Themes by tag: food

Before russia’s full-scale invasion, Oleksii organized festivals and gastronomic tours and took part in a well-known Ukrainian cooking show. After 2022, he was mobilized and began improving food provision in the 47th Separate Mechanized Brigade “Magura”: he raised funds and set up the first “food truck” — a mobile kitchen that can quickly move between positions.

So far, Oleksii has equipped two such vehicles, which are successfully operating on the frontline and providing Ukrainian soldiers with quality hot meals. He later transferred to the 3rd Army Corps, where he continues to develop the food truck initiative.

Oleksii aims to scale up his experience and create modern mobile kitchens for the frontline. He has also developed a trench “superfood” — nutritious, well-balanced snacks with a long shelf life.

Media can arrange interviews with Oleksii both online and offline in Kharkiv upon prior request.

• food
• military
• Kharkiv

Since the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022, Franky and Сoen — two Dutch entrepreneurs — have been continuously providing humanitarian assistance across Ukraine. What began as a small initiative at the Polish border, where they distributed free French fries to refugees, has grown into a large-scale humanitarian effort spanning the country, including frontline areas.

Today, their work includes:

• distributing hundreds of thousands of hot meals;
• evacuating people and animals from frontline areas;
• delivering medical supplies, food, and humanitarian aid;
• providing financial support to vulnerable families;
• operating a shelter for internally displaced people in Dnipro (Holland House); a second Holland House is set to open in western Ukraine in the coming months, expanding support capacity for more than 100 additional people;
• organizing recovery trips for children affected by the war.

The volunteers are well known in the Netherlands not only for their work in Ukraine but also for how they communicate it. Through social media, documentaries, and national television, they bring the reality of the war directly into Dutch homes.

Franky and Сoen experienced the reality of war firsthand while dining at the Ria Pizza restaurant in Kramatorsk. On June 27, 2023, a russian missile strike hit the city center, killing 13 people and injuring 64 others, including the Dutch volunteers.

By prior arrangement, journalists can meet Franky and Сoen in Kyiv (April 15), Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, and the Donbas region. Online interviews are also available.

• casualties
• food
• russian crimes
• volunteers
• Kyiv
• evacuation

This week, the team at World Central Kitchen plans to deliver 25,000 traditional Easter breads (paska) and holiday food packages to hundreds of communities across Ukraine, including in the Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk, Khmelnytskyi, Lviv, and Kyiv regions.

The Easter program will reach both frontline areas and communities hosting internally displaced people.

In addition, community kitchens established by World Central Kitchen for displaced residents will host group paska baking events. These gatherings offer people an opportunity to come together and celebrate Easter within their communities.

By prior arrangement, journalists are invited to cover the initiative — producing photo and video reports, written features, or interviews with participants and team representatives. Media outlets may also request photos taken by World Central Kitchen photographers for publication.

• culture
• food

The international humanitarian organization World Central Kitchen invites journalists to attend seed kit distributions as part of its “Seeds of Hope” program. In 2026, the initiative will cover frontline and war-affected communities, including those in the Mykolaiv, Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy, Chernihiv, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Kharkiv, and Khmelnytskyi regions. In total, around 45,000 seed kits are expected to be distributed to households, alongside the development of community greenhouses and shared farming plots.

Each kit is tailored to local conditions and includes seeds for vegetables and herbs commonly used in Ukrainian cuisine, such as cabbage, zucchini, dill, radish, tomatoes, beetroot, parsley, sweet peppers, cucumbers, and carrots.

Journalists are welcome to attend field distributions, visit community fields or greenhouses in the regions, and speak with program participants and local teams. Available formats include on-site visits, as well as online and in-person interviews, and photo and video coverage of distribution and planting.

• casualties
• food

The Defense Procurement Agency DOT is launching the “Preparing for Battle” project, which will compile a collection of recipes for the military. The recipes can be prepared regardless of kitchen equipment and the level of training of the cooks.

The social project CultFood, led by chef and restaurateur Yevhen Klopotenko, has joined the initiative. As noted by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, CultFood helps to collect the best recipes, create technology cards, and adapt them to different cooking conditions. This is a volunteer initiative that CultFood carries out free of charge.

According to Yevhen Klopotenko himself, this initiative was born out of a real request from the military. Delicious food depends not only on the availability of quality products. It also depends on the conditions, equipment, and experience of the people who prepare it. The military themselves often say that many units lack professional chefs, so without the appropriate knowledge and skills, it is difficult to maintain a stable and balanced diet.

The collection will be adapted to the real conditions of service — both in the field and in stationary locations. It will contain simple recipes with calorie counts, divided by meal times, and clear instructions that do not require professional training or additional resources.

By prior arrangement, journalists will have the opportunity to talk to Yevhen Klopotenko in Kyiv.

For reference: CultFood is a social project aimed at improving food culture in Ukraine. The initiative brings together experts from various fields to act as effectively and comprehensively as possible and create practical solutions that really work.

• food
• Kyiv

Against the backdrop of Ukraine’s declared energy emergency and widespread, prolonged blackouts that have left thousands of Kyiv residents without heat during the bitter cold, World Central Kitchen has stepped in with emergency food aid for the capital.

The WCK team has set up hot meal stations throughout the city, serving hearty bowls of bograch and borscht. The stations are positioned in various neighborhoods to ensure the help reaches as many people as possible. At present, 50 such bograch-and-borscht stations are up and running.

Meals are also being distributed from WCK’s Invincibility Train Cars.

Journalists are welcome to cover the initiative and observe the stations in operation. The World Central Kitchen team is available for interviews and can help arrange filming at the sites.

• blackout
• food
• Kyiv

Amidst the energy state of emergency declared by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and persistent blackouts that have left thousands of Kyiv residents without heating in freezing weather, World Central Kitchen is deploying urgent support for the capital’s inhabitants.

WCK is opening Bograch stations in Kyiv — locations where people can receive a warm bowl of bograch, a hearty traditional dish especially important on cold days. These stations will operate in various city districts to ensure maximum accessibility.

Daily, WCK plans to provide thousands of hot meals and is ready to expand the program if the power supply situation does not improve. Meals are also being served in the Invincibility Carriages, which are currently operating in Fastiv, Brovary, Boryspil, and Vasylkiv.

Journalists are invited to cover this initiative and observe the Bograch stations in operation. The WCK team is available to answer questions and can help organize filming on location.

• blackout
• food
• Kyiv

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

This holiday season, World Central Kitchen (WCK) is introducing Kutia kits in Ukraine — seasonal food kits inspired by one of the most significant Christmas traditions in the country.

Kutia, a traditional dish made from wheat, is prepared on Christmas Eve and holds deep cultural significance for Ukrainians. For families living under conditions of war, displacement, and loss, the ability to prepare this familiar holiday dish helps them maintain a sense of continuity, dignity, and unity during difficult times.

Each Kutia kit contains the non-perishable ingredients needed to prepare the dish at home, including wheat, poppy seeds, dried fruits, walnuts, and honey, as well as a simple recipe.

As part of the pilot project, WCK will distribute 20,000 Kutia kits to families in frontline and near-frontline communities across eight Ukrainian regions: Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, and Chernihiv oblasts.

Media are invited to cover the distribution of Kutia kits in the Kharkiv, Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy, Zaporizhzhia, and Mykolaiv regions, pending security assessments. Interviews with the leadership of the World Central Kitchen mission in Ukraine are available in person (in Lviv or Kyiv) or online. WCK can also provide photo and video b-roll from distribution sites upon request.

Background: World Central Kitchen began providing food aid in Ukraine immediately after the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022. Since then, the organization has continuously adapted its work, combining emergency food provision with innovative long-term food access projects. To date, WCK has provided over 292 million meals across the country.

• culture
• food
• volunteers

Yuliia Stefaniuk is the head of the International Charity Organization World Central Kitchen’s mission in Ukraine and one of the women who, from the very first days of the full-scale invasion, joined organizing humanitarian aid in the country.

Before the full-scale war, she lived in Lviv and for over eleven years worked as the managing partner of !FEST Catering and Just Lviv It! — partner projects of the !FEST Holding of Emotions. Yuliia graduated from the Faculty of Economics at Ivan Franko National University of Lviv with a degree in sociology and worked in the insurance business in Kyiv for some time.

When the invasion began, Yuliia was among the first to join World Central Kitchen in Lviv. In March 2022, she organized the first large-scale hot meal production for refugees arriving in Lviv and played an active role in creating the logistical and organizational processes that enabled WCK to rapidly scale up and operate across Ukraine, including frontline communities. To date, World Central Kitchen has provided over 290 million meals as part of its mission in Ukraine. Currently, the organization provides hot meals, distributes food and vegetable kits, supports evacuation centers, delivers water and bread to communities on the front lines, and implements long-term programs to restore local food security, particularly by helping families grow their own food and opening kitchens for internally displaced persons.

Over the course of two years during the war, Yuliia served as the executive director of the Ukraine Foundation, which was established with the support of the Howard G. Buffett Foundation. She is also a co-founder of the Hachiko Pet Foundation in the United States, which supports frontline animal shelters by providing food, medical assistance, and sterilization services, as well as facilitating adoptions.

Currently, Yuliia coordinates one of the country’s largest hot meal programs, created in response to the full-scale invasion. She works tirelessly to ensure that citizens have stable and easy access to humanitarian aid, even under the most difficult conditions.

Yuliia is a mother of two children and the rescuer of a cat she adopted from the de-occupied city of Izium.

By prior arrangement, journalists have the opportunity to speak with Yuliia in person in Lviv or online.

• casualties
• food
• volunteers
• women
• Lviv