Themes by tag: Kyiv

Golosiyv Ski Park is providing free rehabilitation sessions for military personnel using specialized adaptive ski chairs. Since the beginning of the season, more than 15 training sessions have been held, each involving at least six participants.

By prior arrangement, journalists can attend and cover the next training session.

• culture
• Kyiv

The Veterans Theatre has announced its third course in the fundamentals of playwriting. The program is intended for veterans of russia’s war against Ukraine and will last four months.

Each participant will write at least one play (a theatrical script) and will see it performed by professional actors at the Third Festival of First Plays, which will take place in June–July 2026.

Classes will be held in Kyiv three times a week. Veterans will work with theatre and film professionals, including playwrights, screenwriters, directors, producers, actors, and cultural scholars.

The training will begin in late February. By prior arrangement, journalists will have the opportunity to cover the classes in Kyiv.

• culture
• Kyiv

On February 7, Bucha will host the support event “Light of Hope” for missing persons and prisoners. The event is initiated by families of those who have not yet returned home.

Nataliia Illiina, who has been waiting for her husband Mykola Illiin, a Defender of Ukraine, since February 2025, shares:
“Today I set the table again. I placed a plate for him. I left his chair empty. Just like yesterday. Just like the day before. Just like every day for a year now… More than 100 families in Bucha do the same. They set the table. Leave a place. Wait… We will stand in a circle. We will raise lanterns into the sky. We will create a lighted path home. In the center of the circle there will be that same table. That same empty chair. The bandura will be played.”

Residents of the Bucha community are encouraged to come with flashlights and join the event to draw public attention to the fate of missing persons and prisoners and to support their families.

• casualties
• prisoners
• Kyiv

Participants:

– Oleksandr Slobozhan, Executive Director of the Association of Ukrainian Cities.

Topics for discussion:

– How local self-government coped during power cuts, accidents, and shelling;

– Is there a crisis at the local level?

– The effectiveness of decentralization in action: the involvement of homeowners associations and municipal housing services.

• Kyiv

Participants:

– Kateryna Rashevska, PhD in International Law, Expert at the Regional Center for Human Rights.

Key topics:

– The current situation regarding the return of Ukrainian children stolen by russia: statistics and achievements;

– How has the process of returning Ukrainian children changed today?

– Who is involved in returning Ukrainian children from russia today and how?

• children
• russian crimes
• Kyiv

On February 10, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, together with the Center for Civil Liberties, invite journalists to the premiere of the documentary film “Give Me Back My Name”, dedicated to people who have gone missing as a result of russia’s war against Ukraine.

The film tells the story of soldiers of this war who bear the status “missing in action,” the process of returning the bodies of fallen Ukrainian soldiers, their identification, and the restoration of their names — as well as the families who have spent years living in search and uncertainty.

The event will open with remarks by Oleksandra Matviichuk, Head of the Center for Civil Liberties — an organization awarded the Nobel Peace Prize — and Stephen Capus, President and CEO of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

The screening will be followed by a discussion with the film’s author, Maryan Kushnir, a frontline correspondent for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, who has been covering russia’s war against Ukraine since 2015. In January 2026, he rescued a young girl by carrying her out of an apartment that was struck by a russian drone in the Kyiv region, for which he was awarded the Order “For Courage.”

Journalists need to register for the event. The organizers reserve the right to deny participation for security reasons.

For reference: The film “Give Me Back My Name” was produced with the support of the Pulitzer Center. The European Union funds the event.

• casualties
• dead
• russian crimes
• Kyiv

In Kyiv, a unique rehabilitation project is helping military personnel recover through archery, including those who have lost limbs. The initiative welcomes veterans, active-duty soldiers, and their families, offering free daily training sessions.  

Leading the effort is Dmytro Lvovskyi, an international master of sports and founder and Board Chair of the “Ukrainian Archery Space” NGO. Since 2014, he has funded archery training for wounded soldiers, including veterans of the ATO service, using his own resources. His work expanded with support from the Kyiv City Center for Physical Culture and Sports for Persons with Disabilities “Invasport” and the All-Ukrainian Center for Physical Health “Sport for All,” as part of the Ministry of Youth and Sports’ “Active Parks — Unstoppable” program.  

Archery is accessible to all, even those with severe injuries. Participants missing legs train from wheelchairs, while those without arms can draw the bowstring with their teeth. Even individuals who are completely blind can take part, using specialized techniques tailored for visually impaired archers.  

Journalists can arrange to visit and cover the training sessions in Kyiv by appointment.

• casualties
• military
• Kyiv

russians damaged the Hall of Glory of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War near the base of the “Motherland” monument. It is a monument of science and technology of local significance.

After inspections by specialized services are completed, the scope of restoration works will become known. This is already the second case of damage to the museum as a result of russian attacks.

By prior arrangement, journalists may visit the museum.

For context: According to Ukraine’s Minister of Culture Tetiana Berezhna, since the start of the full-scale invasion, russia has damaged or destroyed more than 1,680 cultural heritage sites and thousands of cultural infrastructure facilities.

• culture
• russian crimes
• Kyiv

A heartwarming video circulating online captures Father Andriy, a priest at the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ, the main cathedral of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church in Kyiv, playing soccer with children at a daytime camp set up on the church grounds.

With schools shut down through the extended winter break amid relentless power cuts and unheated classrooms, the church camp has become a crucial haven for kids aged 6 to 14 over the past two weeks. Organizers are running master classes and music-therapy sessions, while personnel from the State Emergency Service, police officers, and psychologists drop by to chat with the children and lend whatever support they can.

Adjacent to the camp, the church operates a “Space of Light and Warmth” equipped with a power generator where people can charge their electronic devices. The facility also serves as a round-the-clock shelter.

Journalists interested in speaking with Father Andriy or reporting on the camp’s activities are welcome to reach out.

• blackout
• children
• religion
• Kyiv

On February 3, a screening and discussion of the documentary film “Fight and Dance” will be held in the capital. The film is about strength, pain, and hope. It is about childhood under the air raid sirens. It is about living — despite the war.

In April 2025, russian forces fired two Iskander missiles into the center of Sumy. Viktoriia Rudyka was riding scooters with her daughters when the blast wave hit them. After undergoing treatment and losing their father in the war, the family chose to stay in Sumy. The girls returned to ballet, and Viktoriia plans to join the Armed Forces of Ukraine. On the same day, 13-year-old Kyrylo Illiashenko opened the door of a burning bus and rescued his mother and the other passengers. A month later, he won a silver medal at the European Beach Wrestling Championships.

After the screening, there will be a conversation with the people who lived and created this story:

• Hanna Mamontova and Anna Tsyhyma, the film’s authors;
• Viktoriia Rudykha, a protagonist in the film;
• Kyrylo Illiashenko, a protagonist in the film.

Moderator: Natalka Humeniuk, executive director of the Public Interest Journalism Lab.

Advance registration is required.

The event will feature photography and filming, as well as a live online broadcast on the Maidan Museum Information and Exhibition Center’s Facebook page.

For reference: The event is organized by the National Museum of the Revolution of Dignity and the Public Interest Journalism Lab NGO.

• casualties
• children
• russian crimes
• Kyiv