Themes by tag: occupation

The Ukrainian VR project “FIRST DAY” directed by Valeriy Korshunov and produced by Svitlana Korshunova will be presented for the first time at the 80th Venice International Film Festival.

FIRST DAY is a fully immersive first-person VR experience that transports the visitor to the first day of russia’s full-scale invasion, and allows them to experience the internal transformation that Ukrainians went through on February 24, 2022.

The project is based on the stories of real people. The viewer will be able to see the houses of Borodyanka and Bucha destroyed by invaders’ shells. Along with a large number of other artifacts of the war, the buildings were scanned and then reproduced in virtual space.

The project will be presented in Ukraine on September 7. At the closed press event, journalists will have an opportunity to visit the project’s virtual location in VR helmets, talk with the authors of the project and the founders of Venice Immersive in a live virtual format. Residents of Borodyanka and Hostomel, who witnessed the occupation and who can share their experiences, are also invited to the project presentation.

Prior accreditation is required.

For reference: The 80th Venice International Film Festival began on August 30 and will last until September 9.

• culture
• occupation
• russian crimes

Before becoming a farmer, Natalia Koval taught at the Kharkiv National University of Economics. In 2011, her husband suggested starting a farm and Natalia agreed. In 2022, their family farm in one of the villages of Kharkiv region had more than three hundred cows and 12 employees. With the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the farm was occupied.

Families with children remained in the village, and the farm became their salvation. After all, milk was distributed there for free, as well as bread baked by farm employees. The farm had its own generator, and thus electricity. Sometimes one could even catch a mobile connection there.

Occupiers took Natalia’s husband “to the basement,” he miraculously managed to get out. Today, the farm is recovering after all the horrors it experienced.

For reference: on September 6, 2022, Ukrainian troops launched a major counteroffensive in Kharkiv region. Subsequently, Kharkiv region was completely de-occupied.

• animals
• occupation
• volunteers
• women
• Kharkiv

On September 1, a briefing “School education under Russian occupation: Incitement to hatred and destruction of Ukrainian identity.”

Participants:

– Peter Pomerantsev, British journalist, specialist in media and propaganda in modern Russia (online);

– Yevhen Bondarenko, Head of the Information Support Department of the Mission of the President of Ukraine in the AR of Crimea (in person);

– Valentina Potapova, Head of the Direction of National Advocacy Department of the Almenda Center for Civic Education (in person);

– Anastasiia Vorobiova, analyst at Almenda (online);

Topics of focus:

– Narratives that Russia imposes on children in the Russia-controlled territories through textbooks;

– How Russia’s educational propaganda is gaining momentum. What to expect soon? How does Russian propaganda affect children, and what is its effectiveness?

– Legal assessment of Russia’s actions to impose Russian education on the temporarily occupied territories. Is it possible to bring to justice the authors and distributors of the textbook?

– What to do after de-occupation, how to reintegrate youth and children. Strategy from the Ukraine President’s Mission in the AR of Crimea.

For reference: On September 1, a new academic year begins for children from occupied territories. For some, it will be the 10th year, and for others, it will be the second year of living in such circumstances. For all these years, Russia has been using education for propaganda purposes, destroying the Ukrainian identity of children and militarizing them. And school textbooks are an integral tool.

• children
• occupation
• russian crimes

Since the fall of 2019, Nataliia Haietska has been the head of the “Mariupol Zero Waste” initiative group, which includes “Eco Gurt” (eco team) environmental NGO. She has also been an activist in Mariupol. Her activity began with large waste sorting centers in Mariupol. Her team also introduced waste sorting in about 100 housing co-ops of the city. In 2020, the team engaged in environmental education for adults, children and students. They held the first eco-festival in Mariupol and launched a project to implement waste sorting and composting in Mariupol hospitality establishments and parts of Pryazovia area. Their plans were to cover the entire hospitality industry of the region.

Nataliia was caught by russia’s full-scale invasion in Mariupol. She could not leave in the first days because of sick parents. The woman had to survive under the siege for three weeks – under shelling and bombing. Upon receiving help, together with her parents, she was evacuated to Zaporizhia. Then they got to Lviv by evacuation train.

Despite the war, Nataliia together with her colleagues from Kherson in 2022 implemented an international project on making the hospitality sector of Ukraine greener. This year, it was scaled up to the current project “Restoration and Modernization of Hospitality Establishments Based on Zero Waste & Climate Friendly Principles for the Sustainable Development of Ukrainian Communities.” Personnel of about 40 hospitality establishments from all over the country received training, and 10 establishments from 7 regions were chosen for direct offline work.

• ecology
• occupation

On August 24, the Independence Day of Ukraine, Lithuanian high-ranking officials, together with representatives of the local administration, will open a kindergarten restored by Lithuania in Irpin, Kyiv region. The officials will then talk to media representatives.

Lithuania rebuilt the largest kindergarten in the city in just eight months after it had been almost completely destroyed by russian troops. The project budget exceeded EUR 4.8 million.

Pre-registration is required.

For reference: This kindergarten sustained the most damage among all the kindergartens in Irpin community. As a result of repeated shelling and fire, the facility was 75% damaged.

• occupation
• reconstruction
• russian crimes

14-year-old Matvii Hlazunov fled the war twice: in 2014 from Avdiivka in Donetsk region to Izyum in Kharkiv region, and in 2022 his family was forced to move to Mukachevo in Zakarpattia region. The boy reflects on these events in his animated films. He makes each character and designs each stage himself, then captures all the movements on camera and edits the cartoon. In 2021, his film “Melissa” won the Grand Prix at the Children Kinofest International Festival. The following year, with the film “Black February”, Matvii won in the festival’s nomination “Best animated film.” “Down the Rock” is the latest and the third cartoon by the young artist, which made it to the finals of the Children Kinofest.

Important notice: Matvii and his family are currently in Odesa, ready to talk with journalists, both online and offline.

• children
• culture
• occupation

An exhibition of Russian military equipment destroyed during the war will be held in Kyiv. It is currently being assembled on Khreshchatyk. The exhibits include damaged Russian tanks, armored personnel carriers, and destroyed missiles. In total, there are plans to display more than 50 pieces. 

Journalists can learn more about the exhibits from a representative of the National Military History Museum of Ukraine.

• occupation
• russian crimes
• Kyiv

The sculpture “Cruise Missile” by artist Illia Chornomaz consists of fragments of shells that were hitting the Kharkiv region. During the first days of the enemy invasion, the 24-year-old man was hiding in his workshop. And then he got down to work. Illia spent a year of his life and 500 kilograms of Russian missile fragments on the metal sculpture. He managed to find and collect all the material, thanks to the rescuers. With his sculpture, Illia wants to show the importance of art even in such challenging times. And it also aims to demonstrate the tension experienced by a person who has been living in war for two consecutive years. The “Cruise Missile” is planned to be sold at auction, and the proceeds will be used to support the military defending the Kharkiv region. 

Illia Chornomaz is in Kharkiv, ready to talk to journalists, both online and in person. 

• culture
• occupation
• russian crimes
• Kharkiv

On August 22, Kyiv will host two panel discussions and a special event by the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People within the framework of the Third Summit of the International Crimea Platform. The goal is to give a background for the discussions that will take place at the Third Summit of the International Crimea Platform: to discuss ways to liberate temporarily occupied Crimea and part of the waters of the Black and Azov Seas; to investigate the opportunities available to Ukraine for the liberation of certain regions; to assess the most likely problems and risks on the way to establishing sustainable and reliable peace; to determine the range of problems on the way to the reintegration of Crimea and to develop a vision for overcoming them.

Participants: representatives of the Expert Network of the Crimea Platform, state authorities of Ukraine, international think tanks and NGOs, representatives of the International Crimea Platform countries officials, and representatives of the academic community.

Some of the participants include:

• Kajsa Ollongren, Minister of Defense of the Netherlands (TBC)
• Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine
• Andriy Kostin, Prosecutor General of Ukraine.

• occupation
• russian crimes
• Kyiv

Mykhailo-Kotsiubynske village is located near Chernihiv. At the beginning of the full-scale war, it was under occupation for more than a month. In March 2022, two russian missiles hit the local lyceum: the first and second floors of the building and the sports ground were destroyed.

The computer science, chemistry, physics, biology and defense of Ukraine classrooms, as well as the archive were also destroyed. The gym was damaged too.

Currently, the charitable foundation “savED” is helping to restore the lyceum (this foundation restores access to education in communities affected by the war).

Also, as part of the efforts by UNITED24, global initiative to support Ukraine, a charity match was held in London, where Ukrainian football players Andriy Shevchenko and Oleksandr Zinchenko took to the field to raise funds to restore Mykhailo-Kotsiubynske Lyceum in Chernihiv region.

• children
• occupation
• russian crimes
• Chernihiv