Themes by tag: Kharkiv

Ukraine’s oldest botanical garden in Kharkiv has a collection of several thousand tropical plants. Due to russian missile attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, it now suffers from constant power outages. To keep tropical and subtropical plants from freezing, workers have to turn on the generator and heat the greenhouses.

For reference: The Botanical Garden of Karazin National University of Kharkiv is a part of Kharkiv’s nature reserve fund of national significance. The botanical garden is a research and environmental protection institution. It was founded in 1804.

As reported, at the beginning of winter it became known that Hryshko National Botanical Garden in Kyiv was taking precautions to save unique plants. Employees were stockpiling firewood to heat the greenhouses. 

• blackout
• ecology
• Kharkiv

Kharkiv rescuers have been actively helping builders to restore and repair high-rise buildings damaged by the occupiers since the summer.

Only yesterday they were involved in the work twice. Engineering works with the help of rescue equipment were carried out on a 9-story residential building in Pivnichna Saltivka district in Kharkiv and an 8-story administrative building. With the help of equipment and tools, climbers and rescuers dismantled damaged structures so that builders could replace them with new ones.

• Kharkiv
• reconstruction

The largest agricultural complex in the Kharkiv region survived the russian occupation. Now it resumes its activities and prepares international lawsuits to receive monetary compensation from russia. (According to preliminary estimates, the amount of damage caused by russian invasion exceeds half a billion hryvnias).

On the territory of the agricultural complex, you can now see broken buildings and the remains of dead pigs. They died due to lack of food, illness and shelling. Some pigs were simply given away to locals. It is also said that the invaders came and shot the animals to take them for themselves. In general, it will take 3–4 years to restore the livestock (after all, more than 60,000 pigs were lost). Additionally, several thousand hectares of leased land, where previously workers collected grain, remain mined. The feed factory was destroyed. Also, invaders stole equipment worth millions of hryvnias.

• casualties
• Kharkiv
• occupation
• russian crimes

In order for the Christmas tree to light up at the capital’s railway station this year, you need to spin the pedals of a mechanical generator. And the main Christmas tree of the country located on Sophia Square is decorated with energy-saving lamps. Most likely, the Christmas tree will be lit up at certain hours of the day. Among other things, points for recharging gadgets will be set up next to the generator.

The “Indomitable Christmas Tree” was installed in Mykolaiv. It is made of a camouflage net that covers the monument to St. Nicholas. Previously, this monument had been covered with sandbags to protect it from destruction. On St. Nicholas Day, December 19, people are encouraged to bring their toys with wishes to put them up on the unusual Christmas tree. And in Kharkiv, the New Year tree was placed underground. A Christmas tree was put up at one of the metro stations.

• culture
• Kharkiv
• Kyiv
• Mykolaiv

Ukrainian cat blogger Stepan, who, together with his owner, went abroad from his native Kharkiv due to the all-out war, has finally returned home. Cat Stepan collected money for Ukrainian shelters and zoos while staying abroad. Photos from the shelled city appeared on Stepan’s Instagram, where he has more than a million followers. The apartment where Stepan lives is located in Pivnichna Saltivka district, the area that has suffered the most from the russian attacks.

• animals
• Kharkiv
• volunteers

Kharkiv resident Yuliia Napolska has been helping foreign journalists film the fighting around her hometown since the beginning of the full-scale war and volunteered in the building of the Kharkiv Oblast Administration. On February 28, the girl miraculously escaped during the shelling of the city center – simply because she went to sleep in the dressing room at the ground level. After that, Yuliia moved to Lviv, but did not abandon volunteering: she carried bulletproof vests from abroad, arranged fund raising for things needed at the front. For example, she managed to raise a million hryvnias (almost USD 30,000) for a drone to the front line.

• Kharkiv
• Lviv
• volunteers
• women

This year, the authorities of Kharkiv refused to celebrate the New Year on Svobody Square because of russia’s full-scale invasion. Despite this, the Christmas tree was still installed, but underground, at the “Universitet” metro station. Also, festive decorations were put up on other stations to create a festive atmosphere for the townspeople and people who found refuge in Kharkiv.

For reference: due to russia’s full-scale invasion, the movement of trains in the Kharkiv metro was stopped, and the stations were used as bomb shelters from February 24 to May 24, 2022. Now the subway is working as usual.

• culture
• Kharkiv

The performance was organized by the efforts of Looking at the Stars Canadian Foundation, with the support of All-Ukrainian Forum for Democracy NGO, People-Army volunteer initiative, and Izium community in Ukraine.

Performer Darius Mažintas, Vice President of Looking at the Stars Canadian Foundation, representatives of Ukrainian partners and volunteers of Izyum will be available for comments after the performance.

• culture
• Kharkiv
• volunteers

A scrapyard of russian shells used to attack the city since February 24 was created in Kharkiv. There are thousands of remnants of “Grad,” “Uragan,” “Smerch” and “Tornado-S” at the landfill. All ammunition remains at “scrapyards” are safe. They are kept in order to have an evidence base of crimes committed by the russian federation in Kharkiv.

• Kharkiv
• russian crimes
• weapon

Traumatologist Yuriy did not leave Izyum and continued to treat people during the occupation of the city. The local hospital was partially destroyed by shells. In order to protect themselves and their patients from shelling, doctors had to set up an operating room in the basement. However, there was a period when, during the occupation, Yuri remained the only doctor there. For rescuing the townspeople, the man was awarded the Order for Courage III third class.

• doctors
• Kharkiv
• occupation