Themes by tag: Kyiv

A new season of dragon boat training sessions and competitions — Dragon Boat Veterans Kyiv 2026 — will begin in the capital on May 30.

The event will bring together veterans, active-duty military personnel, and people with disabilities through sports, teamwork, and recovery through physical activity. No prior athletic experience is required to participate.

Program highlights include:
— exhibition and training dragon boat races;
— presentation of the 2026 season teams;
— sports and interactive activities for participants and guests;
— children’s and recreation areas;
— live music and informal networking within the veteran community.

Dragon boat racing is an international sport. For veterans and military personnel, it serves not only as physical activity but also as an effective tool for psychological recovery, social reintegration, and returning to active life.

Journalists are required to obtain accreditation. The event will take place in Kyiv. The location will be disclosed to registered participants and media representatives.

Background: The event is organized by the Military Sport municipal enterprise, the Veteran Corps All-Ukrainian Association, and the Mala Flotyliia Children’s Sports and Recreation Club.

• culture
• Kyiv

A public discussion titled “Accessibility in Cultural Spaces: From Access to Inclusion” will take place at the War Museum on May 26.

The event is being held as part of National Accessibility Week and is part of the nationwide social change campaign “Accessibility Means Possibility,” implemented within First Lady Olena Zelenska’s “Without Barriers” initiative with the support of Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture and partner organizations.

Participants will discuss practical approaches to creating accessible cultural environments — from physical accessibility to communication, language, and service solutions that ensure inclusion for visitors.

The program includes the opening of a poster exhibition dedicated to inclusive language, as well as two panel discussions featuring representatives of Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture, the National Philharmonic of Ukraine, the National Museum of the History of Ukraine, the European Business Association, and accessibility ambassadors.

Speakers:
— Anastasiia Bondar, Deputy Minister for Digital Development, Digital Transformation, and Digitalization;
— Lesia Khemraieva, Head of the Department for Accessibility Policy, Gender Equality, and Mental Health at the Ministry of Culture;
— Alona Lebedka, Accessibility Program Manager at the European Business Association;
— Mykhailo Shved, Director General of the National Philharmonic of Ukraine;
— Olena Zemliana, Director General of the National Museum of the History of Ukraine;
— Yurii Ivaskevych, Accessibility Ambassador at the Ministry of Culture.

The discussion will be moderated by Iryna Uzhakova, Head of the Cultural Rehabilitation and Accessibility Unit at the War Museum.

Background: Project partners include UNICEF, Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture, the Presidential Commissioner for Accessibility, and the NGO Bezbariernist (“Barrier-Free”).

The project is implemented with support from Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through the KfW Development Bank and the Government of the United Kingdom.

• culture
• Kyiv

Participants:

– Oleksandra Romantsova, Executive Director of the Center for Civil Liberties;

– Kateryna Rashevska, Expert on International Justice and Legal Analysis at the Regional Center for Human Rights;

– Roman Koval, Head of Research at the non-governmental organization Truth Hounds;

– Hanna Rassakhamina, Head of the “War and Justice” Department at the Media Initiative for Human Rights.

Moderator:

– Scott Jacobsen, independent reporter.

Topics for discussion:

– Documentary evidence of human rights violations;

– Promising avenues for implementing reparations;

– Victim-centered justice: civilians, prisoners of war, torture victims, missing persons, deported children;

– Key areas of cooperation between institutions on human rights issues.

• casualties
• Kyiv

The National Museum of the History of Ukraine will officially open the large-scale exhibition project “THE PATH OF HEROES. In Memory of Symon Petliura” on May 25, featuring unique artifacts from the era of the Ukrainian People’s Republic.

The exhibition marks the 100th anniversary of the tragic death of Symon Petliura, head of the Directorate of the Ukrainian People’s Republic and Supreme Otaman of the Army of the Ukrainian People’s Republic.

The exhibition is based on artifacts from the collection of the Military Historical Museum and Archive of the Ukrainian Free Academy of Sciences (UVAN) in Canada. For decades, the Ukrainian diaspora preserved these items in exile with the intention of transferring them to Ukraine after the restoration of independence.

In accordance with the founders’ “Testament,” the collection was transferred to the National Museum of the History of Ukraine. The return of this heritage has become an event of historical significance, representing not only the repatriation of museum artifacts, but also the restoration of the continuity of Ukrainian historical memory.

The exhibition features more than 200 artifacts illustrating the Ukrainian liberation struggle of the first quarter of the 20th century. Among them are personal belongings of prominent military and political figures of the Ukrainian Revolution of 1917–1921, including:
— the “Corona” typewriter that belonged to Symon Petliura;
— the officer’s bayonet of Volodymyr Salskyi, a lieutenant general of the Army of the Ukrainian People’s Republic;
— elements of the military uniforms of Yevhen Konovalets and Andrii Melnyk.

Journalists are required to obtain accreditation for the event.

Background: With support from the Pylyp Orlyk Foundation, the exhibition space on the museum’s second floor has been renovated and equipped to host “THE PATH OF HEROES. In Memory of Symon Petliura” as a permanent exhibition.

• culture
• Kyiv

The theme of the event is: “Ukraine 2035 — A Country Where People Want to Live.”

The discussions will focus on the draft National Human Rights Strategy through 2035, Ukraine’s European integration, and the future of human rights in Ukraine during and after the war.

The event will take place in Kyiv on May 27–28. The location will be disclosed to registered participants. The format is offline only.

Over the course of two days, participants will discuss:

— human rights as part of Ukraine’s EU accession negotiations;

— restrictions on human rights during wartime;

— the National Human Rights Strategy through 2035;

— civil law reform;

— freedom of peaceful assembly during wartime;

— personal data protection;

— the rights of foreigners, migrants, and refugees.

Participants will also discuss whether Ukrainian legislation meets EU standards, how to reconcile the logic of war with democratic principles, and what reforms Ukraine is realistically expected to implement on its path toward EU membership.

Journalists must obtain accreditation to attend the event.

• Kyiv

A public event titled “To Lay Down One’s Life for One’s Friends” will take place at the War Museum in Kyiv on May 24 in memory of Ukrainian defenders Liubomyr Sochenko and Anton Balanchuk.

Brothers-in-arms Sgt. Liubomyr Sochenko and Pvt. Anton Balanchuk served as part of a strike drone crew operating Vampire unmanned aerial systems within the 65th Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. While carrying out combat missions in the Zaporizhzhia direction, they destroyed enemy assault groups, military equipment, and fortifications. The soldiers continued combat operations even after sustaining injuries.

During their service, the crew destroyed more than 20 armored and military vehicles, eliminated 72 russian troops, and disabled or destroyed nearly 500 enemy fortifications.

Liubomyr Sochenko and Anton Balanchuk were killed on Sept. 16, 2025, near the village of Novodanylivka in Zaporizhzhia Oblast as a result of an enemy drone strike.

The event will focus on the defenders’ personal stories, memories shared by their relatives, and discussions on remembrance as a way of preserving human lives in national history.

As part of the event, Marina Sochenko — an artist, volunteer, and mother of Liubomyr Sochenko — and Yuliia Balanchuk, Anton Balanchuk’s wife, will speak with attendees. The families will also donate personal belongings and archival materials of the fallen defenders to the War Museum’s collection.

The event will feature photo and video materials, as well as paintings by Marina Sochenko related to the war.

The discussion will be moderated by Liubov Krupnyk, senior research fellow at the War Museum

• dead
• military
• Kyiv

The presentation of the project “Made in russia. Delivered Into Captivity” will take place in Kyiv on May 22 with the participation of Ukraine’s Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets.

The project was developed by the Association of Families of Azovstal Defenders in cooperation with the Office of the Ombudsman of Ukraine, with the support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, the Media Initiative for Human Rights (MIHR), and the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.

Registration is required to attend the event. The venue will be disclosed to accredited journalists.

• prisoners
• russian crimes
• Kyiv

The Luhansk Regional Museum of Local History, together with the NGO “KLIO HUB,” will present the results of the “Museum in an Emergency Suitcase” project.

“Museum in an Emergency Suitcase” is part of a large international initiative continuing the cooperation launched in 2023 within the exhibition project “Renaître dans la guerre. Louhansk. Un musée déplacé. | Revival in the Times of War. Luhansk. A Displaced Museum. | Revival During the Time of War. Luhansk. A Displaced Museum,” created in partnership between the Luhansk Museum, Geneva Heritage Lab (University of Geneva), and the Department of Contemporary History at the University of Fribourg (Switzerland).

The project continues the international dialogue between Ukraine and Switzerland on preserving cultural heritage during wartime, strengthening cultural diplomacy and partnerships between European institutions.

The final event of the “Museum in an Emergency Suitcase” project will summarize the museum team’s long-term work dedicated to preserving the cultural heritage of the Luhansk region, rethinking museum work during wartime, and searching for new ways to engage with memory, local identity, and community. The event will feature exhibition and digital projects created as an attempt to document the experience of loss, displacement, and cultural continuity.

The central part of the event will be the exhibition “Museum in an Emergency Suitcase,” which tells the story of the museum from its founding to the present day. The exhibition highlights the institution’s path through two relocations, the loss of museum premises, evacuation of collections, and the resumption of its work during the full-scale war. Special attention is paid to the museum staff — people who continue preserving the cultural heritage of the Luhansk region despite constant danger, forced displacement, and uncertainty. The exhibition raises the issue of the vulnerability of researchers and cultural workers during war, when along with threats to life comes the risk of losing memory, archives, collections, and entire cultural layers.

Background: Organizers and partners include the Luhansk Regional Museum of Local History; NGO “KLIO HUB”; the State Polytechnic Museum of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute; the Center for Culture and Arts of Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute; and the Sloviansk Museum of Local History. The project was created with the support of Switzerland.

• culture
• Kyiv

On May 21, a closed meeting for member companies of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ukraine (ACC) will take place in Kyiv, focusing on the long-term employment of veterans with amputations.

The discussion will address a question increasingly relevant for Ukrainian businesses: what happens after a veteran receives a prosthetic limb and returns to work.

The organizers aim to highlight that employment for a person with limb loss is not the final stage of recovery.

For many former military personnel, it marks the beginning of a new phase of life involving physical and psychological adaptation, changes in functionality, prosthetic adjustments, and ongoing medical consultations.

Participants of the event will include:
• CEOs and business executives
• HR directors
• CSR / ESG managers
• Diversity & Inclusion leaders
• Companies that already employ veterans or are planning to do so

MCOP Ukraine will share not only its clinical expertise in prosthetics and rehabilitation based on American standards, but also practical experience integrating former military personnel with limb loss into its own team.

Special attention will be paid to how Ukrainian businesses can adapt workplace processes and corporate culture to a new reality in which the number of veterans with amputations continues to grow.

The event format includes a moderated panel discussion and a closed Q&A session with business representatives.

Journalists must register in advance to attend the event. The exact location will be shared with registered participants.

• Kyiv

The goal of the event is to remind society about those who remain in russian captivity and to support the families of prisoners of war.

• military
• prisoners
• Kyiv