Themes by tag: Kyiv
On June 28, Kyiv will host the “Honor Run in Memory of Rekrut 2026” charity event for the fifth time. The event, which unites active-duty military personnel, veterans, and civilians, is expected to gather over 3,500 participants.
The run originally began as a story about Oleksiy Chubashev (call sign Rekrut), a military journalist and Major of the Main Directorate of Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine (GUR MOU). The event is organized by Run Ukraine in cooperation with Oleksiy’s wife, Yulia Chubasheva. Traditionally, 100% of the registration fees are directed toward the needs of the Defense Forces of Ukraine. This year, the proceeds will be distributed among five military units participating in the run.
During the “Honor Run in Memory of Rekrut 2026,” the “Alley of the Brave” will debut in Ukraine — a memorial zone along the running track inspired by the American Blue Mile tradition. Participants will run past hundreds of plaques featuring photos, names, and call signs of fallen Ukrainian defenders, paying tribute to their ultimate sacrifice. This section of the track will feature no music, hosts, or loudspeakers — only quiet footsteps, names, and remembrance, reflecting the core essence of the Honor Run: the honor of serving in the military, supporting the army, and remembering those who gave their lives for Ukraine.
Family members, volunteers, and brothers-in-arms will stand along the “Alley of the Brave” holding flags and ribbons inscribed with the names and call signs of the service members. The “Honor Run in Memory of Rekrut 2026” features distances of 10 km, 5 km, and children’s races, as well as an online format for participants joining from anywhere in the world.
The event will also include a traditional symbolic 100-meter distance for veterans of the Russian-Ukrainian war and active-duty service members currently undergoing rehabilitation.
Reference information: Organizer — Run Ukraine. Ideological partner — Energoatom. Sports partner — PUMA.
On June 27, a peaceful action titled “Voices of Silence” will take place in Bucha, Kyiv Oblast. Every day, hundreds of Ukrainian families live in painful anticipation of news from their loved ones who are in captivity or reported missing. This action serves as a poignant reminder that we remember everyone and continue to wait for their return home.
From June 24 to July 5, Kyiv will host the “Path of Recovery” charity photo exhibition, highlighting the stories of Ukrainian veterans returning to active life after sustaining severe injuries.
The exhibition features veterans who are currently undergoing or have completed recovery and rehabilitation programs at Next Step Ukraine — neurorehabilitation centers for individuals with central nervous system injuries, established by the Revived Soldiers Ukraine charity fund.
Every day, wounded Ukrainian defenders overcome a challenging rehabilitation journey, demonstrating true strength — both physical and internal — to stay the course and never give up. Following severe injuries, including amputations, they find their own path to recovery through sports, arts, and various rehabilitation practices. Adaptive rowing, pottery, equine therapy, rock climbing, gym training, and many other activities have become essential parts of their journeys. These precise moments are captured in the exhibition’s photographs, and the veterans’ stories inspire through resilience of spirit and faith in their own strength.
The official opening of the “Path of Recovery” charity photo exhibition will take place on June 24. The event will be hosted by Marichka Padalko, a prominent Ukrainian TV presenter and journalist. Invited guests include the veterans whose stories form the core of the exhibition, alongside representatives from Next Step Ukraine centers, the Ministry for Veterans Affairs, the Kyiv City State Administration, and partner organizations.
A charity fundraiser to support veteran rehabilitation at Next Step Ukraine centers will run throughout the exhibition.
Background: Exhibition Photographer: Vasyl Shepella. Project Partners: Ministry for Veterans Affairs, Kyiv City State Administration, Kyiv Military Hub (a city space providing assistance, support, and reintegration for veterans and their families), Pryncyp Human Rights Center for Military Personnel, and the NGO Yuryduchna Sotnya.
The “Path of Recovery” exhibition is part of the “Will to Move Forward” social project, which aims to build a culture of coexistence with veterans in the new reality. The project was created on the initiative of the VOLIA brand by Morshynska in partnership with Next Step Ukraine medical and physical rehabilitation centers.
On June 25, the Historical Monument Maintenance Weeks will launch at Mykhailivska Square in Kyiv. This charitable social initiative will unveil iconic capital monuments after prolonged protective conservation. The project will involve professional cleaning of the monuments, restoration of their fencing, and tidying up the surrounding areas.
The initiative is organized by the Department of Culture of the Kyiv City State Administration and the Shevchenkivskyi District State Administration, with the support of INVITE LLC.
The goal of the initiative is to reopen iconic capital landmarks to Kyiv residents after long-term protective conservation, perform professional cleaning, and restore the recognizable appearance of the city’s favorite historical locations.
Objects and Dates:
- June 25, 2026 — Monument to Princess Olga on Mykhailivska Square.
- July 9, 2026 — Monument to Lesya Ukrainka on Lesya Ukrainka Square.
- July 23, 2026 — Monument to Mykola Lysenko near the National Opera of Ukraine.
All works will be carried out on a charitable basis, without utilizing funds from the city budget.
Media accreditation is required for journalists.
Background: Clean Day is a charitable social project by INVITE (INWHITE) aimed at the careful professional cleaning, maintenance, and upkeep of vital urban landmarks. The company has been implementing this initiative for over 10 years, originally launching it with projects in Kyiv.
Tag is about movement, contact, passing something on, and creating a safe space — and then repeating the cycle. This logic of shared, continuous action has become the metaphor and central theme of the closing event of the project “Strengthening Comprehensive Reintegration Support for Returned Children.”
When it comes to reintegrating a child who has experienced occupation, forced displacement, or isolation in frontline communities, there are no minor details. Every part of the process matters. It involves everyone — from a school psychologist and a community case manager to relevant ministries. If one link in the chain fails, a child may be left alone with trauma whose effects can last for years. That is why the event aims to bring together all stakeholders involved in the process on a single platform, with the child’s own voice serving as the starting point.
Topics for discussion:
- Teenagers Tymofii, Olia and Serhii will share their personal experiences. The discussion will be moderated by Kyrylo Nevdokha, Head of the “DIYMO” Children and Youth Office under Ukraine’s Ministry of Social Policy.
- The launch of a school-based reintegration mentoring programme as a systemic response to the challenges of war.
- The experience of psychologists, case managers and social workers.
- Presentation of the analytical study “Returning Childhood: Psychological Support for Children on the Path to Reintegration,” focusing on the psychological and psychosocial reintegration of children in Ukraine.
Panel discussions will feature representatives of government institutions, international organizations and experts, including Olena Rozvadovska (co-founder of the charitable foundation Voices of Children), Iryna Tuliakova (Coordination Center for the Development of Family-Based Care), Oleksandra Dvoretska (the President of Ukraine’s Bring Kids Back UA initiative), Van Chi Pham (UNICEF Ukraine), Anastasiia Konovalova (Deputy Minister of Education and Science), and Member of Parliament Roman Hryshchuk.
Participants will also be able to explore children’s stories through the photo exhibition “A Thread: Transformation Instead of Brokenness,” created by the Voices of Children charitable foundation together with photographer Marta Syrko.
The event will take place in Kyiv on June 23. Journalists can review the full programme of the event. Accreditation is required to attend.
Participants:
—– Daria Gerasymchuk, Advisor-Presidential Commissioner for Children’s Rights and Child Rehabilitation;
—– Anastasia Svoboda, founder of the NGO “Academy of Care”;
—– Tetiana Kudko, clinical psychologist at the Petro Yatsyk Gnidyn Lyceum of the Zolochiv Village Council, Boryspil District, Kyiv Region;
—– Olga Marandyuk, Deputy Director for Educational Development at the private educational institution KMDSh.
Topics for discussion:
— Fostering a culture of mental health, empathy, and inclusive thinking among children;
— Presentation of the results of the “Lessons of Care” initiative for the academic year;
— Presentation of the “Care Box”.
Background information: Today, Ukrainian educators are working under extremely challenging conditions: alongside the educational process, they must support children who are experiencing loss, forced relocation, separation from loved ones, and air raid alerts. Even adults’ conversations about the war cause stress in children. This is an enormous emotional burden that requires special tools and methodological support. To help educators talk to children about complex topics in simple language, as well as to support teachers in their daily work, the NGO “Academy of Care,” in partnership with Daria Gerasymchuk, the Advisor — Commissioner of the President of Ukraine for Children’s Rights and Child Rehabilitation, has launched the educational initiative “Lessons of Care”.
The event will take place without simultaneous interpretation into English.
“Female Truck Driver (Category C)” is a reskilling program for women seeking to launch careers in the transport and logistics sectors. Category C certification authorizes individuals to drive commercial trucks weighing over 7.5 tons, opening up employment opportunities in industries currently facing a steady demand for qualified drivers.
The program is tailored for women who are ready not only to complete the training but also to actively work in the new profession upon graduation. To achieve this, the course combines theoretical instruction, intensive hands-on driving practice, and comprehensive preparation for the Ministry of Internal Affairs’ regional service center examination, in full compliance with current Ukrainian legislation.
Practical sessions take place at specially equipped training grounds in Kyiv and Kremenets (Ternopil Oblast), where participants hone their truck-driving skills under the guidance of experienced instructors.
By prior arrangement, journalists are welcome to cover the practical training sessions, which have already kicked off in Kyiv.
Background Information: “Female Truck Driver (Category C)” is a free tuition reskilling course provided by the OnTrack program under the Reskilling Ukraine initiative.
On June 21, Kyiv will hold the KyivPride March—a peaceful march for equal rights for all, regardless of who they love or who they are. This year’s KyivPride March marks a jubilee, being the tenth one. The main demand of KyivPride this year is the recognition of LGBTIQ+ families, an issue that has become critically urgent for many during the full-scale war.
Right now, a new Civil Code is being adopted in Ukraine—and instead of finally recognizing same-sex families, it introduces new forms of discrimination.
Therefore, the KyivPride March will put forward four demands to the authorities:
- Reject the draft of the new Civil Code, as it contains discriminatory provisions and contradicts Ukraine’s European integration commitments. Instead, ensure the implementation of transformation roadmaps involving LGBTIQ+ organizations as full partners in the reform process.
- Recognize civil partnerships for both military personnel and civilians as a step toward marriage equality, alignment of legislation with European standards, and the fulfillment of Ukraine’s obligations under the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights.
- Introduce fair criminal liability for hate crimes, specifically homophobia and transphobia, by amending the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
- Implement legal gender recognition based on self-determination, without mandatory hormone replacement therapy (HRT) or psychiatric diagnosis.
This year, the march will feature several organized blocs, including a transgender bloc, a KharkivPride bloc, and a bloc of LGBTIQ+ military personnel, veterans, and their families.
Invited guests include diplomats, ambassadors, representatives of international missions, and lawmakers. The KyivPride March will be the culmination of Pride Month, which has already gathered thousands of people at KyivPride Park.
The march will move through the center of the capital. At the final stop, the community will enjoy a dance performance by the ballroom community.
Media accreditation is required to attend the event.
Background: KyivPride is a non-governmental organization working to promote equality and human rights in Ukraine, and to strengthen the impact of civil society and the LGBTIQ+ community on the country’s path toward European Union integration.
On June 21, the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War (Museum of the War) will host a meeting with released prisoner of war Mykyta Markitanov, poet Oksana Stomina—the wife of Dmytro Paskalov, a released defender of Azovstal—and artist Maryna Sochenko, who depicts prisoners of war in her works.
Despite health issues, Mykyta volunteered for the war in July 2023. He fought in the Avdiivka direction and was captured in February 2024. According to the soldier, he and other POWs were “sold” to Chechnya for forced labor. Mykyta Markitanov spent nearly two years in captivity, finally returning home on April 24, 2026. During his time in russian dungeons, he wrote a series of poems dedicated to the war and captivity, which he managed to smuggle out by hiding them in his shoes.
Oksana Stomina is a poet and public activist from Mariupol, as well as the author and editor of numerous poetry collections about the war, which have been translated into German, Italian, English, Spanish, Lithuanian, and Czech. In May 2026, her husband Dmytro Paskalov, an Azovstal defender who had been held in captivity since May 2022, was finally released from russian captivity.
Maryna Sochenko is a well-known artist, volunteer, and Honored Artist of Ukraine, whose son Lyubomyr volunteered for the front line and was killed in action. She created a gallery of works, dedicating many of them to her sons—the defenders of Ukraine.
Since the beginning of the war, she has been active as a volunteer. She drew wounded soldiers in ATO hospitals and visited the front lines several times, bringing back more than a hundred portraits of Ukrainian heroes and defenders. Among her works, those dedicated to the captured defenders of Azovstal stand out significantly.
At the meeting, Mykyta Markitanov and his family will share the story of his life and military journey, and read his poetry written in captivity. Oksana Stomina and Maryna Sochenko will speak about their creative experiences inspired by the stories of Ukrainian prisoners of war.
Tag is about movement, contact, passing something on, and creating a safe space — and then repeating the cycle. This logic of shared, continuous action has become the metaphor and central theme of the closing event of the project “Strengthening Comprehensive Reintegration Support for Returned Children.”
When it comes to reintegrating a child who has experienced occupation, forced displacement, or isolation in frontline communities, there are no minor details. Every part of the process matters. It involves everyone — from a school psychologist and a community case manager to relevant ministries. If one link in the chain fails, a child may be left alone with trauma whose effects can last for years. That is why the event aims to bring together all stakeholders involved in the process on a single platform, with the child’s own voice serving as the starting point.
Topics for discussion:
- Teenagers Tymofii, Olia and Serhii will share their personal experiences. The discussion will be moderated by Kyrylo Nevdokha, Head of the “DIYMO” Children and Youth Office under Ukraine’s Ministry of Social Policy.
- The launch of a school-based reintegration mentoring programme as a systemic response to the challenges of war.
- The experience of psychologists, case managers and social workers.
- Presentation of the analytical study “Returning Childhood: Psychological Support for Children on the Path to Reintegration,” focusing on the psychological and psychosocial reintegration of children in Ukraine.
Panel discussions will feature representatives of government institutions, international organizations and experts, including Olena Rozvadovska (co-founder of the charitable foundation Voices of Children), Iryna Tuliakova (Coordination Center for the Development of Family-Based Care), Oleksandra Dvoretska (the President of Ukraine’s Bring Kids Back UA initiative), Van Chi Pham (UNICEF Ukraine), Anastasiia Konovalova (Deputy Minister of Education and Science), and Member of Parliament Roman Hryshchuk.
Participants will also be able to explore children’s stories through the photo exhibition “A Thread: Transformation Instead of Brokenness,” created by the Voices of Children charitable foundation together with photographer Marta Syrko.
The event will take place in Kyiv on June 23. Journalists can review the full programme of the event. Accreditation is required to attend.
