Themes by tag: culture

Before the outbreak of full-blown war, Liubov Popova thrived as a landscape designer in her hometown of Kharkiv. When war escalated, she relocated to central Ukraine with her child, later returning to her parents’ village of Koziivka in the Kharkiv region. It was there that childhood memories resurfaced, recalling her grandmother’s teachings on foraging herbs and homemade tea crafting.

Initially a pastime, her passion for herbalism soon blossomed into a lucrative endeavor. Today, enthusiasts eagerly await the teas she meticulously crafts, with demand extending beyond Ukraine’s borders. Beyond her herbal pursuits, Liubov actively engages in community development initiatives, organizing workshops for local children on creating tea bouquets.

Based in the Kharkiv region, Liubov Popova is available for media inquiries, both in-person and online.

• culture
• women
• Kharkiv

Artist Yaroslava Yatsuba and schoolboy Mark Ivanchenko met at the beginning of the full-scale invasion. Back then the 13-year-old boy created the first animation based on Yaroslava’s drawing. Mark animated a piece called “Moonlit Night,” in which Ukrainians destroy enemy tanks under the moonlight. Since then, the artist and the animator began to collaborate. Yaroslava draws almost every day, she finds ideas for her works in the news. And Mark turns her drawings into animations.

Yaroslava puts up her “Living Pictures” for a raffle in exchange for donations as well as presents them at international exhibitions. Animations also accompany fundraisers of many military personnel and have already helped raise more than UAH 250,000 to support the Defense Forces.

This year Mark’s animations took first place at the international “Children’s Film Festival,” and the boy donated the prize money to the fundraiser for the Azov Regiment. 

• children
• culture
• women

Before the full-scale invasion, Yevheniia Kim from Mykolaiv (a city in the south of Ukraine) was an icon painter. However, with the first explosions in February 2022, Yevheniia put down her brush and started volunteering. She even turned her workshop into a volunteer hub.

At first, Yevheniia evacuated women and children from Mykolaiv, and after the death of her friend, she joined the efforts to evacuate the wounded from the battlefield. Currently, the woman cooperates with the local Voluntary formation of the territorial community as a volunteer paramedic. Yevheniia does not receive a salary, however, she is able to go to the front line and return home at her own request. Yevheniia is not sure that she will be able to paint again after the Victory.

For reference: Yevheniia Kim is either in Mykolaiv or at the front line. The paramedic is ready to communicate with journalists, both online and in person, by prior arrangement.

• culture
• doctors
• volunteers
• women
• Mykolaiv

On July 11, the training began for guides, who will work at memorial sites of the russo-Ukrainian war in Kyiv region. Their goal is to train qualified specialists who will be able to provide meaningful, reliable information about the tragic events of the war in Kyiv region.

The courses will consist of online and offline classes, trainings, educational and methodological excursions and will culminate in thematic exams. The program is divided into theoretical and practical parts. The training will last 4 weeks.

At the first stage, the organizers selected 29 applicants, including representatives from tourism industry and museum institutions.

Journalists are welcome to cover the training process.

For reference: Guide training takes place within the framework of the project “Kyiv region. Memorial Sites” of the Kyiv Regional State Administration.

• culture
• occupation
• russian crimes
• Kyiv

Mykola Velychko from Khmelnytskyi had gotten interested in pottery even before the full-scale invasion. He had even planned to create a pottery residence next to his workshop. The website of the residence was supposed to be launched on February 24, 2022. However, the big war broke out and Mykola joined the army.

In the summer of 2023, the man returned to the workshop and decided to restore the residence project, but now he wants to turn it into a center for the military to recover after service. Mykola plans to produce and sell 10,000 small pots, and use the proceeds to equip the residence.

• culture
• military
• Khmelnytskyi

On July 5, media representatives are invited to the opening night of the inclusive and interactive theatrical performance for children with disabilities entitled “Symphony of Ukrainian Fairy Tales” performed by the Kyiv-Classic Symphony Orchestra under the direction of UNESCO Artist for Peace Herman Makarenko. The event will take place on the territory of Okhmatdyt National Specialized Children’s Hospital. Young patients of the hospital will take a direct part in the play.

In “Symphony of Ukrainian Fairy Tales” musical and theatrical art are combined using an interactive approach. The script is based on Ukrainian folklore. The performance will feature the works of Semen Hulak-Artemovsky, Mykola Lysenko, Levko Kolodub and Volodymyr Ptushkin, as well as Ukrainian folk melodies.

The program of the event includes: a briefing with the participation Volodymyr Zhovnir, General Director of the Okhmatdyt hospital, Herman Makarenko, Head of Kyiv-Classic Symphony Orchestra, Olena Anopriienko, Chief Psychologist of the Okhmatdyt hospital, Vadym Myroshnychenko, Director and Playwright, and Nataliia Miiedinova, actress and gamemaster; the performance; interaction with participants and spectators of the performance.

The event requires accreditation.

For reference: The project is supported by the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation.

• children
• culture
• Kyiv

Artur Sadykov, a modeler from Nikopol, a frontline city in the Dnipro region, has been dedicated to his craft for 10 years. His recent diorama, “Congratulations, Bakhmut,” which captures the destruction of Bakhmut in the Donetsk region during the full-scale Russian invasion, has gained significant attention. 

Creating the diorama took Artur 10 months, making it one of his most complex pieces. He employed various materials, including prefabricated models, 3D-printed models, plastic, cardboard, wood veneer, polymers, gypsum, polystyrene foam, decorative vegetation, glue, varnish, and acrylic paints.

Artur’s collection features other war-themed works such as DAP (Donetsk Airport) Cyborgs, Morning Starts Not With Coffee, Irpin, and By Fire and Sword. 

For security reasons, Artur is only available for interviews via text through social media.

• culture

On June 28, renowned Georgian singer and UNBROKEN Center ambassador Nino Katamadze will perform on the center’s terrace in Lviv. Her performance aims to support the Unbroken Defenders undergoing treatment, prosthetics, and rehabilitation.

For reference: The UNBROKEN National Rehabilitation Center provides comprehensive medical care to military personnel and civilians, including adults and children, who have lost limbs. Since the start of the full-scale invasion, over 15,000 wounded Ukrainians, including 2,000 children, have received treatment at the center. The facility specializes in reconstructive surgery, orthopedics, and prosthetics.

• casualties
• culture
• Lviv

Anna Gin, a journalist and writer hailing from Kharkiv, has embarked on a remarkable endeavor—creating one-of-a-kind jewelry using local flowers and minute fragments of rockets and bombs.

This initiative, dubbed “Flowers from Unbreakable,” was born unexpectedly. While leading foreign journalists through Northern Saltivka—an area deeply scarred by russia’s full-scale invasion—Anna was captivated by the resilience of poppies amidst the devastation. Despite the looming danger of sirens and explosions, she couldn’t resist gathering these blooms, determined to preserve their beauty. Turning to online resources, Anna learned the art of working with epoxy resin, transforming her floral finds into exquisite pieces of jewelry.

In a bold move, Anna also began incorporating small shards of enemy missiles—gathered during walks with her dog amidst the wreckage of the Epicenter home improvement store demolished by occupants’ hands—into her creations, ensuring every piece carries a profound story of survival.

Through three charity auctions, Anna has already channeled proceeds to support a hospital in Kharkiv. 

For further insights, journalists can engage with Anna Gin in Kharkiv or online.

• culture
• volunteers
• women
• Kharkiv

Before the full-scale invasion, the couple Viktoriia and Bohdan Popov ran their own workshop in Sloviansk, Donetsk Oblast, where they worked together with their parents. The family kneaded clay, molded products, fired, polished, decorated, and painted them. 

At the outbreak of the full-blown war, the front line had emerged right next to Sloviansk, and enemy shells began to destroy the city. In April 2022, the Popovs evacuated to western Ukraine, returning only nine months later. At that time, their workshop was damaged by russian shelling, and after another explosion nearby, it became unsafe to stay in the building, so the couple had to find a new place to work. 

Today, in addition to ceramics, Viktoriia and Bohdan paint tubes from hand-held anti-tank grenade launchers and shell casings used by the military. The couple auction off war items to support a friend who worked as a teacher before the invasion and now assembles FPV drones for the army. 

The Popovs are ready to talk to journalists, both in Sloviansk and online.

• casualties
• culture