Themes by tag: Kyiv

The Ukrainian YouTube channel “Zahіn Kinomaniv” and the Serhiy Prytula Charitable Foundation will host a closed charity premiere of the film “The Kurbas Phenomenon” in Kyiv on October 16.

“The Kurbas Phenomenon” is a documentary film about the Ukrainian director, actor, playwright, founder of the Young Theatre and the Berezil Theatre, Les Kurbas. It tells the story of a man who created beautiful things in the darkest of times, and how one person can change an entire industry and inspire an entire generation.

The film was made by the team of “Zahіn Kinomaniv”, the authors are Vitaliy Gordienko and Stanislav Veselskyi. The composer is Ehor Hrushyn and the animation was made by Anastasiia Falileieva.

The event will be attended by members of the film team, as well as Ukrainian public figures and bloggers. The presentation will include a charity auction of exclusive film merchandise designed by the team.

Prior accreditation is required.

• culture
• Kyiv

A command and staff exercise to simulate the evacuation of people from a residential multi-storey building will take place in Irpin, Kyiv Oblast. 

The main goal of the exercise is to train the coordination of actions of authorities and their subordinate emergency services in the event of an emergency.

The exercises will involve 15 units of specialized equipment and more than 50 emergency responders, including fire, police, utility, medical and public safety services.

Journalists will need to be accredited for the event.

Note: The event date is to be confirmed.

• Kyiv

Tyler and Nikki Chay are a couple of athletes from the USA. The couple launched the project “Don’t Can’t for Ukraine”, as part of which Tyler and Nikki have entered the third week of marathons. Five days a week, the runners cover the distance from the Romanian border to Zaporizhia. The goal of the project is to run 1,250 kilometers to support Ukraine and remind the world that the war between russia and Ukraine still goes on. In addition, the couple aims to raise funds for the Mariupol Chaplains Battalion and the Pilgrim Republic orphanage, which was forced to evacuate from Mariupol.

Since the project began, Tyler and Nikki have run 22 marathons and covered over 1,000 kilometers. On October 15, the couple will arrive in the capital to run their final leg from the Motherland monument to St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Cathedral. The athletes invite journalists to a press conference that will be held on Mykhailivs’ka Square after the marathon.

• volunteers
• Kyiv

On October 15, the Media Center Ukraine will host a press conference to introduce the project “Kobzarstvo. Epic Tradition” along with unveiling the DUMA portal, designed to bolster the recognition of UNESCO’s “Safeguarding Programme for the Kobza and Wheel Lyre Tradition” and to preserve and promote the culture of Ukrainian kobzars.

The event will also showcase various creative elements of the project, including live performances by kobza musicians, educational films, and kobza “business cards.” Attendees will learn about the important role kobzars have played throughout history, especially during times of war.

Participants:

– Oles Sanin, Ukrainian filmmaker, actor, producer, and lyre player;

– Taras Kompanichenko, cultural activist, kobzar, bandura and lyre player, senior soldier of the 241st Separate Territorial Defence Brigade;

– Mykola Tovkailo, kobzar, archaeologist, priest, and leader of the Kyiv-based Kobzarskyi Tsekh (Kobzar Guild);

– Taras Dorotskyi, kobzar, lyre player, and member of the Lviv-based Kobzarskyi Tsekh (Kobzar Guild). 

For reference:

In late 2022, the “Kobzar-Lirnyk Tradition” (kobzarstvo) was added to Ukraine’s National List of Intangible Cultural Heritage. This year, Ukraine submitted a nomination for the “Safeguarding Programme of Kobza and Wheel Lyre Tradition” to be included in UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage List, with the Ukrainian request prioritized for 2024 review.

Additionally, October 17 marks the International Day of Intangible Cultural Heritage.

• culture
• Kyiv

The Kyiv Unbroken Marathon will return to the capital on October 12-13, with ambitious plans to raise UAH 10 million for charitable causes. Since its inception in 2010, the marathon has centered on philanthropy, and this year, proceeds will benefit the Ukrainian army and various charitable initiatives.

The event will see participation from soldiers who are recovering from injuries, including Invictus Games champion Volodymyr Tovkis and marines Rostyslav Prystupa and Dmytro Tereshchenko, among others.

Participants can choose from multiple race distances, including 42 km, 21 km, 10 km, 5 km, and a 1.6 km option, with children’s races also scheduled.

Although the race’s founder, Dmytro Chernitskyi, and project manager, Ivan Tretyakov, have been mobilized into the Defense Forces, the organizational team is committed to ensuring the event’s success.

• military
• Kyiv

On October 13, Kyiv will host a gathering of veterans enrolled in the Veteran’s Hut program, an initiative aimed at preparing veterans and their families to serve as professional psychologists for other service members. The event will feature a tango therapy session and include the signing of a Memorandum of Cooperation between the Kyiv Region Security Police and the Veteran’s Hut NGO, solidifying joint efforts in educational, cultural, and social projects.

The event will bring together veterans from the program’s inaugural cohort, currently pursuing master’s degrees in psychology, along with new participants set to begin their training at the end of October. Leading the tango therapy session will be Yurii Kadyrov, who specializes in using dance as a rehabilitation tool to support the physical and emotional recovery of combatants and their families.

For context: The Veteran’s Hut project launched in spring 2024, offering psychological rehabilitation and university preparation for veterans. Designed by Psy.D. Oleksandr Tkachenko, a veteran of the russia-Ukraine war, the program aims to train veterans to work effectively with their peers. The first cohort comprised 20 participants, most of whom are now enrolled in the psychology program at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.

Yurii Kadyrov, a Kyiv native, previously lived and ran a business in Crimea before the 2014 russian occupation forced him to abandon his home and livelihood on the peninsula. Today, he uses his experience and training to aid other veterans in their recovery journey.

The event is organized by the Kyiv Region Security Police.

• military
• psychological support
• Kyiv

Olha Hrabovska combines her work as a strategic communications manager for an international organization with volunteering. When Olha learned about the urgent need for drones on the front lines, she decided that she should try to make at least one. Olha even involved her family – her father and sister – in assembling the “kakanchyky drones”, as she affectionately calls them because they remind her of cockatoo birds.

Olha raised money for the parts online, ordered the components, and picked up a soldering iron. She built her first drone following a video tutorial and under the close supervision of her father, who eventually took over most of the soldering. Since then, Olha and her family have managed to send 80 drones, or five “flocks” as she calls them, to the front lines.

Olha Hrabovska is based in Kyiv. She is available to speak with journalists both online and offline by prior arrangement.

• volunteers
• women
• Kyiv

On October 5 and 6 the premiere of the play “Among Three” based on the work of the Kherson writer Alona Movchan and directed by Nadia Ageeva-Shved will take place on the chamber stage of the National Operetta of Ukraine. This is a joint project of the National Operetta of Ukraine and the Kherson Regional Academic Theater named after Mykola Kulish. The play “Among Three” tells the story of the peaceful Kherson that everyone misses, about small problems that seem global but are easily solved, about relationships, humor and love that can save the world.

Background: Kherson was occupied by russians at the beginning of the full-scale invasion (March 1, 2022). Ukrainian forces liberated the city from russian troops on November 11, 2022. The occupiers continue to shell the city on a regular basis.

• culture
• Kyiv

Over 130 people will participate in the Congress, including active women from Donetsk region, representatives of the Government and Parliament of Ukraine, regional and local authorities of Donetsk region, the security and defense sector, Ukrainian and international politicians, business and donor organizations, media. Thousands will join the event via a live stream on Facebook.

The goals of the Second Congress of Women of Donetsk region are

• To draw attention to the situation of women in the region and the impact of the war (forced displacement, traumatic experiences, damage inflicted, increasing violence against women);
• To highlight the key role of active women in overcoming the humanitarian crisis in the region and to develop a strategy to increase their participation in the post-war recovery and reconstruction processes in Ukraine.

Organizers: SMARTA NGO and Donetsk Regional State Administration with the support of UN Women in Ukraine.

For reference: On October 4-5, 2021, Kramatorsk hosted the First Congress of Women of Donetsk Region on the theme “Towards Gender Equality in the Context of Ukraine’s International Commitments”. The event brought together more than 150 offline participants. About 3000 people watched the event stream. 

• women
• Kyiv

Folklorist Yaryna Sizyk, animation director Mariia Ozirna, and the Kherson Art Museum named after Oleksii Shovkunenko have launched a project dedicated to the paintings stolen by russians during the occupation of the city. According to the estimates of the museum staff, the occupiers stole about ten thousand works of art.

The goal of the project is to try to recreate what was taken by the russians. So far, the team has “reproduced” Mykhailo Bryansky’s (1830-1908) painting “Portrait of a Girl in an Embroidered Dress.” The painting wasn’t just repainted, it was modernized and animated. Ukrainian model and singer Dariia Astafieva helped bring it to life as the artists transformed her into the girl in the embroidered dress from the stolen canvas. For the animation, the team used a shirt embroidered during the occupation by Inna Mykutska, a Kherson guide.

They also recreated the oil painting by Serhii Vasylkivsky (1854-1917) “Cossacks in the Steppe.” Ukrainian soldiers Roman “Dobryak” Kolesnyk and Stanislav “Ref” Zorii took part in the reproduction of this painting. Yaryna and Mariia added the Ukrainian folk song “Oh, There Beyond the Seas…” performed by the band Shchuka-Ryba to this animation.

The founders of the project are now preparing the next restorations and are in talks with Ukrainian influencers.

Yaryna Sizyk and Mariia Ozirna are available for interviews with journalists in Kyiv.

For reference: The russians occupied Kherson at the beginning of the full-scale invasion (March 1, 2022). Ukrainian forces liberated the city from russian troops on November 11, 2022. The occupiers continue to shell the city on a regular basis.

• culture
• russian crimes
• Kherson
• Kyiv