ukraine through both direct engagement on the battlefield and by providing military equipment, food, and other critical supplies to frontline troops.
Artist Yaroslava Yatsuba and schoolboy Mark Ivanchenko began collaborating at the onset of russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. At just 13 years old, Mark created his first animation based on one of Yaroslava’s drawings. He brought to life a piece titled What a Moonlit Night, depicting Ukrainians destroying enemy tanks under the glow of the moon. Since then, the artist and the young animator have continued working together.
Yaroslava paints nearly every day, drawing inspiration for her artwork from current news events. Mark transforms her illustrations into animations.
Yaroslava later raffles off these “living pictures” to raise donations and showcases them at international exhibitions. The pair now focuses solely on producing animations for Ukrainian military training camps. Mark’s most recent works have supported fundraising campaigns for the Come Back Alive and Azov charities.
The animation team is available for online or in-person interviews by prior arrangement.
Oleksandr Kunhurov voluntarily joined the Ukrainian military in 2015. Since then, he has served on the Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, and Zaporizhzhia fronts.
In July 2023, he sustained a severe injury and had to wear a tourniquet on his leg for over nine hours, which ultimately led to amputation. His rehabilitation lasted one and a half years. Unable to access a prosthetic for his above-the-knee amputation in Ukraine, Kunhurov traveled to the United States for specialized care funded by donors.
After becoming proficient with his prosthetic, Oleksandr took up dancing and learned the rumba, tango, and waltz. In February 2025, he became a model at Ukrainian Fashion Week.
Oleksandr has since returned to military service. He also fundraises for prosthetics for wounded soldiers and civilians, and plans to train as a psychologist to support veterans.
Journalists may interview Oleksandr Kunhurov online or in person by prior arrangement.
The Georgiy Gongadze Prize will host a public discussion featuring the three finalists for the 2025 award: Ivan Liubysh-Kirdei, Olha Rudenko, and Mykhailo Tkach. Titled “In the Spotlight of Truth,” the event will take place on May 19 at Media Center Ukraine in Kyiv.
Attendees will engage in a wide-ranging dialogue with the nominees, with an opportunity to ask questions and share personal reflections. The conversation will be moderated by writer and human rights advocate Larysa Denysenko.
Ivan Liubysh-Kirdei is a photographer and war correspondent for Reuters. While on assignment in Kramatorsk in August 2024, he was wounded in a russian artillery attack, spent several months in a coma, and is currently undergoing rehabilitation.
Olha Rudenko is the editor-in-chief and co-founder of The Kyiv Independent, a leading English-language publication about Ukraine. The publication was launched in 2021 by 30 of the 50 staff members dismissed from the editorial team of the Kyiv Post. Rudenko was also a finalist for the 2024 Gongadze Prize.
Mykhailo Tkach is an investigative journalist who has headed Ukrainska Pravda’s investigative department since 2021. During this time, he has published dozens of high-profile reports exposing corruption and abuse of power, increasing government transparency and accountability, and driving positive change in Ukraine.
Event registration is required to attend.
Background: The event is organized with the support of Media Center Ukraine.
The winner of the 2025 Gongadze Prize will be announced on May 21 during the award’s seventh annual ceremony.
Yevhen is originally from Mariupol. He began serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine in 2014 when russia first attacked Ukraine. He was carrying out combat missions near the village of Pisky in Donetsk oblast when the full-scale invasion began. At that time, Yevhen’s family was still in Mariupol. They only managed to escape russian encirclement in mid-April 2022.
The idea to start his own business came to Yevhen before the full-scale war began. However, he only began to implement it after his family found safety in the Kyiv oblast. Together with his sister and her husband, Yevhen applied for a grant from the Ukrainian Veteran Fund and received financial support to open a café.
Their family-run burger café, “Domakha,” now welcomes guests in Hostomel, Kyiv oblast. The name “Domakha” refers to an old term for the region where Mariupol, now temporarily occupied, is located. Yevhen envisions the café as more than just a place to enjoy good food; he also wants it to be a hub where veterans can gather, host charity events, and hold workshops.
Yevhen is currently in the Chernihiv oblast. You can communicate with him online or offline by prior arrangement.
Anatolii Levchenko is a theater professional from Mariupol who, in 2015, spearheaded a new chapter in the city’s cultural life by launching contemporary Ukrainian productions at a theater once designated as “russian.”
He and his wife, Hanna, were caregivers for their nonverbal autistic son and Hanna’s 90-year-old mother. Because of these responsibilities, the Levchenkos were unable to evacuate Mariupol quickly after the russian invasion began. They managed to leave only in May 2022. But just one day before their departure, Anatolii was detained by russian forces, following a denunciation from former colleagues in the theater who had aligned themselves with the occupying authorities.
At first, Hanna had no idea where her husband had been taken. She later learned that he had been accused of extremism and transferred to russian-occupied Donetsk. For more than 10 months, she sent him clothing, medication, and letters to the detention center. Occasionally, Anatolii was allowed to call her late at night. During this time, Hanna managed life on her own, caring for their son, sourcing food and water, and cooking over an open fire alongside neighbors.
On March 9, 2023, she received a phone call: Anatolii was being released. His health had significantly deteriorated after nearly a year in detention. That summer, the family reached Ukrainian-controlled territory, first relocating to Kropyvnytskyi. A year later, they moved to Kyiv. Today, Anatolii has resumed his work in theater.
He is available for conversations both online and in person in the capital, with prior arrangement.
For reference: The defense of Mariupol lasted 86 days. On May 20, 2022, the city fell under russian occupation. According to Human Rights Watch, at least 8,000 civilians were killed during the siege. Thousands more were injured, many lost limbs, vision, hearing, or memory, often due to blast-related head trauma. Of Mariupol’s pre-war population of 540,000, approximately 400,000 had fled by mid-May 2022.
A new initiative, Heroes Glory Golf, has launched in the Kyiv region, providing free golf training for Ukrainian military veterans. Tailored for those with combat experience, the program offers:
– golf instruction;
– participation in tournaments and competitions;
– outdoor recreation in a nature reserve;
– peer support and new connections within the veteran community.
The program aims to help veterans transition to civilian life through physical activity, skill-building, and a sense of community. Participation is entirely free of charge.
Eight women veterans have already enrolled, and recruitment for additional teams remains open.
Journalists may attend training sessions near Kyiv by prior arrangement.
Background: Heroes Glory Golf is organized by Heroes Glory, a veteran service organization, and is supported by the DTCare Foundation and the Women Veterans Movement.
On May 13 the War Museum will host a meeting of the discussion platform “Our Victory: Ukraine in the Second World War” and presentation of the popular scientific publication “Ukraine in the Second World War. War Calendar” as part of the Museum’s “Our Victory” campaign dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe and the victory over Nazism.
Speakers of the platform:
- Volodymyr Viatrovych, Candidate of Historical Sciences, politician, public figure, People’s Deputy of Ukraine of the IX convocation, 2nd Head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory;
- Yaroslav Hrytsak, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor of the Ukrainian Catholic University;
- Oleksandr Lysenko, Corresponding Member of the NAS of Ukraine, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor at the Institute of History of Ukraine of the NAS of Ukraine;
- Ivan Patryliak, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, Dean of the Faculty of History at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv;
- Olena Stiazhkina, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor at the Institute of Ukrainian History of the NAS of Ukraine.
Participants:
- Oleksandr Alfiorov, Candidate of Historical Sciences, historian, radio host, public and political activist, research fellow at the Institute of Ukrainian History, NAS of Ukraine;
- Akim Halimov, founder of the “Real History” project, producer at 1+1 Media;
- Anton Drobovych, Candidate of Philosophical Sciences, public and state figure, expert in communication, education and culture, 3rd Head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory.
- Oleksandr Zinchenko, historian, publicist, journalist, TV presenter, co-founder of the online publication “Istorychna Pravda”;
- Vladlen Maraiev, candidate of historical sciences, co-author of the YouTube channel “History without myths”;
- Vitalii Nakhmanovych, historian, ethnopolitical scientist, museum curator and public activist, leading researcher at the Kyiv History Museum.
Discussion topics: how Ukraine constructs the memory of the end of World War II; victory or defeat, occupation or liberation: World War II in Ukrainian public discourse; what changes have occurred in the concepts and practices of World War II commemoration in connection with russia’s current war against Ukraine.
Registration is required for the event.
