Themes by tag: occupation
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 museum staff estimates, the occupiers looted approximately ten thousand works of art.
The project’s goal is to attempt to recreate what the Russians took away. To date, the team has managed to “reproduce” a painting by Mykhailo Bryansky (1830-1908), “Portrait of a Girl in an Embroidered Dress”. The painting was not simply repainted but was modernized and animated. Ukrainian model and singer Daria Astafieva helped “bring it to life”; the artists transformed her into the girl in the embroidered dress from the stolen canvas. For the animation, the team used a shirt that Inna Mykutska, a tour guide from Kherson, embroidered during the occupation.
The team has also recreated the oil painting “Cossacks in the Steppe” by Serhii Vasylkivsky (1854-1917). Servicemen Roman “Dobriak” Kolesnyk and Stanislav “Ref” Zorii of the Armed Forces of Ukraine participated in the reproduction of this artwork. Yaryna and Mariia added the Ukrainian folk song “Oh, There Beyond the Seas…” performed by the band Shchuka-Ryba to this animation.
The project founders are currently working on further recreations.
Yaryna Sizyk and Mariia Ozirna are available for interviews with journalists in Kyiv.
Background: Kherson was occupied by russian forces at the beginning of the full-scale invasion (March 1, 2022). The Armed Forces of Ukraine liberated the city from russian troops on November 11, 2022. The occupiers continue to shell the city regularly.
Before russia’s full-scale invasion, Olena and Valentyn Bielozorenko had spent 11 years building their Lymanska Koza eco-farm in Stanislav, a village in the Kherson region. The couple raised 30 goats, 11 dogs, and 10 cats, made artisanal cheese, and hosted tours for children and adults. But when the war began, their thriving farm suddenly found itself under occupation.
For eight and a half months, Olena and Valentyn lived surrounded by russian forces, surviving by bartering food with neighbors. When Ukrainian troops liberated the village, they stayed on for another year, enduring relentless shelling. Several strikes hit their property, killing one animal, burning their feed, and leaving Valentyn with a concussion.
By October 2023, the couple decided they could no longer stay. They evacuated to the Kyiv region, where fellow displaced Ukrainians from Donetsk welcomed them and offered a farmhouse and land free of charge. Within a year, their herd had doubled in size, and life began to take root again.
Now, the Bielozorenkos are planning to open a rehabilitation center for Ukrainian soldiers on their new farm, hoping to turn a place once marked by survival into one of healing and recovery.
Olena and Valentyn Bielozorenko are available for online interviews.
For reference: russian forces occupied Kherson early in the full-scale invasion, on March 1, 2022. Ukrainian forces liberated the city on November 11, 2022, but russian troops continue to shell the region regularly.
Oleksii Sivak, a 42-year-old former sailor from Kherson, saw his life upended by russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. Remaining in the city with his wife and disabled mother-in-law, he engaged in acts of peaceful resistance, posting anti-russian leaflets and creating effigies of “dead russians” with like-minded people to make the occupiers feel unwelcome on Ukrainian soil.
On August 24, 2022 — Ukraine’s Independence Day — Oleksii and a fellow resident displayed a Ukrainian flag in the city. The next day, Russian forces captured them both. Oleksii was beaten in front of his wife and held captive for 59 days, during which he was tortured and sexually assaulted (CRSV — conflict-related sexual violence).
After being released, Oleksii started looking for his former cellmates. This effort evolved into the creation of the Alumni Network, which unites men who have survived captivity and torture. He now heads the Alumni NGO, which was established to support Ukrainians affected by russian aggression, including torture and CRSV. The organization provides legal and psychological aid and organizes retreats for its several hundred members, ranging in age from 20 to 76.
Journalists can speak with Oleksii in Kyiv, Kherson, or online by prior arrangement.
Background: russian forces occupied Kherson at the start of the full-scale invasion on March 1, 2022. The Ukrainian Armed Forces liberated the city on November 11, 2022. However, it continues to endure regular shelling by russian forces.
On September 26, the Media Center Ukraine will host the presentation of an analytical report: “How russia is erasing Ukrainian identity under the guise of fighting extremism”.
Participants:
– Mariia Krasnenko, report author, expert at the Centre of Civil Education Almenda;
– Tetiana Lychko, documentarian at the Centre of Civil Education Almenda;
– Valentina Potapova, head of Direction of National Advocacy at the Centre of Civil Education Almenda;
Key topics:
– How anti-extremism laws are being used to suppress Ukrainian culture and enforce a “all-russian identity”;
– Pressure tactics targeting teachers, students, and school communities in occupied territories under the pretext of “countering extremism”;
– Measures needed at the national and international levels to protect the Ukrainian identity of children in occupied territories;
– Examples of successful strategies already in place to counter russian ideological influence on Ukrainian children’s worldview through education.
Background: Since 2014, russia has not only conducted military aggression but also pursued a systematic campaign of ideological control in occupied territories. Under the pretext of “fighting extremism”, moscow has used legislation to target anyone preserving Ukrainian language, culture, and identity, with children and schools among the primary targets.
On September 23, Kyiv will host an award ceremony for the winners of the all-Ukrainian essay and poster contest, “I Hear You: Supporting a Peer Under Occupation”. The ceremony will showcase the works of winners and laureates, each serving as a message of support for peers living under temporary occupation. These messages have already been heard.
Event program:
- Presentation of the exhibition “I Hear You: Supporting a Peer Under Occupation”;
- Addresses by representatives of state institutions and contest jury members;
- Award ceremony for contest winners.
The contest was organized for the second time by the Almenda Civic Education Center. The goal of the contest is to promote understanding and empathy within Ukrainian society regarding the challenges faced by children in temporarily occupied territories. Nearly 700 works were submitted in the essay and social poster categories by children from various regions of Ukraine.
The organizers invite media representatives, civil society organizations, and all interested parties to attend the event and cover the ceremony. They also encourage attendees to share stories about children using creativity to support their peers under occupation.
The contest received support from Ukrainian artists Oleksandr Grekhov and Kateryna Babkina, as well as the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine, the Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine, the Presidential Representation in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, and the Children’s Rights Protection Center of the Ombudsman’s Office.
Registration for the event is required and will be open until September 21.
Background: The event is organized within the framework of the “Childhood Protection: Justice and Reintegration for Children from TOT” project, supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic under the Transition Promotion Program.
Before 2014, Mariia Fenenko lived in the Volnovakha district of the Donetsk oblast. As a child, she enjoyed helping her grandfather organize family photo albums and watching him take pictures. When Mariia moved to Donetsk to study, her mother gave her a gift – her first camera. She soon began receiving commissions for her photography and earning her own income. However, after russia first attacked Ukraine, Mariia was forced to leave her homeland and relocate to Kyiv.
In the capital, she resumed her studies and seriously dedicated herself to photography, turning her passion into a profession. Starting with the gift camera, she built a portfolio and saved up for a better used camera. Over the next decade, she became an accomplished photographer.
Today, Mariia contributes her skills to charitable projects that support the Ukrainian military and internally displaced persons. She dreams of capturing her most meaningful photograph yet: a free, de-occupied Donetsk oblast.
Mariia is available for interviews, both online and in person in Kyiv, by prior arrangement.
Last week, 16 children were rescued from an occupied area as part of the Bring Kids Back UA initiative, which was launched by the President of Ukraine and carried out with the help of the Save Ukraine team.
- 17-year-old Milana had to wait for her mother, who was held captive in a basement for three days without food or water — simply because the girl’s father is a Ukrainian soldier. She endured searches, polygraph tests, and humiliation, and was threatened with being “dumped in the Dnipro River.” Milana lived in constant fear that her mother would disappear forever.
- 17-year-old Mark went to school and was registered for military conscription. After a “psychological test”, russian soldiers took him and some of his classmates to a military enlistment office without parental consent. The boy nearly became an orphan when a drone hit his parents’ car — they survived by a miracle.
- 2-year-old Solomiia also miraculously survived the occupation. When the girl woke up at night with a fever of 40°C, her mother, Olena, unable to call an ambulance, decided to drive her daughter to the hospital herself. However, russian soldiers refused to let their car cross the bridge, threatening to smash the windows. Olena then carried Solomiia across a pontoon bridge in the darkness.
- The family of 14-yearian Alina barely managed to flee the occupation in time to avoid being left homeless. The occupying authorities threatened to seize their apartment. They were initially refused passage at the checkpoint until the girl deleted all Ukrainian channels from her phone.
Today, they are all safe. They are undergoing rehabilitation, recovering documents, and receiving psychological support and assistance with housing. They now have a roof over their heads and ongoing support.
Journalists may speak with Save Ukraine representatives by prior arrangement.
With support from partners, the savED Charity Foundation has set up two underground educational spaces in the de-occupied city of Balakliia in the Kharkiv oblast. These spaces will enable hundreds of local children to participate offline in extracurricular activities within their community.
The first learning center, which spans over 110 square meters, is located in the bomb shelter of a lyceum in Balakliia. Since the start of the full-scale war, students at this institution have only been able to learn online. In spring 2025, russian UAVs struck the lyceum twice, damaging the roof and one wing of the building.
In 2023, the savED Charity Foundation, supported by U-Lead, created the Vulyk (Beehive) Educational Center to restore access to in-person after-school classes at the lyceum. There, students could participate in extracurricular activities with teachers. Thanks to KFC Ukraine’s charitable “Star Donation” campaign this year, the foundation was able to equip an additional underground space for lyceum students. The shelter now contains six classrooms and areas for sports, reading, dining, and relaxation. The project cost over 2.8 million hryvnia.
The SavED Foundation established a second underground educational space in Balakliia, in another city lyceum. The institution was damaged by russian airstrikes at the beginning of the full-scale invasion and looted by russian troops during the occupation. With the help of partners from tsukat IT company and Adobe, SavED was able to furnish a learning space in the lyceum’s shelter that can hold over a hundred students at once. The project cost over 390,000 hryvnia.
In partnership with IREX and with funding from U.S. taxpayers, the savED Charitable Foundation has opened modular, temporary learning spaces in the Pervomaiska and Shevchenkivska communities of the Mykolaiv oblast. This initiative will enable over 500 local children to resume in-person learning.
Throughout 2022, the Pervomaiska community — which received one of the temporary learning spaces — was on the frontline of combat and suffered significant destruction. Specifically, a russian attack destroyed a secondary school in one of its villages. In 2023, savED established an educational center called “Vulyk” (The Hive) in a local family medicine clinic, where students could participate in interactive extracurricular sessions with tutors. However, this was insufficient to restore full-scale education for the hundreds of children in the community. The new modular space will enable 220 local students to resume in-person schooling.
Shevchenkivska is the second community to receive a modular temporary learning space. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the community has been on the frontline, with some of its settlements enduring eight months of occupation.
The temporary learning spaces are barrier-free and child-friendly. Each of the six classrooms features high ceilings, comfortable furniture, tablets, and interactive multimedia panels. The facilities also include a large inclusive restroom, a teachers’ lounge, and a server room. The entrance is equipped with a ramp. Alternative power sources enable the spaces to operate fully during electricity outages.
It is worth noting that students in Bohdanivka, a village in the Kyiv oblast, where russians burned down the local school, students now study in a similar modular temporary learning space.
Background: Temporary learning spaces are built by benefactors using reliable modular structures in communities where schools have been damaged due to russian aggression or where the infrastructure needs to be expanded due to an increase in student enrollment, including internally displaced persons.
A presentation of the study “The deportation and forced displacement of Ukrainian children from occupied territories through the lens of changing russian propaganda narratives”, will be held at the Media Center Ukraine on September 11.
russia is systematically deporting Ukrainian children from occupied territories, depriving them of their national identity, family ties, and future. Meanwhile, the Kremlin is launching a large-scale propaganda campaign to justify or conceal these crimes.
The study demonstrates how russian narratives have evolved — from outright denial of deportations to attempts to portray them as “humanitarian aid” or “rescue missions”. The study focuses on the fate of children as tools of information warfare and the challenges faced by Ukrainian society and the international community.
During the event:
- The authors will present the study’s key findings;
- Experts will explain why russia uses children in propaganda;
- Participants will discuss strategies for shifting narratives and effectively countering disinformation.
Speakers include:
- Authors of the study;
- Representatives of the Bring Kids Back UA initiative;
- Experts in countering propaganda and disinformation.
Registration is required for the event.
Background: The study was conducted with financial support from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). The content of the publication reflects the authors’ views and does not necessarily represent NED’s position.
