Themes by tag: Kyiv
On May 23, Kyiv will host a commemorative gathering marking the Day of the Marine Corps of Armed Forces of Ukraine, bringing together families of prisoners of war, veterans, fellow service members, and supporters from across the country.
Observed annually, Marine Corps Day honors Ukraine’s elite fighting force – soldiers who are first to respond, operate in the most dangerous conditions, and remain steadfast in their duty.
This year, the date carries added weight. For the third consecutive year, hundreds of Ukrainian marines remain in enemy captivity. These are the defenders of Mariupol, Vodiane, Pavlopil, and Shyrokyne, soldiers who followed orders in the fiercest battles and were taken prisoner. Many are still unaccounted for.
The Kyiv event will offer a space for remembrance, solidarity, and public support. The program includes:
– A formal ceremony honoring the Marines;
– A moment of silence for the fallen;
– Remarks from recently released POWs and families who have endured three years of waiting;
– A musical and spoken-word segment featuring veterans, artists, and volunteers;
– Open mic: an opportunity for attendees to share words of support;
For reference: Organized by the “Marine Corps Strength” Association
On May 21, a press conference titled “Ukraine’s Signing of the High Seas Treaty: Why It Matters” will take place in Kyiv, bringing together environmental experts, diplomats, and policymakers to spotlight the country’s support for the landmark international treaty.
Adopted by the United Nations in 2023, the High Seas Treaty aims to safeguard marine biodiversity in international waters, areas of the ocean that fall outside national jurisdictions. The treaty introduces a legal framework for creating marine protected areas and implementing environmental impact assessments, offering new tools to address climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution on a global scale.
Despite lacking direct access to the open ocean, Ukraine stands to benefit significantly from the agreement. The treaty opens up opportunities for scientific research and strengthens the foundation for the growth of maritime industries, including high seas fishing, shipping, and the development of marine-based pharmaceuticals and chemicals.
The event will explore the relevance of the agreement for Ukraine, particularly amid the ongoing war, and its long-term implications for environmental governance, scientific cooperation, and economic resilience.
Speakers:
– Natalia Gozak, Moderator, Director of the Greenpeace Ukraine Office;
– Serhii Khara, Environmental Campaigner, Greenpeace Ukraine;
– Alexandre Basbous, Second Counselor, Embassy of France in Ukraine;
– Viktor Komorin, Acting Director, Ukrainian Scientific Center of the Ecology of the Sea (UkrSCES) (online);
– Yuliia Ovchynnykova, Member of the Parliament of Ukraine, Committee on Environmental Policy and Nature Management (online).
This May and June, the Hospitallers medical battalion will conduct a series of tactical medicine courses for volunteer medics and civilians. The program features the NAEMT’s Tactical Combat Casualty Care – Combat Lifesaver (TCCC-CLS) course, along with trauma first aid, bleeding control, and simulation-based training. Courses will be held in Kyiv, Lviv, Dnipro, and throughout the Dnipropetrovsk region.
Journalists may attend and cover the sessions with prior approval.
For reference: Active on the front lines since 2014, the Hospitallers medical battalion carries out dozens of evacuations each day across nearly the entire combat zone. The team has been training others in tactical medicine since 2015 and in first aid since 2018. Instructors are certified by the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians (NAEMT), the Ukrainian Military Medical Academy (UVMA), and other recognized institutions.
The Georgiy Gongadze Prize will host a public discussion featuring the three finalists for the 2025 award: Ivan Liubysh-Kirdei, Olha Rudenko, and Mykhailo Tkach. Titled “In the Spotlight of Truth,” the event will take place on May 19 at Media Center Ukraine in Kyiv.
Attendees will engage in a wide-ranging dialogue with the nominees, with an opportunity to ask questions and share personal reflections. The conversation will be moderated by writer and human rights advocate Larysa Denysenko.
Ivan Liubysh-Kirdei is a photographer and war correspondent for Reuters. While on assignment in Kramatorsk in August 2024, he was wounded in a russian artillery attack, spent several months in a coma, and is currently undergoing rehabilitation.
Olha Rudenko is the editor-in-chief and co-founder of The Kyiv Independent, a leading English-language publication about Ukraine. The publication was launched in 2021 by 30 of the 50 staff members dismissed from the editorial team of the Kyiv Post. Rudenko was also a finalist for the 2024 Gongadze Prize.
Mykhailo Tkach is an investigative journalist who has headed Ukrainska Pravda’s investigative department since 2021. During this time, he has published dozens of high-profile reports exposing corruption and abuse of power, increasing government transparency and accountability, and driving positive change in Ukraine.
Event registration is required to attend.
Background: The event is organized with the support of Media Center Ukraine.
The winner of the 2025 Gongadze Prize will be announced on May 21 during the award’s seventh annual ceremony.
On May 16, the Media Center Ukraine will host a press conference: “Hepatitis A cases on the rise in Kyiv: City officials respond to growing public health concern”
Participants:
– Nataliia Hunchenko, Deputy Director General of the Kyiv Center for Disease Control and Prevention of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine
Key topics:
– Scope and location of the hepatitis A outbreak in Kyiv;
– Identified sources and transmission routes: what do we know so far?
– How city authorities and healthcare providers are responding to the surge in infections;
– Hepatitis A prevention: essential steps residents can take to protect themselves and their families;
– The broader epidemiological landscape in Kyiv.
Anatolii Levchenko is a theater professional from Mariupol who, in 2015, spearheaded a new chapter in the city’s cultural life by launching contemporary Ukrainian productions at a theater once designated as “russian.”
He and his wife, Hanna, were caregivers for their nonverbal autistic son and Hanna’s 90-year-old mother. Because of these responsibilities, the Levchenkos were unable to evacuate Mariupol quickly after the russian invasion began. They managed to leave only in May 2022. But just one day before their departure, Anatolii was detained by russian forces, following a denunciation from former colleagues in the theater who had aligned themselves with the occupying authorities.
At first, Hanna had no idea where her husband had been taken. She later learned that he had been accused of extremism and transferred to russian-occupied Donetsk. For more than 10 months, she sent him clothing, medication, and letters to the detention center. Occasionally, Anatolii was allowed to call her late at night. During this time, Hanna managed life on her own, caring for their son, sourcing food and water, and cooking over an open fire alongside neighbors.
On March 9, 2023, she received a phone call: Anatolii was being released. His health had significantly deteriorated after nearly a year in detention. That summer, the family reached Ukrainian-controlled territory, first relocating to Kropyvnytskyi. A year later, they moved to Kyiv. Today, Anatolii has resumed his work in theater.
He is available for conversations both online and in person in the capital, with prior arrangement.
For reference: The defense of Mariupol lasted 86 days. On May 20, 2022, the city fell under russian occupation. According to Human Rights Watch, at least 8,000 civilians were killed during the siege. Thousands more were injured, many lost limbs, vision, hearing, or memory, often due to blast-related head trauma. Of Mariupol’s pre-war population of 540,000, approximately 400,000 had fled by mid-May 2022.
A new initiative, Heroes Glory Golf, has launched in the Kyiv region, providing free golf training for Ukrainian military veterans. Tailored for those with combat experience, the program offers:
– golf instruction;
– participation in tournaments and competitions;
– outdoor recreation in a nature reserve;
– peer support and new connections within the veteran community.
The program aims to help veterans transition to civilian life through physical activity, skill-building, and a sense of community. Participation is entirely free of charge.
Eight women veterans have already enrolled, and recruitment for additional teams remains open.
Journalists may attend training sessions near Kyiv by prior arrangement.
Background: Heroes Glory Golf is organized by Heroes Glory, a veteran service organization, and is supported by the DTCare Foundation and the Women Veterans Movement.
On May 14, Kyiv will host the event “Tools to Support Veterans’ Employment,” which will feature the launch of the Veteran’s Career employment platform and a discussion of findings from a study examining the challenges, needs, and barriers male and female veterans face when seeking employment.
The event will bring together representatives from government agencies, the business community, the public sector, veteran organizations, analysts, and HR professionals.
Speakers:
– Iryna Vereshchuk, Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine;
– Natalia Kalmykova, Minister for Veterans Affairs of Ukraine;
– Yulia Kirillova, Deputy Minister for Veterans Affairs of Ukraine;
– Karina Doroshenko, Executive Director of the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation;
– Olha Halchenko, Manager of the Civil Resilience Program, International Renaissance Foundation;
– Christina Linichenko, Corporate Affairs, Sustainability and ESG Consultant; Government Relations and Philanthropy Manager, McDonald’s;
– Andrii Nesmachnyi, Veteran and Entrepreneur;
– Anastasia Selyaninova, Analyst, Ukrainian Veterans Foundation;
– Anna-Maria Sabov, HR expert, HR Influencer 2024;
The event will be moderated by veteran, photographer, and public figure Dmytro “Orest” Kozatskyi, along with Anastasiia Rashchenko, Deputy Executive Director of the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation.
Advance registration is required.
For reference: The event is organized by the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation under the Ministry of Veterans Affairs of Ukraine as part of the Development of Tools to Support the Employment of Veterans project, with support from the International Renaissance Foundation.
On May 13, The Media Center Ukraine will host a briefing: “How to overhaul humanitarian assistance accounting: Unveiling a new concept for improving the automated humanitarian aid registration system”
Participants:
– Yulia Panura, Consultant on Taxation of CSOs and Charitable Activities, Ukrainian Center for Independent Political Research (UCIPR);
– Yaryna Pokhodai, Legislation Analyst, UCIPR;
– Yurii Yuzych, Advisor to the Minister of Social Policy of Ukraine;
– Liudmyla Khlan, Representative, Ukrainian State Enterprise “Information and Computing Center” (ICC) of the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine;
– Representative of the European Center for Not-for-Profit Law Stichting (online).
Background: Since the onset of russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine has received an unprecedented volume of humanitarian assistance. Yet the current registration system remains outdated and often counterproductive. Aid organizations continue to report delays and difficulties with customs clearance, documentation, and coordination with government bodies.
In response, experts at the Ukrainian Center for Independent Political Research have designed a comprehensive modernization concept aimed at streamlining logistics, reducing bureaucratic hurdles, and strengthening oversight. The upgraded system is expected to help both state agencies and civil society actors operate more effectively ensuring the delivery of crisis aid to the areas of greatest need.
On May 13 the War Museum will host a meeting of the discussion platform “Our Victory: Ukraine in the Second World War” and presentation of the popular scientific publication “Ukraine in the Second World War. War Calendar” as part of the Museum’s “Our Victory” campaign dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the end of the Second World War in Europe and the victory over Nazism.
Speakers of the platform:
- Volodymyr Viatrovych, Candidate of Historical Sciences, politician, public figure, People’s Deputy of Ukraine of the IX convocation, 2nd Head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory;
- Yaroslav Hrytsak, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor of the Ukrainian Catholic University;
- Oleksandr Lysenko, Corresponding Member of the NAS of Ukraine, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor at the Institute of History of Ukraine of the NAS of Ukraine;
- Ivan Patryliak, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, Dean of the Faculty of History at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv;
- Olena Stiazhkina, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor at the Institute of Ukrainian History of the NAS of Ukraine.
Participants:
- Oleksandr Alfiorov, Candidate of Historical Sciences, historian, radio host, public and political activist, research fellow at the Institute of Ukrainian History, NAS of Ukraine;
- Akim Halimov, founder of the “Real History” project, producer at 1+1 Media;
- Anton Drobovych, Candidate of Philosophical Sciences, public and state figure, expert in communication, education and culture, 3rd Head of the Ukrainian Institute of National Memory.
- Oleksandr Zinchenko, historian, publicist, journalist, TV presenter, co-founder of the online publication “Istorychna Pravda”;
- Vladlen Maraiev, candidate of historical sciences, co-author of the YouTube channel “History without myths”;
- Vitalii Nakhmanovych, historian, ethnopolitical scientist, museum curator and public activist, leading researcher at the Kyiv History Museum.
Discussion topics: how Ukraine constructs the memory of the end of World War II; victory or defeat, occupation or liberation: World War II in Ukrainian public discourse; what changes have occurred in the concepts and practices of World War II commemoration in connection with russia’s current war against Ukraine.
Registration is required for the event.
