Math Is More Than Little Squares on Zoom

Published: October 9, 2026

Every morning, Ukrainian children head to school knowing that an air raid alert could interrupt their lessons at any moment. Russia could launch another missile or drone, and suddenly, solving for “x” is no longer important. What matters is getting to a shelter in time.

Supporting STEM education in Ukraine is one of Razom’s priorities. By supporting educational programs today, we help young people gain the skills they need to develop new technologies and shape the future of Ukraine and the world.

This summer, Razom supported three organizations that ran special summer camps for students with a strong interest in mathematics and programming: Boiko Foundation, the Center for Children’s Science and Creativity “Digit” (Tsyfra), and the AFINA Charitable Foundation.

Razom helped cover the cost of food and accommodation for 259 children out of nearly 400 who attended the camps. Without this support, these students would not have been able to take part. Many were winners of math competitions and Olympiads, while others had shown a strong interest in mathematics and technology.

A Place Where Loving Math Is Normal

“Honestly, before the camp, I was thinking about quitting math. But some of the lectures made me want to keep going,” says Yana Maltashova, a 10th-grade student at a specialized math and physics high school. She was also a finalist in Ukraine’s 2026 National Mathematics Olympiad.

Because of frequent Russian missile and drone attacks, many Ukrainian students have to study online. Their whole school life—classrooms, hallways, teachers, classmates, breaks, and snacks from the school cafeteria—has been reduced to a screen.

Summer math camps bring students back into real classrooms, where they can work at a board and learn directly from teachers. They offer something just as important: a place where it is normal to love math. A place where students can be just as excited about playing volleyball as they are about talking about black holes.

“Spending time with other students who share their interests often helps children stay motivated, take part in Olympiads, and consider STEM careers in the future,” says Viktoriia Tsan of the Mathematical Olympus Charitable Foundation.

Some students have had to leave Ukraine because of the war and move to Germany, Romania, Moldova, Hungary, or Malta.

“I really like the people here. They’re unique, and it’s hard to find people like them anywhere else. I live in Germany, and there’s no one like them there,” says Yeva Kozynets, a ninth-grade student who moved from Sumy to Germany because of the constant shelling in her hometown.

From a Love of Math to a Future Career

These summer camps are part of longer educational programs that help students deepen their knowledge of mathematics and related subjects. For many children, a camp is more than a summer experience. It is one step on a longer journey—from discovering a passion to choosing a career.

Razom has supported Boiko’s independent school and the SmartSchool network of after-school learning centers for more than three years. In the 2025–2026 school year, 18 graduates of Boiko’s school scored an average of 189.7 out of 200 on Ukraine’s National Multidisciplinary Test (NMT) in mathematics. The national average for mathematics on the 2026 test was 131.9.

Graduates of the educational programs Razom supports go on to study at the University of Cambridge, École Polytechnique in Paris, Jagiellonian University in Kraków, and other universities. Some have already become teachers in Ukrainian schools.

STEM education helps Ukrainian children keep learning and exploring science and technology, even as the war disrupts their lives and forces families to move. Today, these programs give children a chance to return to the classroom, meet others who share their interests, and keep learning. In the future, these same children could become the scientists, engineers, and technology experts who help Ukraine rebuild and grow.

Behind every high test score, place at Cambridge, or first teaching job are years of learning, caring teachers, and a place where a child can grow. The war has made it harder for Ukrainian students to access these opportunities. By supporting STEM programs today, we can help children continue learning, discover what they are capable of, and prepare for careers that will help shape Ukraine’s future.

Ukrainian Culture Takes Center Stage in New York

Published: September 28, 2026

A look behind the scenes of the Ukrainian Cultural Festival, and why showing up matters.

“October is Ukrainian culture month,” we’ve heard around New York City over the past few years. And for us, that is one of the clearest signs of what Razom’s Ukrainian Cultural Festival (UCF) has become.

This is our fourth year, and in 2026 we are reaching new stages, new audiences, and new partners across the city. As producers curating performing arts programming for Razom for Ukraine, we get to see the vision come to life each year, from our very first brainstorming sessions to the final moments when the theater and venues are restored to their original forms and everything gets quiet again.

This year, we have the privilege of partnering with the Alexander & Buono Foundation to open the festival at Carnegie Hall with the US premiere of Ukrainian composer Oleg Bezborodko’s Steel, Violet, Rage, performed by the Shelest Piano Duo (Anna and Dmitri Shelest) alongside the Brandywine Symphony Orchestra from the greater Philadelphia region.

The title of the piano concerto alone tells a story. Steel evokes Azovstal, the vast steelworks in Mariupol that became a place of extraordinary resistance during the siege of the city in 2022, and with it the endurance and heroism of its defenders. Violet comes from the final poem of Ukrainian poet and soldier Maksym Kryvtsov, killed in action in 2024. And Rage needs little explanation.

But this is not a concert about the war. It is Ukrainian contemporary music, including a piece by the Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov, performed alongside works by the legendary American composers Philip Glass and Samuel Barber.

By design, UCF is a rare opportunity to bring extraordinary Ukrainian talent to New York as artists whose work belongs in the city’s cultural life, without reducing it to the current devastation of war. This is one of the reasons we’re proud to work tirelessly on the festival each year and see it receive the recognition it deserves.

Over three weeks, starting October 18 through November 6, audiences will encounter Ukrainian cinema, literature, theater, and classical music performances. We are partnering with established cultural institutions such as QUAD Cinema, DCTV’s Firehouse Cinema, The Public Theater, Teatro LATEA, the New York Public Library, Poets House and more.

For us, this expansion in partnerships and locations is one of the most exhilarating parts. It proves the point: Ukrainian art should not exist only in Ukrainian spaces as it belongs in the wider cultural landscape of New York.

Stories On Stage

One of the performances we’re particularly looking forward to is The Reckoning: Selected Scenes and Conversation by Dash Arts, a New York preview of verbatim theater based on verified survivor testimony from russia’s war in Ukraine.

It tells the story of one man who remained in his village outside Kyiv when others fled. The performance will be followed by a conversation between London-based director Josephine Burton and Peter Pomerantsev, co-founder of The Reckoning Project, about the testimony behind the work and the documentation of war crimes.

Our festival becomes the springboard for further exploration and workshopping of this piece ahead of its US tour in 2027. Praised as “powerful and important” and “brilliant, sharp stage craft” in the UK, the production comes to UCF with US-based Ukrainian actors Petro Ninovskyi and Sasha Odesa.

At the festival, we not only bring Ukrainian artists’ work to New York, but also showcase American talent working on Ukrainian stories. Playwright Richard Nelson’s new play, More Beauty Than Sorrow, created in Kyiv, looks at Lesia Ukrainka and her family through their everyday lives rather than through the usual monumental portrait of a national literary figure. The festivalgoers will be able to see the production that was created in Ukraine in a film screening at The Public Theater.

A Full Circle

This year, the festival closes where it started – with a return to Carnegie Hall with Unbreakable Harmony, bringing together the Kyiv Lysenko State Music Lyceum Chamber Girls’ Choir and the Westchester Children’s Chorus.

They will perform Ukrainian and American music, songs about peace and community, and, finally, Shchedryk – the Ukrainian melody better known in the US as Carol of the Bells.

This carries a specific meaning: Shchedryk was first performed for American audiences at Carnegie Hall in 1921. More than a century later, Ukrainian children will sing it there again.

Artists need audiences and culture survives by staying alive in people’s minds and hearts.

Artists need not only donations and support, but also the chance to connect and be together in a room with audiences during these very challenging times.

You may come because you want to support Ukraine, but you may leave having discovered a composer, actor, filmmaker, or story you knew nothing about.

And that is the beauty of something we can’t live without: culture. And this year, we have some spectacular moments of Ukrainian culture to witness together.

We hope you’ll join us.

Rachel Shuey and Viktorija Mickute, UCF Producers

Rooted in Ukraine: Three Years of the RUTA Conference

Published: September 7, 2026

My name is Anna Andruseiko and this was my third year coordinating the RUTA Conference. The RUTA Association is an international academic association for Central, South-Eastern, Eastern European, Baltic, Caucasus, Central and Northern Asian Studies. The conference serves as a statement and act of solidarity with Ukrainian scholars. Every year the conference brings together more than 150 individuals from more than 20 countries who come to Ukraine because of it. The guiding light for the team is to foster dialogue across the regions and beyond.

How RUTA works

The RUTA team works almost exclusively on a voluntary basis and is run by the Board of Representatives, who are elected for three year terms. Regional diversity is a very important feature of the Board, with every member representing a distinct RUTA region. The conference is the organization’s main event. For four days, scholars gather in Ukraine to discuss topics and themes that have been marginalized within academic circles for years.

As a team, we strive to create cross-regional panels from the applications we receive, as the point is to work outside the box in order to recognise that many of our challenges and problems are shared across our regions, and that we can learn from each other in order to decolonise the narratives that have persisted about our regions. Another important point is that we invite not only scholars but also artists and activists, as it is important to move beyond academic articles and find ways to put what we discuss into practice.

Why I joined RUTA

As I have a bachelor’s degree in Cultural Studies, the topics of the conference and the Association’s mission are very close to my heart, especially given that the conference has annually been held in Ukraine. I have travelled a lot for different Erasmus projects, and I have all too frequently encountered the misconception that Ukraine has no distinct history of its own, and can simply be absorbed into “Russian studies.” That is why I joined RUTA in 2023.

Why it is important to hold the conference in Ukraine

First of all, it is a way to stand in solidarity with Ukrainian scholars who cannot currently leave Ukraine to attend academic conferences. Another reason is to bring back those Ukrainian scholars who have left the country. This may seem obvious, but they really do need a reason to come back, even for such a short time. And last but not least, it is a way to show the country to participants who are coming here for the first time, and to give them the opportunity to see from the inside how we live here permanently, what our culture is like and so on.

I can definitely say that it takes a lot of courage to come here, and as the RUTA team, we deeply appreciate that trust. When people come from Australia, the US, Canada, Qazaqstan and Japan to spend four days in Ukraine, it gives us hope that we are doing the right thing.

Uzhhorod

From my perspective as a Ukrainian, I see great symbolism in the fact that the conference has taken place in Uzhhorod for the third year in a row. The city is located on the border, at the frontier, and it encompasses so many nationalities and challenges, yet somehow people manage to live there and to create new meanings there as well. It is also the smallest regional centre in Ukraine, and it is extremely important to get away from major centres to decentralise knowledge production.

Positioning the region

Even though the organization provides a strong focus on Ukraine, it is essential for us to position it historically alongside other regions and countries.. We strive to dismantle the false bonds and rivalries that have been built over the years under the labels of Russian Studies or Slavic Studies, which have often merged the identities of different countries and treated them all as if they were the same, without recognising their distinct character.

At the opening ceremony of the RUTA Conference 2026, our Board Member Grazina Bielousova raised an important question about the term decoloniality, which is widely used today:

“Decoloniality invites new ways of imagining a future in which life otherwise — outside of the colonial gaze, colonial power, colonial knowledge creation, colonial legal frameworks — becomes possible. Decoloniality is also a way for us to know ourselves on our own terms, to speak ourselves in languages, both figurative and literal, that are our own.”

I would add that, apart from being a huge opportunity to finally escape this colonial gaze, decoloniality also comes with immense responsibility — and I would like to highlight that we cannot be given responsibility, we can only take it. This requires a lot of courage: not to start from scratch, but to rewrite existing narratives. Even though it is an extremely difficult process, I always keep in mind that decolonisation starts from love, as Mariam Naiem highlights in her book. This idea resonates deeply with me, particularly in relation to the conference. We can start the process of decolonisation with love and respect for the people we are doing it for. I want this country to be a better place. We design the conference to be a space where bold ideas and people can meet and be themselves, no matter their identity, race or origin.

Building an institution

Put in practical terms, it is extremely difficult to build an international institution in Ukraine that, in many ways, challenges established narratives and concepts used in the academic world. From time to time, we hear that RUTA is not enough of an academic association, because we include a lot of art presentations , and bring activists into our conversations. But in fact this can be seen as evidence that we are successfully challenging established rules and expectations and are we are moving in the right direction.

It is RUTA’s third year as an institution, and we are still working out how we can become more stable and independent. These past years would not have been possible without our partners and supporters, who believed in us and had the courage to raise the same questions we do, and engage in these difficult discussions.

Partnership with Razom for Ukraine

Because RUTA, as an institution, is new and requires new approaches to management, this motivated me to enrol in the Management of Nonprofit Organisations programme at UCU, Lviv. As I often find myself saying, holistic support is very important, and my studies would not have been possible without the scholarship from Razom for Ukraine. In this way, I have a direct opportunity to test the knowledge I gain and to put it into practice at RUTA, from creating new financial models to establishing the RUTA Community.

Razom for Ukraine is an example of how we can build a multi-year partnership where financial investment is just one layer , but, more importantly, where we build relationships and learn from each other. Through this support, we came to recognise the need for more structured work with young scholars, and this will be one of our main strategic directions in the coming years. Through our conversations, we also managed to bring Maya Hayuk and the Tryzub Project to Ukraine and to establish the RUTA volunteer programme for the second year in a row.

There is still a lot to overcome and to create, but as an emerging institution, we are grateful to be able to rely on our partners. I greatly appreciate that Razom for Ukraine supports both the individuals who drive institutions and the institutions themselves — because without the people at the heart of these initiatives, nothing would change.

Investing in the Future: How Razom Supports Ukrainian Educators

Published: September 1, 2026

Supporting Ukrainian teachers means investing in the young people who will shape Ukraine’s future.Even amid the full-scale war, Ukrainian educators continue to teach, grow professionally, and adapt the learning process to rapidly changing realities. They are helping raise a generation capable of thinking critically, taking responsibility, and finding solutions to the most complex challenges. Today, teachers are laying the foundation for a progressive, democratic, and resilient Ukraine.Razom supports Ukrainian educators through local and international initiatives that provide access to modern teaching methods, innovative technologies, professional networks, and hands-on experience. Here are three projects helping teachers strengthen their schools and communities.

Teachers of the Future Festival: A Space for New Ideas

For the second consecutive year, Razom has proudly supported Teachers of the Future, one of Europe’s largest educational events, organized by the Ukrainian NGO Educational Initiative of the Free and Caring.

The sixth annual Teachers of the Future Festival took place in Lviv in the summer of 2026. It brought together more than 2,000 educators from across Ukraine, along with international experts and civil society leaders.

Over two intensive days, participants exchanged knowledge, expanded their professional networks, and attended more than 200 workshops and practical sessions.

This year, Razom supported the Educational Innovation Hangar, a dedicated space where more than 20 leading Ukrainian STEM companies and EdTech platforms showcased their latest educational solutions.

Participants included the Ranok and Litera LTD publishing houses; EdPro and ELIZ LABS, which develop interactive displays, laboratory equipment, and educational software; the innovative AR Book platform; Ukraine’s state educational app Mriia; and many others.

For teachers, this was an opportunity not only to explore emerging technologies but also to speak directly with developers about how these tools can be incorporated into everyday teaching and make learning more accessible, practical, and engaging for students.

STEM Without Borders: From Scotland to Frontline Communities

High-quality STEM education prepares the engineers, scientists, and innovators who will help rebuild Ukraine’s energy sector, healthcare system, defense capabilities, and economy.

In the spring, Razom supported five Ukrainian teachers from frontline regions in taking part in the STEM Without Borders professional development program. The program was hosted by The King’s Foundation in Scotland in partnership with Osvitoria.

Over three days, participants explored project-based learning and advanced scientific teaching methods. They also examined how lessons drawn from nature can be connected to sustainable energy solutions and future careers in STEM.

Importantly, the program’s impact extends far beyond its five participants. After returning home, the teachers began sharing their knowledge with colleagues and introducing new approaches in their classrooms.

In this way, modern educational practices become accessible to thousands of Ukrainian children, including those living in communities that experience the consequences of war every day.

Civic Boost: Empowering Young People and Communities

Another area of support focuses on strengthening school autonomy and encouraging young people to participate in community decision-making.

Through Civic Boost, a delegation of educators from frontline communities in the Kharkiv region visited Lviv for a three-day professional exchange dedicated to these areas.

Lviv was chosen for a reason. The city’s schools enjoy a significant degree of autonomy: local lyceums manage their own budgets and establish distinctive educational hubs. During the exchange, participants explored this experience and gained practical tools for strengthening student self-government and launching educational and cultural initiatives in their home communities.

Programs like this help transform schools into spaces where young people not only acquire knowledge but also learn to influence decisions, work together, and take responsibility for the future of their communities.

Support with a Lasting Impact

Every educational program represents far more than a single training session, trip, or event. Teachers return to their schools with new knowledge, share it with their colleagues, and create new opportunities for hundreds—and ultimately thousands—of children.

Despite the war, Ukrainian educators continue to teach, innovate, and inspire their students. Razom remains committed to standing with them, because supporting teachers today means investing in the generation that will build a free, democratic, and resilient Ukraine tomorrow.

Razom for Ukraine and the American Literary Translators Association

Published: August 26, 2026

Razom for Ukraine and the American Literary Translators Association

Announce Joint Venture

August 26, 2026—Razom for Ukraine and the American Literary Translators Association (ALTA) are excited to announce the establishment of two new programs. Through this new partnership, ALTA will administer the Razom Mentorship for Decolonial Translation and the Razom Ukrainian Translation Award.

“This partnership with ALTA marks an important step in building lasting infrastructure for Ukrainian literature in translation,” said Anna Solovei, Interim Connect Program Director at Razom for Ukraine. “Ukrainian voices have too often been filtered through frameworks that obscure or diminish them. By centering decolonial approaches to translation and investing in both emerging and established translators, we hope to help create a more accurate, more resonant space for Ukrainian—and other historically marginalized—literatures in English. We’re grateful to ALTA for their partnership and expertise in bringing these programs to life.”

“We’re delighted to enter into partnership with Razom for Ukraine, whose work we so admire, to offer this mentorship and award,” said ALTA Executive Director Katrine Øgaard Jensen. “We’re humbled by the trust shown in our organization to administer these new programs: one to foster the next generation of literary translators, and one to recognize the excellent work of our colleagues. We are excited to begin work on these initiatives.”

The Razom Mentorship for Decolonial Translation will foster emerging literary translators working with literature from historically marginalized regions and languages, through a dedicated mentorship stream that pairs emerging translators with experienced mentors, with a different regional or language focus each year. This mentorship will be offered annually starting in 2027. Applications for the first year of this mentorship, which will offer a focus on Ukrainian-language literature with mentor Dominique Hoffman, open next week, on September 1, 2026.

The Razom Ukrainian Translation Award will sustain and recognize excellence in literary translation from Ukrainian and other languages of Ukraine into English. This award will be judged and awarded annually starting in 2027. Submissions will open, alongside the other awards ALTA administers, in mid-January 2027.

Razom for Ukraine is a leading U.S.-based nonprofit organization working to build a secure, democratic, and prosperous Ukraine. Founded in 2014, Razom (“together” in Ukrainian) supports urgent needs in Ukraine while investing in long-term solutions across health, civil society, advocacy, and culture. As Ukraine’s future has global implications, Razom strengthens trauma care systems, supports local leaders and communities, and connects Ukraine to the world. For more information, visit razomforukraine.org.

The American Literary Translators Association (ALTA) is a nonprofit arts membership association that provides programs and professional affiliation to the literary translation community: individual translators, academic institutions, presses, and others working in literary translation. The annual ALTA conference and year-round events are structured around the creation of high-quality art. ALTA also administers awards to recognize excellence in translation and provides fellowships and mentorships to support emerging translators. For more information, visit literarytranslators.org.

Razom for Ukraine Announces Fourth Annual Ukrainian Cultural Festival, Opening with US Premiere at Carnegie Hall

Published: August 18, 2026

Razom for Ukraine Announces Fourth Annual Ukrainian Cultural Festival, Opening with US Premiere at Carnegie Hall

NEW YORK, NY, August 18 — Razom for Ukraine today announced the return of its Ukrainian Cultural Festival (UCF), a celebration of Ukrainian arts and culture across New York City, running October 18 through November 6, 2026. Now in its fourth year, UCF spans performing arts, cinema, theater, and literature, and continues Razom’s mission of connecting American audiences with Ukrainian voices, artists, and institutions.

The festival opens on October 18 at Carnegie Hall with the US premiere of “Steel, Violet, Rage,” a Concerto for Piano Four Hands and Orchestra by Ukrainian composer Oleh Bezborodko, believed to be the first piano four hands concerto ever written by a Ukrainian composer. The piece is inspired by a poem by Maksym Kryvtsov, a Ukrainian soldier and poet who was killed in the war shortly after writing it. The concerto will be performed by the Shelest Piano Duo alongside the Brandywine Valley Symphony Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Michael Hall, in partnership with the Alexander & Buono Foundation. A donor reception follows the performance. Tickets available at Carnegie Hall event page.

Throughout the festival, Razom Cinema partners with DCTV and QUAD Cinema to present a curated weekend of Ukrainian film programming from October 22 through 26. Highlights include the opening night screening of “Sanatorium,” directed by Gar O’Rourke, and a slate of features and documentaries exploring war, resilience, identity, and community, several developed in partnership with Ukrainian film festivals including Linoleum, Docudays, and Sunny Bunny. The cinema weekend also features a screening of the documentary “Scream of My Blood: A Gogol Bordello Story” with a special appearance by documentary subject and punk music legend Eugene Hütz.

On October 26, Dash Arts (London) presents a workshop of “The Reckoning,” a bilingual documentary style theater piece developed from verified witness testimony gathered by The Reckoning Project, ahead of its North American tour. The workshop is produced in New York in partnership with ArKtype, the original producer of the Public Theater’s Under the Radar Festival.

The festival’s literary programming includes “Poet as Witness” at Poets House on October 28, featuring Ukrainian poets and soldiers Lesyk Panasiuk and Yaryna Chornohuz alongside their translators, and a program on Lesia Ukrainka as “The Modernist Playwright America Has Yet to Discover” at the New York Public Library on October 30. The event features a reading of excerpts from Ukrainka’s two renowned plays “The Blue Rose” (1896) and “Cassandra” (1908), and a panel discussion exploring what possibilities Ukrainka’s fierce and psychologically charged work offers for the contemporary American theater artists and how her plays can be reimagined today.

UCF closes on November 6 at Carnegie Hall’s Zankel Recital Hall with a performance by the Kyiv Lysenko State Music Lyceum Chamber Girls Choir together with the Westchester Children’s Chorus. The former is one of Ukraine’s premier youth choral ensembles and an international competition winner with past performances in Vatican City and at the Berlin Philharmonie. Both choirs take the stage side by side for the national anthems of Ukraine and the United States, followed by their own programs.

“We invest in culture because it’s essential, not optional. Razom’s cultural work – sharing Ukrainian arts, culture and stories – helps the world understand the real Ukraine; its creativity, resilience, and humanity.” – Ania Solovei, Razom Connect Interim Director

Tickets and full programming details are available at ucfnyc.org.

Media inquiries can be directed to Hannah Goldshlack-Wolf at hannah@wildkatpr.com (+19173302046).

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Ukrainian Animation Takes Center Stage at International Animation Conference in Pittsburgh

Published: July 29, 2026

From June 15–19, Pittsburgh became a gathering place for some of the world’s leading animation scholars, artists, and filmmakers during the 37th Annual Conference of the Society for Animation Studies (SAS). Supported by Razom, Ukrainian animators joined the international conversation to showcase their work, share their experiences of creating during wartime, and introduce global audiences to a vibrant animation industry that continues to thrive despite Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Organized by the Pennsylvania Expanded Animation Alliance (PA-XAA) and the Society for Animation Studies, the conference brought together more than 100 researchers, artists, and industry professionals to explore animation as a medium for storytelling, memory, trauma, and human connection.

Bringing Ukrainian Stories to International Audiences

One of the conference highlights was “Resilient Reels: Ukrainian Animation on Screen and In Conversation,” held on June 16 at Pittsburgh’s Harris Theater.

The evening featured a curated screening of contemporary Ukrainian animated films, followed by a discussion with acclaimed Ukrainian animation directors and animation artists Sashko Danylenko, Daryna Fes, and Sasha Ruban, who joined online from Ukraine.

The conversation explored what it means to create art during war — from documenting national trauma and preserving childhood in times of violence to building an animation industry under extraordinary circumstances.

More importantly, it gave audiences the opportunity to hear directly from Ukrainian artists.

Many attendees remarked that meeting Ukrainian filmmakers in person added an entirely new dimension to the films they had just watched. Others said the discussion helped them better understand both the realities of Russia’s war against Ukraine and the resilience of Ukraine’s creative community.

Art That Continues Beyond the Screen

The conference coincided with The Animate Experience, an exhibition presented by the Pennsylvania Expanded Animation Alliance, The Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, and the Society for Animation Studies at Pittsburgh MuseumLab.

Among the featured artists was Razom Cinema grantee Daryna Fes, whose multimedia works were included in the exhibition. She attended the opening in person, introducing visitors to her work and engaging in conversations about contemporary Ukrainian art.

Visitors continued discussing her VR installation, Spheres, throughout the conference, making it one of the exhibition’s memorable works.

More Than Filmmakers — Cultural Ambassadors

For the Ukrainian delegation, the conference was about much more than presenting films.

“Our small Ukrainian team not only enjoyed the event as visitors but also advocated for Ukraine — you simply cannot be anyone but an ambassador at international events,” said director Sashko Danylenko. “Stand out, spread the word, fight russian narratives and propaganda, fill in the blanks, and most importantly, build empathy.”

Danylenko also noted that scheduling the Ukrainian screening at the beginning of the conference helped spark conversations that continued throughout the week, creating opportunities to connect with scholars, educators, and fellow artists.

For Daryna Fes, the event demonstrated how animation can foster meaningful dialogue.

“Many attendees were curious about the situation in Ukraine, and I believe events like this — screenings of Ukrainian animation, Q&As, and informal conversations — help people better understand what’s happening in Ukraine. Alongside traditional animation, the festival also embraced a more artistic dimension, offering both the platform and the technical setup to show even technically demanding works. “

Why Representation Matters

For the conference organizers, introducing Ukrainian animation to an international academic audience was a long-term investment.

While Ukrainian animation remains underrepresented globally, professors and researchers attending the conference help shape future film and animation curricula. Increasing their familiarity with Ukrainian works means more students around the world may encounter Ukrainian stories in classrooms for years to come.

The event also extended beyond the conference itself. By hosting the screening in a public cinema rather than inside the conference venue, organizers welcomed members of the Pittsburgh community, creating another opportunity to raise awareness about Ukraine through culture.

Building Connections Through Culture

Throughout the week, conversations continued well beyond scheduled panels.

Audience members praised the diversity of Ukrainian animation, discussed their favorite films with the filmmakers, and asked thoughtful questions about working during wartime. Others expressed appreciation for hearing multiple perspectives from artists living through the same historical moment.

One particularly memorable interaction came after the screening, when an audience member approached Sashko Danylenko to share that he had long admired his work and could hardly believe they were finally meeting in person.

These are the connections that cultural exchange makes possible — especially in spaces like SAS creates.

“Academic community is important in this regard, because instructors who teach courses on film and animation, make choices which works they include in their syllabi, and their familiarization with Ukrainian animation can potentially result in Ukrainian animated films being seen by their students in the future.” — noted the conference organizers.

By supporting Ukrainian artists at international events like the Society for Animation Studies conference, Razom helps ensure that Ukrainian voices are not only heard — they become part of the global cultural conversation.

Because culture is more than art. It is memory, identity, and a powerful way to build understanding across borders.

Why the World Needs Ukrainian Books

Published: July 8, 2026

Dear friends of Razom,

This is Kateryna Kazimirova, Razom Literature Program Lead, and I want to take you with me to Kyiv, where last week of May, under skies that couldn’t decide between sirens and the heavy bloom of peonies, one of the most important literary events in the world took place.

But first, let me tell you why I’m the one writing this letter.

Growing up in Donetsk, I was fortunate to be surrounded by books, the people who wrote them, and brilliant teachers who introduced me to both. I went to study literary theory, later taught it, built a life inside Ukrainian literature, and took for granted that this world mattered beyond its own borders. Then, in 2014, Russia occupied my home and succeeded not only in seizing territory, but in imposing its fiction – about Donbas, about Ukraine, about who belonged where. I watched it happen with two kinds of grief: the obvious one, along with a quieter realization that Ukraine’s writers, the people I considered heroes, were unknown outside my world.

Why did so few people know the writers who had shaped me? How could a nation with such a rich literary tradition remain so invisible abroad? Most importantly, in light of all that happened, how are we going to change that?

For the last decade, already in Kyiv, I had been trying to do my part by running a literary journal, and creating innovative tools to promote Ukrainian culture like Chapter Ukraine. Now I have joined Razom to expand our shared mission of helping the world discover Ukrainian literature. This year, I came back to Arsenal on behalf of Razom to participate in the festival and organize a panel on one of the questions I think about most: what actually stands between Ukrainian books and anglophone readers?

An Arsenal of a Different Kind

When I call it the best literary festival in the world, this is not only my sentiment. In 2019, Book Arsenal was recognized as the world’s best literary festival of the year at the International Publishing Industry Excellence Awards organized by the London Book Fair. It has been running annually since 2012, skipping only twice: during the pandemic outbreak and the year of the full-scale invasion. It came back in 2023, grew to 35,000 visitors in 2024, and, like Ukraine, is stronger every year since.

Why “Arsenal”? The building where the festival takes place was originally built in 1783 by imperial decree as a weapons depot – a fortress-like structure with walls six feet thick, covering nearly twenty-five acres in the heart of Kyiv. But the ground it stands on is older than that: the site was a 16th-century convent, whose most prominent patron was the mother of Hetman Ivan Mazepa – the Ukrainian leader who defied Peter I and became a lasting symbol of resistance to Russian rule. The empire demolished the convent and built an arsenal in its place. Ukrainians eventually took the arsenal back and filled it with books instead.

My own Arsenal story started in 2015, when I fled Donetsk to Kyiv and found, once again, what I had lost: a community of booklovers and cultural professionals that felt like home. In the years when I wasn’t working in culture full-time, I would take a week off work just for the festival, spending days discovering new books, listening to authors, panel discussions, and then finding friends in the garden as the evening came, reading poetry to each other and talking for hours.

This one week of the year, everyone comes, no matter where the last twelve months have scattered us. We synchronize our clocks, make plans, and simply be together. But the magnetism runs deeper. Arsenal is one of those rare places where you feel fully alive – concentrated, meaningful, part of something larger than yourself. Where the line between past and present dissolves, and you can feel the full weight of a cultural tradition that has been carried across generations and is still being carried, right now, by the people standing next to you. You listen to one of the sharpest minds alive give a talk that rearranges something in your thinking, then meet them in the coffee queue twenty minutes later and talk like old friends. Where else does that happen?

And underneath all of it is the simple act of being here. Of having made it through another year. Once you have been part of the world of Arsenal, something in you keeps returning to it, the way you return to a place that has known you at your best.

Bear Your Freedom

Each year Arsenal has a theme. This year it was Bear Your Freedom, curated by Maksym Butkevych – journalist, human rights activist, former POW, who spent 913 days in Russian captivity before being released in October 2024. Razom supports his initiative Principle of Hope, which develops materials supporting the psychological recovery of returning prisoners, and separate guidance helping soldiers understand how to preserve their lives in captivity.

His central argument: freedom and responsibility are inseparable – “siamese twins” and the greater danger is not that freedom is taken from us, but that we surrender it willingly, trading it for comfort or the illusion of stability. For Butkevych, freedom is never only about oneself, but about those beside us, the ability to build the future together and defend it together: “Perhaps this is Ukraine’s new mission today: not only to fight for freedom, but to help the world rediscover its value.”

One more topic within this theme was the fragility of heroism. Writers and soldiers Artem Chapeye and Artur Dron put it plainly: a hero is not someone without fear or exhaustion, but someone who keeps moving despite both. As Dron said, society creates “bronze” heroes out of convenience, so everyone else can watch from the sidelines and feel absolved. The real call is to see the person behind the symbol, recognize their needs, and act – because bearing freedom together means no one should carry it alone.

On the day of our panel, I arrived early, before the festival opened to the public. Walking through one of the pavilions, I came across the room full of military chaplains – still, present, sacred. Later that day, one of them presented a new book titled Care for the Spirit. And then, watching the main stage fill for readings by soldier-writers, and the lines snaking through the courtyard for their book signing, I realized that combatant literature is no longer a niche: it is the mainstream. It is simply the most honest account of the life Ukrainians are living now.

The Highest Form of Communication

Arsenal’s Writers’ Program, curated by writer and soldier Andriy Lyubka, opened with a deceptively simple question: What do we actually know about our neighbors? We share borders with Slovakia, Romania, Hungary, and can barely name five of their writers. When knowledge is scarce, stereotypes fill the gap. For a country that cannot afford adversaries on two fronts, genuine neighborliness is a question of survival.

Among the writers on the Arsenal main stage was Polish Nobel laureate Olga Tokarczuk, who argued that Central European identity is defined not by stable borders but by their absence – by fluidity, fragmentation, a world that keeps shifting underfoot. It is precisely this instability, she said, that produces writers who cannot rely on realism alone, and it is this shared inheritance that connects Ukraine to its neighbors more deeply than any political agreement.

Tokarczuk had something important to say about the power of literature itself: humans are narrative creatures who understand the world through stories, not facts. Literature is the highest form of communication: it reaches where information cannot, using metaphor and symbol to convey truths. In times of war and propaganda, literature is the clean breath; it forces a reckoning with complexity, protects identity the way a magnetic field protects against external force. She reminded the audience that Poland survived 123 years without a state, through language and culture alone.

Fieldwork in Ukrainian Sex

Among 240 events that Arsenal hosted across four days were poetry readings that moved to bomb shelters mid-session, a Theatre of Veterans, workshops, music, slam poetry, mile-long signing queues, and in the evenings wild dancing under folk and electronic beats. But one of the most attended was a conversation marking the 30th anniversary of Oksana Zabuzhko’s Fieldwork in Ukrainian Sex with Maria Genkin, Razom’s Board Co-Chair, among the speakers.

The book follows a Ukrainian woman writer navigating love, identity, and the weight of post-Soviet womanhood. Publishers at the time genuinely doubted that a Ukrainian-language novel could sell. But it became the first national bestseller of its kind, went through at least seventeen editions, 25 languages, and opened the doors for an entire generation of writers.

Thirty years later, teenage girls return to it as a psychotherapeutic text. Elif Batuman cited it as the book that made her reconsider Russian literature’s colonial hold. Zabuzhko said she no longer owns it – it has become something collective. And in the context of the war, the conversation kept returning to one idea: when a culture is known, and its books are read, a nation becomes harder to kill.

Three Percent Ceiling: Razom’s Way to Break It

Despite the impact of books like Zabuzhko’s across borders, did you know that only 3% of books published in the American market are translated from other languages, all other languages combined? The anglophone market is the hardest literary market in the world to break into. And yet it is the one that matters most for global visibility.

That is why at Book Arsenal, Razom brought together on the main stage a panel of people who know this market from the inside. Emma Shercliffe – a UK literary agent who has sold more Ukrainian titles to British and American publishers than almost anyone – opened by dispelling a persistent myth: people are not tired of the Ukrainian theme. One of her Ukrainian authors is currently her best-selling title. The appetite is real, extending well beyond war narratives into fiction, history, culture. Emma was unambiguous about the quality: the level of intellectual thought in Ukrainian literature, she said, is deeply stimulating, and Ukraine’s top authors hold their own against any international writers. Visibility is no longer the main problem. What remains: the near-absence of agents, the need to be strategic about which publishers you sell rights to, and a grant system that remains practically inaccessible to the larger publishers who could do the most with a book.

Maria Genkin added a pattern she keeps seeing: selling rights to the wrong American publishers – a major new novel going to an academic press that will never invest in promotion. The book comes out, nobody notices, and everyone concludes Ukrainian literature doesn’t sell. Her point was direct: do not sell global rights to a single publisher. Some of those publishers aren’t even eligible for major literary awards, which means no long or shortlisting, no reviews, no bookstore purchases, no second life for the book. Razom’s role is to act as a mediator, helping authors and publishers navigate this complicated market.

Andriy Kurkov, Ukraine’s most internationally bestselling author, drew the distinction that the UK and US markets operate by entirely different rules. The American market is its own thing – more closed, slower to warm up. Kurkov knew this firsthand: his first attempt in 2001 failed not because of the books, but because the publisher did nothing. If a publisher isn’t investing in promotion, books don’t reach shelves. If books don’t reach shelves, nobody finds them. The logic is circular and self-defeating, and it has nothing to do with the quality of the writing. His second attempt in 2018 worked: “The goal is always to arrive and stay. And if you’ve got in and stayed, that’s already a great victory.”

I concluded with what I see as the core problem: the absence of a self-sustaining infrastructure where every part of the system does its job. The real question is delivery: how does a great Ukrainian book actually get onto bookstore and library shelves, and stay there? Here is what Razom is doing about it. We invest in translators as a profession through mentorships, the new Razom Translation Award, and partnerships with leading literary translation institutions in the US and UK. We offer translation grants that are accessible to larger publishers precisely because we don’t require a book to be completed and published within a single year – the constraint that makes most grant programs unworkable for major presses. To date, we have supported eight books; several high-profile titles are coming from major presses in 2027 that would not exist without Razom’s involvement. We also support promotion and, this year, editing – unique among grant programs. And through Chapter Ukraine, we build communities of readers in libraries, universities, and grassroots organizations who advocate for Ukrainian books from the ground up.

Every literary tradition that reached the world stage arrived with a new artistry and language for it – one that captured a reality the world hadn’t yet found words for. The stream eventually broke through its geographical borders and became universal. Ukrainian literature has already formed that language: raw honesty, fragile heroism, self-reliance, a direct way of looking at what most literature looks away from. The current is moving. Is the American reader ready to meet it?

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P.S. As I am finishing this letter, the news came in: Russia struck the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra – the 11th-century cathedral that is a UNESCO World Heritage site – setting its roof on fire while monks and rescue workers formed human chains to save the icons. As firefighters were still battling the blaze, a second strike hit Mystetskyi Arsenal, the building where Book Arsenal takes place. The Dovzhenko National Film Studio was also hit, destroying Ukraine’s largest and oldest costume collection, 100,000 garments, gone. Once again, Russian aggression deliberately strikes Ukraine’s cultural heritage.

Beyond the Soviet Frame: How Razom and Metrograph Brought Ukrainian Poetic Cinema to New Audiences

Published: June 19, 2026

In late 2025, New York audiences gathered at Metrograph for Soul & Soil: Ukrainian Poetic Cinema — an ambitious retrospective co-presented by Metrograph, Razom Cinema, and Dovzhenko Center that introduced audiences to one of the most visually innovative film movements of the twentieth century. Across eighteen screenings, the series drew nearly 1,400 in-person attendees, reached thousands more through streaming, and generated significant engagement across social and film media platforms.

But the retrospective was never intended to function merely as a successful repertory film series. At its core, Soul & Soil, sought to challenge a longstanding misconception in global film culture: the tendency to treat Ukrainian cinema as a subsidiary chapter within “Soviet cinema,” rather than as a distinct artistic tradition with its own language, identity, and historical trajectory.

“There’s a version of Ukrainian cinematic history that gets told as a footnote to Soviet cinema,” explained Head of Razom Cinema Polina Buchak. “One of the things that drives Razom Cinema is the refusal to accept that framing.”

Through a carefully curated program of landmark films, rare archival materials, guest discussions, and contextual programming, Soul & Soil demonstrated not only the enduring artistic power of Ukrainian Poetic Cinema, but also the growing appetite among international audiences to engage with Ukrainian culture on its own terms.

Building the Collaboration

The retrospective emerged from a collaboration between Razom Cinema and Metrograph’s Program Operations Manager, Anri Vartan. Both recognized an opportunity to create a program that would move beyond topical wartime cultural interest and instead introduce audiences to the historical depth of Ukrainian cinematic tradition. Vartan was also the curator of the retrospective series.

While Razom Cinema had already become known for presenting contemporary Ukrainian films and cultural programming in New York, Soul & Soil marked its first major retrospective dedicated specifically to Ukrainian film heritage. It was also the first significant Ukrainian Poetic Cinema retrospective in New York City since the Film at Lincoln Center series curated by Richard Peña in 2012.

“The series was conceived to illuminate the depth and distinctiveness of Ukrainian Poetic Cinema,” said Vartan. “For audiences in New York, the goal was to offer more than just a screening series — it was an invitation to experience a distinct cinematic language profoundly rooted in its sense of time and place.”

The title Soul & Soil reflected the retrospective’s central themes: the enduring relationship between the Ukrainian people, their land, and cultural memory. The films traced a path through key moments in Ukraine’s modern history, from the National Revival period through the Soviet era and into works that anticipated the collapse of the Soviet Union itself.

Reclaiming a Cinematic Heritage

For both Metrograph and Razom, the retrospective carried significance beyond film history. Ukrainian Poetic Cinema emerged during the 1960s as a visually daring movement associated with filmmakers such as Sergei Parajanov, Yurii Illienko, Leonid Osyka, and Ivan Mykolaichuk. Drawing deeply from Ukrainian folklore, history, ethnography, and language, the movement represented a profound break from the rigid constraints of Soviet Socialist Realism.

As filmmaker and producer Pylyp Illienko explained in a companion Metrograph interview, the movement was heavily censored precisely because it articulated a distinctly Ukrainian cultural identity. The films’ emphasis on folklore, spirituality, local traditions, and historical memory challenged Soviet cultural homogenization and, in many cases, resulted in bans, shelving, or severe censorship.

“Revisiting these films today allows audiences to see how questions of identity, resilience, and self-determination have been explored by Ukrainian filmmakers for decades,” said Vartan. “Ukrainian Poetic Cinema was a site of resistance against Soviet cultural hegemony.”

That framing became especially resonant in the context of Russia’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine. For Razom Cinema, presenting these films internationally was not only an artistic project, but also a cultural and historical intervention.

“Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine is not only a military assault, but a deliberate attack on Ukrainian cultural identity,” Buchak noted. “Presenting Ukrainian cinema to international audiences is an affirmation of Ukraine’s existence as a distinct, sovereign culture with its own artistic voice.” Cinema, she argued, offers audiences something beyond news coverage or geopolitics — a way to experience a culture from within: “It allows audiences to feel a culture from the inside — its motions, its rhythms, its memory and identity.”

Creating a Singular Audience Experience

What distinguished Soul & Soil from a standard repertory series was the depth of contextualization and the extraordinary level of collaboration behind the scenes.

Razom Cinema provided grant support that enabled the sourcing of rare 35mm prints from Yurii Illienko’s personal archive — materials that had not screened outside Ukraine in decades — alongside digital restorations from the Dovzhenko Center, Ukraine’s leading film archive.

The retrospective also featured in-person appearances by Pylyp Illienko, son of Yurii Illienko, who introduced films and participated in post-screening discussions, offering audiences rare insight into the production histories and political contexts surrounding the works. Composer Leonid Grabovsky, whose experimental scores shaped the audiovisual language of several Illienko films, also joined select screenings.

“These screenings became something much more unique,” Buchak said. Metrograph and Razom further elevated the experience through live subtitling provided by Razom Cinema Program Coordinator Yuliia Haleta, custom translation work, and carefully designed print and editorial materials that framed the series for audiences unfamiliar with Ukrainian film history.

Opening night set the tone for the retrospective’s immersive approach. Before a screening of Oleksandr Dovzhenko’s Earth accompanied by DakhaBrakha’s score, the Ukrainian Village Voices ensemble performed live folk music inspired by the same traditions reflected in the film itself.

For Vartan, contextualization proved essential: “The way a film program is framed has a huge impact on the audience’s experience and ultimately on their appreciation of the cinema itself,” he reflected. “Print materials, guest appearances, and the technical presentation itself are all integral details that are vital in presenting a film in its best light.”

This emphasis on contextualization extends beyond the screenings themselves. Razom Cinema’s team continues to invest in ongoing study and engagement with Ukrainian film history, including participation in programs such as the 2026 Ukrainian Institute London course Ukrainian Cinema: A Century of Innovation, Struggle, and Resilience, reflecting the organization’s commitment to presenting Ukrainian cinema with both historical depth and contemporary relevance.

Audience Response and Institutional Impact

The response to Soul & Soil demonstrated that Ukrainian cinema can attract substantial international interest when presented with strong curatorial framing and institutional support. The retrospective achieved a 68% average occupancy rate across eighteen screenings, drawing nearly 1,400 attendees in theaters. An additional 1,640 viewers engaged with the series through Metrograph’s streaming platform, bringing total viewership to more than 3,000 people.

The program’s digital footprint extended even further. Promotional content reached approximately 370,000 social media accounts and generated more than 887,000 views, including a highly successful collaboration with Letterboxd that alone approached 700,000 views. Coverage from outlets including Letterboxd, FilmStage, Screenslate, United24, Bazilik, and The Gaze further amplified the retrospective’s visibility.

For Razom Cinema, the statistics confirmed something larger than the success of a single event: “There is a desire and appetite for Ukrainian cinema among international audiences,” Buchak said. “Soul & Soil proved that when the programming is presented with care, context, and the right institutional partnerships, audiences show up.”

The collaboration has already opened conversations about future institutional partnerships and expanded programming opportunities. Both Razom Cinema and Metrograph see the retrospective not as a singular event, but as a model that can travel to other venues and audiences.

“The films are extraordinary,” Buchak reflected, “but audiences need a frame to receive them. Razom Cinema is here to help build that frame in collaboration with any institution ready to open their doors to the power that Ukrainian cinema offers.”

Russia Is Not Only Attacking People. It Is Attacking Ukraine’s Memory, Culture, and Identity.

Published: June 16, 2026

On the night of June 15, Russia launched one of its largest attacks in recent months.

More than 70 missiles and 611 Russian-Iranian drones were fired across Ukraine, with over 60 missiles targeting Kyiv.

The attack once again claimed civilian lives and caused extensive damage to residential neighborhoods and civilian infrastructure. But its consequences extend far beyond physical destruction.

An Attack on the Heart of Ukraine’s Faith, Culture, and History

That same night, Russia struck something that cannot be quickly rebuilt or replaced.

Ukraine’s cultural heritage came under attack.

One of the most painful symbols of this assault was the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.

Founded in 1051, the Lavra is one of Europe’s oldest monastic complexes and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. For nearly a thousand years, it has remained a spiritual, historical, and cultural center of Ukraine.

For millions of Ukrainians, the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra is far more than an architectural landmark. Generations have come here to pray, seek comfort, celebrate life’s milestones, and preserve a connection to their history. The site houses sacred relics, manuscripts, religious artworks, and centuries of cultural memory.

As a result of Russia’s attack, parts of the Lavra complex were damaged, and a fire broke out in the Dormition Cathedral.

“Once again, we see these barbaric acts committed by Russians, for whom nothing is sacred. It is horrifying that while calling themselves Christians, they strike at the very heart of our people. Once again, this reveals exactly who we are dealing with,” said the Vicar of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra following the attack.

The damage to the Lavra serves as another reminder that this war is not only directed against Ukrainian cities and communities.

It is directed against Ukrainian identity itself.

Culture Under Fire

During the same attack, Russia damaged Mystetskyi Arsenal, one of Ukraine’s most important cultural institutions. The Arsenal hosts international exhibitions, educational programs, major artistic initiatives, and the country’s largest annual book festival.

Reflecting on the attack, Mystetskyi Arsenal Director General Olesia Ostrovska-Liuta drew a striking historical parallel:

“It is remarkable that the Russian drone struck the exact same location that was hit by a Nazi bomb during World War II. It is some kind of mystical coincidence — perhaps the souls of aggressors united?”

Russian strikes also damaged the Oleksandr Dovzhenko National Film Studio, the birthplace of Ukrainian cinema.

According to the studio’s officials, its primary costume archive was destroyed. Approximately 100,000 costumes and priceless archival materials documenting decades of Ukrainian film history were lost.

“Costumes from such iconic films as Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors, The Lost Letter, and Bohdan Khmelnytsky were stored here. Now this building has been completely destroyed — there is practically nothing left,” said studio director Andriy Donchyk.

Other cultural institutions damaged during the attack include the Kharkiv Art Museum and the House of Organ and Chamber Music in Dnipro.

And all of this happened in a single night.

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Russia has systematically targeted Ukraine’s cultural heritage. According to Ukraine’s Ministry of Culture, as of May 2026, 1,783 cultural heritage sites and 2,540 cultural infrastructure facilities have been damaged or destroyed across the country.

UNESCO has independently verified damage to at least 534 cultural sites, including museums, libraries, historic landmarks, archaeological sites, and more than 150 religious buildings.

These figures reveal a disturbing reality: Russia is waging war not only against Ukraine’s cities and communities, but also against its historical memory, culture, and identity.

They Came to the Rescue

That same night, Russia once again demonstrated its complete disregard for human life.

In Kharkiv, five emergency responders from Ukraine’s State Emergency Service (DSNS) were killed.

After an initial strike on a civilian industrial facility, emergency crews arrived to assist victims and assess the damage.

They were doing what they have done every day since the start of the full-scale invasion: searching for survivors, helping the wounded, extinguishing fires, and protecting communities.

After receiving warnings of a possible second strike, the rescuers left the facility and moved to another location, following safety protocols.

Moments later, a second missile struck near where they had gathered.

Five emergency responders were killed instantly.

Several others were injured.

“One of the missiles struck approximately 30 meters from the rescuers, who had managed to leave the facility and were standing in a wooded area near the fence. Unfortunately, the missile struck directly at those who save lives,” said Bohdan Hladkykh, Director of Kharkiv’s Department of Emergency Situations.

These men were not soldiers. They were not engaged in combat. They had come to save civilian lives.

Russia’s double-tap strikes have become one of the most dangerous and deliberate tactics of this war. After an initial attack, emergency responders, medics, and rescue crews arrive at the scene. A second strike then follows.

The targets are the people helping others.

Since the first day of the full-scale invasion, Razom has supported emergency responders, firefighters, medics, and rescue teams across Ukraine. They are often the first to arrive after an attack and the last to leave once the rescue operation is complete.

Their service is a service to life itself.

That is why the deaths of these five rescuers in Kharkiv represent a tragedy not only for their families and colleagues, but for all of Ukraine.

The Goal Is Not Only Destruction

When emergency responders are killed while trying to save others, it is an attack on humaneness.

When the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra is damaged, it is an attack on spiritual heritage.

When film archives are destroyed and museums are struck, it is an attack on cultural memory.

All of these acts are part of a larger pattern.

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Russia has damaged or destroyed hundreds of religious and cultural sites across Ukraine. Churches, museums, theaters, libraries, archives, and historic landmarks have all come under attack.

These are not accidental losses.

They are not unavoidable consequences of war.

They are systematic attacks on the foundations of Ukrainian identity and resilience.

When humaneness, culture and faith are targeted, the goal is not simply destruction.

The goal is erasure.

Why This Matters to All of Us

Cultural heritage does not belong to one nation alone.

When a UNESCO World Heritage Site is damaged, when museum collections are destroyed, or when irreplaceable archives are lost, humanity loses a part of its shared history.

That is why protecting Ukrainian culture is not solely a Ukrainian issue.

It is a matter of preserving memory, history, and values that transcend borders.

At Razom, we work every day to ensure that Ukrainian stories continue to be seen, heard, and understood around the world. We document attacks on Ukrainian culture, amplify the voices of those defending their communities, and ensure that the world does not look away from efforts to erase an entire nation’s heritage.

Today, we honor the memory of the five DSNS rescuers who lost their lives while serving others.

We also remind the world of the churches, museums, archives, and cultural institutions that Russia continues to attack.

Ukraine continues to resist.
And as long as there are people saving lives, preserving culture, and telling the truth, Ukraine can never be erased.