Themes by tag: culture
The “Sports Ambassadors 3.0” project is an educational initiative designed for male and female veterans seeking opportunities for personal and professional advancement. The program officially launched in May.
Over the course of two months, participants will develop their leadership and communication skills, learn to design and implement social initiatives, engage effectively with local communities, and familiarize themselves with adaptive sports. The entire curriculum is guided by professional mentors and experts in project management, leadership, and physical rehabilitation.
During the practical phase of the training, participants will apply their newly acquired knowledge to develop individual projects tailored to their home communities. These projects will focus on social initiatives, adaptive sports, and supporting fellow veterans in transitioning back to civilian life.
Program Timeline:
- May–June: Online training modules and mentorship support;
- June: In-person training and practical workshops lasting up to 5 days.
Following the evaluation of the program, up to seven of the most promising projects will receive micro-grant funding from the Razom Fund.
Members of the press are welcome to cover the in-person training sessions taking place in June, subject to prior arrangement.
Reference: The “Sports Ambassadors 3.0” project is organized by the Center for Strategic Communications (StratCom Ukraine) in collaboration with Invictus Games Ukraine, with the generous support of the Razom Fund.
Five Ukrainian veterans with amputations and severe combat injuries will compete in the international Oceanman Lago d’Orta swimming event in Italy. On June 13 and 14, they will take on 2-kilometer and 5.5-kilometer open-water distances alongside participants from around the world, without a separate category or special conditions. An open-water training session will take place in Kyiv region on June 6.
The team’s preparation for the competition is led by Serhii Kostenko, founder and head coach of the K-TEAM Swimming Club and co-founder of the NGO Impossible Is Possible, which promotes adaptive and veteran sports in Ukraine. According to the coach, open-water swimming presents a completely different challenge from training in a pool.
The training program focuses on balance, stroke technique, breathing, navigation, and interaction with the water environment. In addition to physical preparation, psychological adaptation is a key component.
During training sessions, the veterans learn to work as a team, navigate using buoys, manage their energy, and cope with the stress factors typical of open-water competitions.
Journalists can attend and cover the open-water training session by prior arrangement.
Background: The IRON WARRIORS project is implemented by the YANKO Fund charitable foundation in partnership with IRON WARRIORS SPORT HUB and FlyPoint, which also serves as the project’s logistics partner.
A charity event dedicated to Journalists’ Day, titled “Stop the Bleed. Start the Party,” will take place in Kyiv on June 6. The event is organized by former U.S. military medic and philanthropist David Plaster.
The organizer invites journalists and members of the public to attend. Media professionals will be offered a free first-aid training course, followed by a charity party.
Advance registration is required.
The Museum of the History of Kyiv will host the opening of the exhibition “Your Favorite Dish,” created by the Memorial Memory Platform. The exhibition features mothers of fallen Ukrainian servicemen and servicewomen preparing their children’s favorite meals and sharing memories of them. The opening will take place on June 6.
“Your Favorite Dish” is a quiet exhibition about memory, which often begins not with grand words but with simple things: the smell of pancakes, salad, fried potatoes, pies and other dishes once prepared at home by the mothers of Ukrainian defenders.
The exhibition will present the stories behind the favorite dishes of Andrii “Juice” Pilshchykov, Oleksandr “Hrian” Hrianyk, Ruslan “Varyah” Piskovyi, Valentyna “Romashka” Pushych, Leonid “Lys” Dolhov, Vitalii “Okhotnik” Chernukha, Ihor “Slon” Utiuzh, Yehor “Izzi” Lubashev, Vitalii “Khirurh” Kharchuk and Stepan Chubenko.
Mothers of the fallen heroes will take part in the opening event.
In the exhibition space, curated by Anastasiia Haidukevych-Kachuro, visitors will be able to view photographs, video stories and recipes connected to the featured heroes, as well as leave their own memories of a loved one and that person’s favorite dish.
Admission is free with prior registration.
Background: The exhibition was created by the Memorial Memory Platform in partnership with the Museum of the History of Kyiv and with the support of the Partnership Fund for a Resilient Ukraine programme, funded by the governments of the United Kingdom, Estonia, Canada, Norway, Finland, Switzerland and Sweden.
The project “OMEGA: IN THE SKY, ON THE GROUND, IN(ON) THE WATER” will open in Kyiv on June 5. The exhibition was created by the team of the War Museum in cooperation with the Omega Special Purpose Center.
Omega is an elite special unit of the National Guard of Ukraine whose servicemembers carry out missions in the field of national security and defense. The unit was established in 2003 as a separate special-purpose brigade within the Interior Troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs to address threats to the state’s internal security and counter terrorism.
Today, Omega consists of eight detachments united under the motto “The Last Word Is Ours.” As part of Ukraine’s Defense Forces, they are helping repel russia’s armed aggression. It is one of the most combat-capable formations in the country, continuously improving its training, tactics and technical capabilities. Highly trained and versatile personnel — snipers, sappers, drone operators, combat divers, assault troops and reconnaissance specialists — operate at the limits of human endurance. In the sky, on the ground and on the water — three domains in which Omega operates with equal confidence and professionalism, remaining equally elusive and dangerous to the enemy.
The exhibition presents the history of Omega’s development, its special operations and participation in the largest battles of the russian-Ukrainian war, as well as unique artifacts and personal stories.
Musical accompaniment for the event will be provided by Ukrainian performer Okhtyrchanka.
Journalists are required to register in advance to attend the event.
The Go to the Future 2026 charity run will take place on June 7, bringing together participants in Kyiv and online from across Ukraine. The programme includes the Unity Relay featuring veterans with prosthetic limbs and public figures, 2 km and 5 km races, children’s runs of 400 m and 800 m, as well as a 1 km race for participants with dogs.
Among the participants in the Unity Relay is 25-year-old Ivan Artiukh from the Luhansk region, who underwent 15 surgeries and an amputation after sustaining a blast injury. Just three weeks later, he was already looking for ways to return to sports. Today, he has won four gold medals in para swimming at the international veterans competition Air Force and Marine Corps Trials 2026. In June, Ivan will take part in a race on a running prosthetic leg for the first time.
Hlib Kravchenko, known by the callsign “Holden,” is participating in the run for the second time and became the main character of the social video “Taking My Life Back,” a personal story about adapting after limb loss.
Medical Center Orthotics & Prosthetics is the general partner of the third annual Go to the Future charity run. The event is organized by the Future for Ukraine foundation in support of veterans who lost limbs in combat.
Journalists are required to obtain accreditation.
Background: The run is being held with the financial support of Norway and Sweden as part of the “Strong Civil Society of Ukraine” project.
Medical Center Orthotics & Prosthetics is a specialized prosthetics and orthotics center supporting patients from their first prosthesis to a full and active life.
A musical teleconference between Kyoto and Kyiv will take place on May 31 as part of Kyiv Day celebrations. Participants include:
- The Kyoto International Choir, an amateur choir from Kyoto, Japan. Twelve years ago, the choir visited Kyiv to mark the 40th anniversary of sister-city relations between Kyoto and Kyiv. Since then, it has continued cultural exchanges with Ukraine.
- Derevychka, a women’s folk ensemble performing traditional Ukrainian songs from different regions of the country.
- Kyivska Koliada, a community that since 2018 has preserved and practiced traditional Christmas folk celebrations in the context of a modern metropolis.
During the teleconference, Kyivska Koliada and Derevychka will perform Ukrainian folk songs for the Japanese audience, as well as the Japanese song “Miagete Goran Yoru no Hoshi wo” (“Look Up at the Stars in the Night Sky”). The Kyoto choir will perform songs in both Ukrainian and Japanese.
Background: The event is organized in partnership with the Ukrainian-Japanese Center of the Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute and the State Polytechnic Museum of KPI.
The 14th International Book Arsenal Festival will take place from May 28 to May 31. This year’s event will bring together more than 150 exhibitors, prominent guests, public intellectuals, established authors and emerging voices. Book Arsenal 2026 will feature 240 events, including discussions, lectures, readings, workshops, meetings with authors and presentations of new publications, as well as music and performance programs, exhibitions, food and other activities.
“Carrying Your Freedom” is the focus theme of this year’s festival. Participants will discuss freedom and its limitations, captivity and occupation as forms of unfreedom, as well as the glorification and fragility of heroes. The focus theme is curated by Ukrainian journalist, human rights advocate, serviceman and former prisoner of war Maksym Butkevych.
This year, the Writers’ Program returns to Book Arsenal under the curation of Ukrainian serviceman, volunteer, poet, novelist and translator Andriy Lyubka. The program invites participants to reflect on Ukraine’s neighbors.
Among other highlights, the artistic program of the 14th Book Arsenal will include 15 exhibition projects.
Journalists can review the full festival program in advance. Accreditation is required.
Background: Book Arsenal is an international event organized by Mystetskyi Arsenal. Held annually since 2011, the festival has become one of Eastern Europe’s leading literary and arts events. In 2019, it received the title of “World’s Best Literary Festival.” The mission of the International Book Arsenal Festival is to foster connections between people, communities and institutions through books, combining aesthetic experience with intellectual engagement.
Book Arsenal is organized in cooperation with the NGO “Mystetskyi Arsenal Community” and supported by the International Renaissance Foundation and the Mnozhyna Foundation.
A large-scale charity festival, ChekaFest 2.0, will take place in Lviv to honor the memory of Hero of Ukraine Iryna Tsybukh, a combat medic who was killed in 2024 while on duty.
The festival will be held on the eve of what would have been Tsybukh’s 28th birthday. She would have turned 28 on June 1 this year.
The event will feature several themed spaces, each reflecting the ideas, values, and vision of Iryna Tsybukh. The music stage will host performances by DakhaBrakha, Pyrih i Batih, ShchukaRyba, Shepit, and Maryna Krut.
The educational program will include lectures and discussions centered on the values Iryna stood for. This year’s focus theme is “The search for and formation of identity.”
An important part of the festival will also be memorial spaces created by the NGO Vshanuy — dedicated areas honoring fallen Ukrainian defenders.
The festival is a charity event, with proceeds going toward the purchase of two unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) for the 503rd Separate Marine Battalion, the unit Iryna worked with during her frontline deployments.
Background: Since 2022, Iryna Tsybukh served as a combat medic with the Hospitallers volunteer medical battalion, saving lives on the front line. She was killed on the Kharkiv front on May 29, 2024. In February 2025, she was posthumously awarded the title Hero of Ukraine.
The National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War, with support from the Foundation Remembrance, Responsibility and Future (Berlin, Germany), is organizing a two-day international conference titled “Museum practices and transformations in the representation of the Second World War.”
The event will bring together scholars and museum professionals representing 43 leading institutions from 15 countries, including internationally renowned organizations such as the Imperial War Museum (London, United Kingdom), the Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum (Oświęcim, Poland), the Terezín Memorial (Terezín, Czech Republic), Miami University (Oxford, Ohio, United States), the University of Victoria (Canada), and the Network of European Museum Organisations (NEMO) in Berlin.
The conference will serve as a platform for professional discussion and exchange between museums, memorial sites, and research institutions from across Europe and beyond. Key topics will include rethinking the legacy of World War II — particularly in post-communist countries — the memorialization of contemporary armed conflicts, and the preservation of historical memory at a time of global instability, when anti-democratic forces increasingly seek to weaponize history for ideological purposes.
Special attention will be devoted to Ukraine’s experience during russia’s full-scale invasion, as the country develops its own culture of remembrance and introduces new approaches to documenting and preserving the history of war in real time.
The working languages of the conference will be Ukrainian and English, with simultaneous interpretation provided.
Journalists may review the full conference program upon registration. Advance registration is required.
