Themes by tag: Kyiv

Serhii Railian, a sergeant in Ukraine’s Air Assault Forces from Mykolaiv, carries the scars of war both seen and unseen. At 28, with three military contracts behind him, he has endured profound loss and emerged with a story of resilience.

In 2014, Serhii enrolled in university, aspiring to a career as a programmer. But a year later, at 18, he signed his first military contract and was sent to the front lines.

By late 2021, Serhii had married and was preparing to leave military service. Those plans were shattered when russia launched a full-blown war. He first encountered the intensity of the renewed conflict near Shchastia in Luhansk. In November of that year, while serving in Donetsk, an anti-tank mine claimed both his legs and his eyesight. Serhii survived a coma, but doctors were unable to restore his vision.

Recently, Serhii graduated from the Pottery in the Dark project at the EthnoChary art space in Vinnytsia. The program brought together ten participants from across Ukraine, offering them the chance to learn the fundamentals of pottery. Beyond teaching a craft, the project aims to empower participants to continue working with clay independently. Every graduate received a junior pottery wheel, along with a complete set of tools and materials to pursue their work at home. For Serhii, this has sparked the idea of launching his own pottery business.

Journalists can arrange interviews with Serhii either offline or online in Kyiv. Viktoriia Nikolaieva, a mentor for the Pottery in the Dark project in Vinnytsia, is also available for comment. An exhibition featuring pottery by blind veterans is scheduled in Vinnytsia at the end of September.

The Pottery in the Dark project was organized by the Center for Socially Inclusive Partnership in collaboration with EthnoChary, as part of the Enhanced Partnership for Sustainable Recovery (EPSR) initiative. The project is funded by the Swedish government through the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) and implemented in Ukraine by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

• casualties
• culture
• military
• Kyiv
• Vinnytsia

On September 2, the Media Center Ukraine will host a briefing “Lawsuit by the State Service on Ethnic Policy for the liquidation of the Kyiv Metropolis of the UOC (MP)”

Participants:

• Viktor Yelenskyi, Head of the State Service of Ukraine on Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience (in person). 

Key topics:

• Recognition of the UOC-MP as affiliated with a foreign religious organization, the Russian Orthodox Church; 
• The Kyiv Metropolis’s failure to comply with Ukrainian state requirements;
• The government’s next legal steps. 

Background: The State Service of Ukraine on Ethnic Policy and Freedom of Conscience (DESS) has filed a lawsuit to strip the Kyiv Metropolis of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of the Moscow Patriarchate (UOC-MP) of its legal status. The agency previously recognized the church as affiliated with the Russian Orthodox Church and demanded proof of independence from Moscow. The Kyiv Metropolis refused to comply, prompting the case to move into the court system. This marks the first lawsuit, setting a significant precedent in Ukraine’s religious policy and national security.

• religion
• Kyiv

On September 2, the Media Center Ukraine will host a briefing “No roof over their heads: Ukraine’s freed civilians face housing crisis despite legal rights”

Participants:

• Ihor Kotelianets, Head of the Association of Relatives of Political Prisoners of the Kremlin;
• Svitlana Odintsova, Legal Analyst at the Association of Relatives of Political Prisoners of the Kremlin;
• Serhii Davydiuk, Recently Released from Illegal Detention;
• Representative of the Ministry of Social Policy, Family and Unity of Ukraine;
• Representative of the Zaporizhia Oblast Military Administration (online);
• Representative of the Bucha City Council in the Kyiv region (online). 

Key topics:

• Do freed civilians receive state-provided housing?
• Gaps in legislation and local enforcement;
• How state decisions translate into action at the community level;
• What must change to guarantee housing rights after release?

Registration is required to attend the event.

• casualties
• Kyiv

On September 6, the first “Dragon Boat Kyiv – 2025” festival will be held in the capital of Ukraine, featuring unique races on dragon boats among military personnel, and veterans, including those with disabilities.

Twenty teams are expected to participate, with boats designed for 10 or 20 rowers. During the competition, participants will complete three 200-meter races: qualifying rounds, semifinals, and finals. The sports festival will conclude with a solemn bonfire to honor fallen warriors.

Background: The organizers of the event are the Communal Enterprise “Military Sport” and the Sports Club “Mala Flotylyia”.

• culture
• Kyiv

This September, hundreds of Ukrainians and friends of Ukraine will once again gather at the starting line to send a clear message: every prisoner must come home. Registration is now open for the annual advocacy race Run for Freedom, launched on the initiative of students at the Kyiv School of Economics together with historian and professor Timothy Snyder.

The race is set for September 13 in Kyiv, with participants able to choose between 1.5 km and 10 km distances.

For the second consecutive year, Timothy Snyder, professor, UNITED24 ambassador, and longtime friend of Ukraine, will personally take part in the run. Joining him will be military personnel and veterans freed from captivity, families of defenders still in captivity, and all those committed to supporting the return of Ukrainians held by russia.

Participation is free for service members, veterans, and families of prisoners.

After covering organizational costs, the KSE Foundation will direct all proceeds from ticket sales to support Ukraine’s Defense Forces, with a full public report on how the funds are used.

Last year, more than 1,000 Ukrainians joined the Run for Freedom.

Journalists must be accredited to cover the event.

For reference: Organizers include KSE Foundation, DefDev, the national RECOVERY network of rehabilitation centers for wounded soldiers, and the Heart of Azovstal project supporting Mariupol’s defenders. Media partners are ShoTam media outlet, 1+1 Ukraine TV channel, and Interfax-Ukraine news agency.

• culture
• Kyiv

On August 29, the Media Center Ukraine will host a briefing “Violations of diplomatic norms toward Ukraine and growing tolerance for sanctions evasion: New study exposes russian propaganda in Spanish media”

Participants:

– Dmytro Kornienko, political scientist, founder of the Resurgam International Information and Analytical Community (in person). 

Key topics:

– The scope and quality of Spanish media coverage of russia’s invasion of Ukraine;

– Spanish authors and experts flagged for breaching journalistic standards or promoting russian propaganda and placed in the Resurgam’s “red zone”;

– Key sources and cases of russian disinformation, fakes, and manipulations in Spanish-speaking media;

– Presentation of an open online platform for verifying the reliability of foreign media outlets and journalists, designed to reveal ties to russia or conflicts of interest.

• Kyiv

On August 29, the Media Center Ukraine will host a briefing “Between Bakhmut and russian colonies: The search for three thousand missing soldiers in battles with PMC Wagner”

Participants:

– Svitlana Merkulova, representative of the I Will Definitely Return Families’ Community;

– Olena Belyachkova, coordinator for families of POWs and missing persons groups, Media Initiative for Human Rights;

– Volodymyr Bilenko, representative of the Search Department of the Central Department of Civil-Military Cooperation of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine; 

– Anastasiia Shydlovska, head of the department of the Office for Missing Persons in Special Circumstances of the Secretariat of the Commissioner for Missing Persons in Special Circumstances of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. 

Key topics:

– Why is it so difficult to determine the fate of those who went missing in battles with the russian private military company Wagner?

– Current search efforts and the tools that are still lacking;

– How to support families who have been left facing uncertainty for years.

• Kyiv

On August 29, Ukrainians will honor the memory of the defenders who lost their lives protecting their homeland. The nationwide moment of silence will be observed at 9:00 AM in the following cities:

Kyiv, Lviv, Khmelnytskyi, Bila Tserkva, Khorol, Chernihiv, Vinnytsia, Poltava, Stryi, Uzhhorod, Myrhorod, Rivne, Ivano-Frankivsk, Kharkiv, Dnipro, Odesa.

Ukrainian businesses, including Ukrzaliznytsia (Ukrainian Railways), are also joining the initiative.

Journalists are invited to cover the event and speak with organizers from the VSHANUI NGO.

• dead
• military
• Kyiv

Maksym Kolesnykov defended Ukraine during the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO) when russia first attacked the East and occupied Crimea. On February 24, 2022, he joined the Ukrainian military once again. Alongside his fellow soldiers, he guarded a facility in Hostomel, Kyiv Oblast. In March 2022, Russians captured Maksym and held him captive for 10 months. He says that during his imprisonment, he endured starvation and torture.

Maksym returned to his homeland on February 4, 2023. A photo was taken during the prisoner exchange of Maksym gazing at an apple — a poignant moment, as he had not seen fresh fruit or vegetables during his captivity. This image quickly spread across the media and social networks.

After rehabilitation, he decided to return to service. Now, in collaboration with the charity foundation Vesta, Maksym gives lectures to social workers who assist veterans on how to communicate with former prisoners of war. The primary goal is to improve interactions with former captives and prevent retraumatization.

Interviews with Maksym Kolesnykov can be arranged online or in person in Kyiv with prior agreement.

• casualties
• military
• prisoners
• russian crimes
• Kyiv

On August 28, the exhibition Ukraine in Miniature, marking the 34th anniversary of Ukraine’s independence, will open in the Refectory Chamber of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra National Reserve.

The exhibition showcases 3D models of iconic architectural landmarks, from Kyiv’s St. Sophia Cathedral and Lviv’s St. George’s Cathedral to the Ivano-Frankivsk Drama Theater and Hotel Ukraine in Luhansk, painstakingly recreated by the Skeiron studio team.

Several of the structures now exist only in digital form, including the Donetsk Drama Theater in Mariupol and the Skovoroda Museum in the Kharkiv region, both destroyed during russia’s invasion.

The exhibition incorporates advanced technologies, offering VR tours, musical works by Ukrainian composers, and video installations that give the monuments “voices” and allow visitors to immerse themselves in their atmosphere. The project has already been shown in Finland, Latvia, France, Hungary, and Germany, and will now be presented in Kyiv for the first time.

Accreditation is required to attend the event.

• culture
• Kyiv