Prometheus: Bringing Ukrainian Defense Innovation to Capitol Hill

Published: October 16, 2026

At Razom’s Washington, D.C., office, Ukrainian innovators and American policymakers explored the technologies reshaping modern security and the opportunities for deeper U.S.-Ukraine cooperation.

Ukraine’s experience defending itself against Russia’s full-scale invasion is transforming how the world understands modern warfare. Ukrainian engineers, trainers, and innovators are developing and adapting technologies at remarkable speed, drawing on lessons learned directly from the front lines. These innovations have implications far beyond Ukraine, offering important insights into the future of unmanned systems, emerging security threats, and international defense cooperation.

To bring that expertise directly to American decision-makers, Razom for Ukraine’s Advocacy Team convened and hosted Prometheus, an interactive defense innovation showcase at its Capitol Hill office in Washington, D.C., earlier this month.

Organized in partnership with the Embassy of Ukraine in the United States, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), Liberty Ukraine, Accshellerator, Ukraine’s Boryviter Centre of Excellence, and Truth Hounds, the event welcomed more than 100 congressional staffers, executive branch officials, national security experts, and Ukrainian innovators.

“Out of necessity, Ukrainian engineers have developed inexpensive technologies that are being deployed in weeks, challenging weapons systems worth millions of dollars. Ukraine is at the forefront of this transformation, and the United States has much to learn from its experience. One of Razom’s central objectives was to build support for a formal U.S.-Ukraine working group to facilitate cooperation on unmanned systems,” said Daniel Balson, Director of Razom Advocacy.

A Hands-On Look at Ukrainian Innovation

Prometheus gave participants an opportunity to experience Ukrainian technology firsthand and speak with the people developing and using it. Guests took the controls of first-person-view (FPV) drone simulators, examined Ukrainian drone models, explored battlefield logistics software, and learned about rapidly evolving technologies designed to counter unmanned threats. The demonstrations illustrated how quickly Ukraine’s innovation ecosystem has evolved under the pressures of war.

Ukrainian engineers, entrepreneurs, and frontline professionals have developed ways to adapt relatively inexpensive technologies to challenges traditionally addressed by far more costly systems. In some cases, technologies can be modified and deployed in weeks, or even days, to meet rapidly changing needs.

For the American policymakers in attendance, the opportunity to engage directly with Ukrainian innovators brought those developments into sharper focus. The showcase created space for technical questions, practical demonstrations, and conversations about what Ukraine’s experience can teach its international partners.

What Ukraine’s Experience Means for Global Security

A fireside conversation featuring Rear Admiral (Ret.) Mark Montgomery and Shashank Joshi of The Economist explored the broader implications of Ukraine’s experience for the future of warfare and American security.

As unmanned technologies evolve, Ukraine’s experience offers insights into how quickly security challenges can change and how institutions can adapt to emerging threats. The discussion reinforced one of the event’s central themes: Ukraine’s knowledge and experience can make a meaningful contribution to its partnerships with the United States. Ukraine has become an important source of practical expertise in unmanned systems, and sustained cooperation offers both countries opportunities to learn from that experience.

From Innovation to Lasting Cooperation

Prometheus also highlighted an opportunity to translate these exchanges into more structured collaboration: H.R. 9550, the Strategic Unmanned Systems Partnership Act, proposes strengthening U.S.-Ukraine cooperation in the development, production, and acquisition of next-generation unmanned systems. The proposal reflects the broader policy conversation surrounding the showcase: how the United States and Ukraine can build on Ukraine’s technological expertise through sustained cooperation.

For Razom’s Advocacy team, bringing Ukrainian experts into direct conversation with American policymakers is an important part of that process. The team connects decision-makers with credible information, Ukrainian perspectives, and opportunities for policy engagement.

Keeping Ukrainian Expertise at the Center

The success of Prometheus depended on the expertise and collaboration of many partners.

Razom extends special thanks to the Embassy of Ukraine in the United States and Chargé d’Affaires Denys Sienik for participating, and to the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Liberty Ukraine, Accshellerator, Boryviter Centre of Excellence, and Truth Hounds for helping bring the showcase together.

We are also grateful to the Ukrainian engineers, trainers, and innovators who shared their knowledge and demonstrated technologies shaped by years of extraordinary challenges.

The event represents one part of Razom’s broader commitment to strengthening understanding of Ukraine in Washington and supporting relationships that recognize Ukraine’s experience, capabilities, and leadership.

Thanks to Razom’s supporters, we can continue bringing Ukrainian expertise to the people and institutions shaping important decisions, helping create opportunities for deeper understanding and lasting partnerships.

Razom for Ukraine: You Cannot Put America First While Buying Russian Diesel

Published: October 9, 2026

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Razom for Ukraine: You Cannot Put America First While Buying Russian Diesel

Washington, D.C., October 9, 2026 — Razom for Ukraine expresses its unequivocal opposition to President Trump’s decision to allow nearly 5 million tons of Russian diesel to enter the American and global market. “Every dollar America spends on Russian diesel is a dollar that Putin uses to kill Ukrainians in hospitals, schools, and shelters,” said Daniel Balson, Director of Advocacy at Razom.

Just three weeks ago, the President signed the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act to pressure other countries to end their dependence on Russian energy. Today’s decision undermines that effort, runs counter to the President’s stated goal of ending the war, and defies the bipartisan intent of that bill.

“Instead of increasing pressure on Russia’s energy sector, President Trump’s announcement is giving the Russian dictator an economic lifeline as his forces falter on the battlefield,” added Daniel Balson.

“The American people across the political spectrum support more economic pressure on Russia. According to the February 2026 Harvard CAPS / Harris poll, 66% of Americans say President Trump should impose further economic sanctions on Russia. You cannot put America first while buying Russian diesel.

Yesterday, Russia bombed two buses in the Ukrainian city of Kramatorsk, killing 33 people. The day before, Russia bombed an apartment building in Pryluky, killing 22, including children. Russian oil money bankrolls these crimes. President Trump says he wants to save lives. The decision to buy Russian diesel undercuts that goal,” said Balson.

Razom for Ukraine calls on President Trump to rescind this decision and urges members of Congress to explore every available legislative and oversight mechanism to reverse it.

Art as Medicine: Inside the First Year of the I’mmortal Fellowship

Published: October 7, 2026

Five cross-border partnerships with one shared mission, and why creative practice belongs at the center of Ukraine’s recovery

This summer, in the village of Nahachiv in Ukraine’s Lviv region, 80 children spent a week dancing, drawing, taking photographs, and writing their own plays. On the final day, they performed for their parents, neighbors, and local leaders. The show explored freedom, identity, and support, and the children imagined worlds of their own making.

Among the volunteers who joined The Campfire Project and Folkowisko Ukraine – the participants of our inaugural I’mmortal Fellowship – was two-time Oscar nominee Jesse Eisenberg, who had spent a year learning the Cyrillic alphabet so he could read his lines in Ukrainian during the children’s performances. Two air-raid sirens sounded that week in the area, both after the day’s programming had ended.

For us, this week captures what the I’mmortal Fellowship (Безсмертні) is about: using art as healing practice for those most in need.

“Art has always been how people make meaning and take care of communities in the hardest moments,” says Razom CEO Dora Chomiak. This year, we watched that happen in real time.

Why Arts in Health, Why Now

I’mmortal is Razom’s first Arts in Health program, created in partnership with Wesleyan University’s Center for the Arts. It started from a simple idea: creative practice can be part of how people recover.

The need in Ukraine is enormous. After more than four years of full-scale invasion, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that a mental health crisis affects about 10 million people in Ukraine. Rehabilitation needs far exceed existing service capacity, and only 4% of hospitals provide inpatient rehabilitation.

At the same time, the evidence around arts and health is growing. A major WHO review of more than 3,000 studies found that the arts can play an important role in preventing ill health, promoting health, and managing and treating illness across the lifespan.

When we opened the I’mmortal Open Call this spring, we received 35 applications from across Ukraine and the United States. They came from NGOs, cultural collectives, artists, clinicians, and universities. Our Selection Committee matched 12 of them into five cross-border partnerships.

Each received a grant of up to $10,000 for their pilot projects, and was asked to co-create, not simply export an American model to Ukraine, or vice versa.

Five Partnerships, Five Different Stories

Gathering Around the Fire. Eleven artists, creative arts therapists, translators, and a psychiatrist, led by New York-based The Campfire Project and its director Jessica Hecht, traveled from the US to work alongside the local Folkowisko Ukraine team. After the children’s summer camp, they trained 30 educators, social workers, psychologists, and doctors in Yavoriv, some of whom came from frontline regions. The training was run with the Jameel Arts & Health Lab and the World Health Organization’s Regional Office for Europe. As part of the program, participants were also equipped with tools they can continue using long after the visiting team leaves.

Artscapes of Care. This project started with a question that is easy to overlook: Who takes care of the people who take care of everyone else? Through soundscapes, movement, and visual storytelling, US partners Kerry Kincy and Dr. Midori Samson joined Kyiv-based First Aid of the Soul in Lviv for interactive, arts-based workshops with children and families at St. Nicholas Hospital, veterans at UNBROKEN, and teachers at Oberih School, which serves children with intellectual disabilities. The exchange culminated in a professional development and networking program at Ukrainian Catholic University for mental health and social service practitioners from across the region. It highlighted something important: supporting the people providing care is part of supporting the people they serve.

Rhythm as Regulation. This summer, New Orleans-based dancer and acupuncturist Yekaterina Chizayeva and Ukrainian somatic educator and psychologist Kateryna Taranova brought together a group of Ukrainian artists in the Carpathian town of Slavsko. The group included dancers, ceramicists, vocalists, and visual artists. They worked in different mediums, but found a common thread: the rhythms of the nervous system, and the power of creative practice to support regulation, wellbeing, and resilience. The residency has grown into a community of practitioners who continue to meet and share knowledge. A second lab follows in New Orleans in October, with the goal of creating a shared toolkit for rhythm-based practices and exploring how movement and sound can help ease anxiety, calm groups together, and support recovery from the sensory toll of war, including the hypervigilance caused by drones overhead.

Me – The Other. This inclusive theatre initiative pairs The Theatre Lab’s Life Stories Institute in Washington, D.C., with Yuliia Vintoniv, a theologian and educator from Ukrainian Catholic University in Lviv. Yuliia is working to build a university course based on The Theatre Lab’s Life Stories method, which draws on more than 20 years of autobiographical theatre. Starting in January 2027, the pilot course will bring together about 20 to 25 students with people who have congenital disabilities or injuries from the war. Through movement, storytelling, improvisation, and writing, they will create original theatre from their own lives and challenge the stigma around disability in wartime Ukraine. The learning goes both ways. Yuliia is training with The Theatre Lab online and in person in the US, while The Theatre Lab will bring what it learns from Ukraine to its own work with US military veterans. In the long run, the team hopes to bring the course to other universities across Ukraine.

Moving, Imagining, and Unbroken. This dance and movement program for Ukrainian combat veterans is led by New York based Exit12 Dance Company, the Imagination Lab at SUNY Albany, and Lesya Ukrainka Volyn National University in Lutsk. The program combines movement with surrealism-inspired drawing and collage and is being adapted for amputees and veterans with limited mobility. The work is grounded in research: the Imagination Lab’s studies link engaging with surrealist art to resilience and emotional richness, and participants will take part in voluntary surveys before and after each workshop to measure changes in resilience, hope and wellbeing. Pilot workshops in the New York area will bring Ukrainian and American veterans into the same room.

Coming Together at Wesleyan

From November 2–7, all five partnerships will gather at Wesleyan for a week of shared programming and peer exchange. The week ends with a public Capstone Showcase on November 7 at 2 pm at Fayerweather Beckham Hall in Middletown, CT. Each team will share what it built this year and how they envision bringing the work into Ukrainian hospitals, veterans’ centers, schools, and communities in 2027.

Why “I’mmortal”

The Fellowship’s name brings together two ideas: mortality, which is part of being human and the subject of medicine, and the lasting power of the arts.

In the creative arts, the healing arts, and the act of making something together, we are immortal, even when what we face is the fragility of our bodies or the difficulty of staying connected to the world.

This year, we saw it in a village hall in Nahachiv, a mountain studio in Slavsko, a hospital ward in Lviv, and a rehearsal room in New York.

On November 7, come witness it at Wesleyan!

Rachel Shuey and Viktorija Mickute, Razom Connect

The Headlines Feel Familiar. What’s Happening in Ukraine Is Getting Worse.

Published: October 1, 2026

“Now, new jet-powered Shaheds are so fast that even the Telegram channels you rely on can’t warn you in time,” Hanna, Operations Manager for Razom’s mental health program, shares. “Before, there were a few hours of quiet. Now, non-stop exhaustion without sleep affects everything.”

Every day across Ukraine, people are still going to work, taking care of their families, running businesses, teaching children, treating patients, and helping their communities through another day of war. This is what keeps the country functioning, even as the conditions around them become increasingly difficult.

After more than four years of full-scale war, another headline about an attack on Ukraine can be easy to scroll past. Some of our colleagues have even heard people abroad ask whether the war is still going on.

The reality is the opposite of a war fading away. In the first eight months of 2026, the UN recorded more civilian casualties in Ukraine than during all of 2025.

But numbers tell only part of the story. What can look from abroad like another week of “war in Ukraine” is, in everyday life, a humanitarian crisis that reaches far beyond the front line. A destroyed business means more than a damaged building. A strike on a medical warehouse means supplies may never reach the patients waiting for them. When a school, hospital, communications network, or workplace is hit, the consequences continue long after the attack disappears from the news.

At Razom, we see those consequences through our own colleagues, grantees, and partners across Ukraine. They are treating patients, delivering aid, supporting communities, running organizations, and building for the future while navigating the same attacks as everyone around them. And over the past weeks, doing that work has become even harder.

The people behind the headlines

Kyiv has faced repeated attacks throughout September. On September 25, a Russian strike hit the Compass FM business center during the workday. Among those killed was journalist Mariia Ivzhenko, the wife of Danylo Ivzhenko, who is currently serving with Ukraine’s Third Army Corps. We know Danylo through his work with Razom on tourniquet training and other medical education initiatives in Ukraine. He is trained to save lives on the front line, yet this war reached his own family far from it. In a public post after Mariia’s death, Danylo shared that they had recently bought an apartment and were planning to start a family this winter. Our deepest condolences go to Danylo, Mariia’s family, and everyone who knew and loved her.

Three days later, on September 28, Russian attacks hit two more places at the center of civilian life in Kyiv. A Russian drone struck the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, killing people while they were at work inside. Later that day, another strike hit a Dobrobut medical center, damaging the clinic and injuring patients and staff.

A scientific institution. A medical center. A business. Homes, schools, warehouses, and communications infrastructure. These are not places on a distant front line. They are the places where Ukrainians work, learn, receive care, and try to live their lives.

For our colleagues in Kyiv, these are not distant news stories. They are people they know, streets they travel, workplaces they pass, and neighborhoods where their families and friends live.

The growing pressure on Ukrainian businesses

There is another part of this story that receives less attention: the growing pressure on the businesses and infrastructure that keep Ukraine functioning.

In August, the UN documented 32 attacks against facilities belonging to six major Ukrainian food, retail, and logistics companies, nearly three times the number recorded in July. Warehouses and distribution centers have been damaged, disrupting the systems Ukrainians depend on for food, deliveries, jobs, and everyday services.

For Razom, we see another consequence through our partners on the ground.

Ukrainian businesses have been important donors to civil society organizations providing essential relief and recovery services in their communities. Our partners are telling us that as businesses are hit and lose revenue, some of that support is disappearing too, putting funding for critical programs under pressure.

A damaged business affects its employees and their families, the local economy, the organizations it supports, and ultimately the people who depend on those organizations.

The same is true for humanitarian and medical infrastructure. In only three months this summer, airstrikes destroyed three warehouses used by the World Health Organization, including a Dnipro facility where half of the medical supplies and equipment intended to support approximately 225,000 people in frontline and hard-to-reach communities were lost. At least 20 attacks have affected warehouses storing humanitarian supplies in Ukraine so far this year.

This is what a humanitarian crisis looks like beyond the immediate moment of an attack: the systems designed to help people survive and recover are themselves placed under enormous pressure.

Oleshky: Hell on Earth Under Russian Occupation

The pressure on civilian life is not limited to the cities and infrastructure being hit by Russian attacks. In Russian-occupied Oleshky in Kherson Oblast, the same humanitarian crisis has reached an extreme.

Civilians, including children, are trapped without sufficient food, medicine, medical care, running water, or electricity. The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights has warned that residents face a high risk of death and called for humanitarian access and safe evacuation.

With conventional humanitarian access severely restricted, Ukrainian defenders are still trying to reach those trapped there. In one recent operation, Ukrainian forces used drones to deliver around four tons of food and medicine to 100 locations across Oleshky.

Oleshky shows the humanitarian catastrophe Russia’s war and occupation have created in its most extreme form: people cut off from the basic conditions they need to survive. And it is happening right now, alongside the attacks on homes, businesses, hospitals, schools, and infrastructure across Ukraine.

This is what gets lost when all of it becomes simply “the war in Ukraine.”

Ukrainians are still doing the work

And still, life continues. Doctors go to work after sleepless nights. Businesses reopen after attacks. Teachers keep classrooms running, volunteers keep aid moving, and communities continue taking care of one another. But Ukrainians should not be expected to endlessly adapt to destruction. Resilience is not protection, and it cannot replace the support people need to keep going.

For Razom, that is why responding to the immediate crisis and investing in Ukraine’s future have always been connected. We help provide urgent humanitarian and medical support while strengthening the people, organizations, and communities that will carry Ukraine forward.

The international community has tools to act. The recently enacted Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act gives the United States additional authorities to increase economic pressure on Russia and those helping finance its war. These tools must be used to their fullest extent. Contact your representatives in Congress and urge them to call on the White House to increase pressure on Russia and ensure continued support for Ukraine.

Ukrainians are already doing the work: saving lives, keeping businesses open, caring for their communities, and building a future in Ukraine. What they need now is not for the world to admire their resilience, but to stand behind it.

Join us. Support Ukraine.

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

Razom Applauds Final Passage of the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia & Iran Act

Published: September 17, 2026

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Razom Applauds Final Passage of the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia & Iran Act

Washington, D.C., September 16, 2026 — Razom is grateful to every member of Congress who supported the bipartisan Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, an important step toward strengthening Ukraine and increasing pressure on Moscow.

“The bipartisan passage of this bill is nothing short of momentous,” said Daniel Balson, Director of Advocacy at Razom for Ukraine. “This is the first piece of stand-alone, pro-Ukraine legislation to make it through Congress in two years. It comes as Russian officials move towards full-scale mobilization and intensify their bombing campaign against Ukraine’s critical energy infrastructure. This bill sends an unmistakable message: for so long as Putin continues to inflict suffering on Ukraine, Congress will continue to impose consequences on Putin.”

“The measures contained in this bill will hit Putin where it hurts most. They will strike at the heart of his war machine, weaken his economy, and target those who continue to bankroll the Kremlin by importing Russian energy,” added Balson. “Countries around the world have a choice: they can finance Putin’s war or they can enjoy access to the U.S. market but not both.”

The House passage followed an overwhelming 86–11 vote in the Senate. Together, these bipartisan votes reflect a broad demand from Americans across the political spectrum for stronger U.S. sanctions and greater pressure on Putin’s murderous regime.

“The Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act provides the administration with a powerful set of tools to save lives in Ukraine,” said Daniel Balson. “We encourage President Trump to swiftly sign this bill into law and move quickly to make full use of the new tools at his disposal.”

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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.

А Way Home: How Adaptive Sports Help Ukraine’s Veterans Rebuild Their Lives

Published: August 22, 2026

For many Ukrainian service members, returning home from the front marks the beginning of a new chapter —one of recovery, readjusting to civilian life, and finding new sources of purpose and support.

A training gym tucked inside a garage in Kyiv’s Podil district feels like its own little world. Blues and rock music fill the air, while the exposed brick walls are covered with military flags and unit patches. Veterans gather here to train, learn Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and spend time among people who understand their experiences without requiring lengthy explanations.

On the mats, there is friendly competition, laughter, and a strong sense of camaraderie. It is a place to focus on movement, challenge yourself, support others, and simply be yourself. Every person returns from war with a different story, different needs, and a different pace of recovery. For some, the priority is regaining confidence in their body. For others, it is finding a community, discovering a new role, or creating a space where they can begin planning for the future.

Adaptive sports are athletic activities tailored to an individual’s abilities and needs. For veterans — especially those recovering from injuries or living with disabilities — they can play an important role in physical rehabilitation, psychological well-being, and social connection.

Since 2025, Razom has supported initiatives that help veterans recover through sports, train adaptive sports coaches and instructors, strengthen veteran leadership programs, and build local communities. This summer, we visited two of these projects and witnessed participants not only discovering new opportunities through sports, but also passing their knowledge on to others, creating safe spaces, and bringing their communities together.

A New Chapter

“We have immense respect for those still serving on the front lines, and just as much respect for those who return home,” says Nataliia, project manager of “New Calling: A Profession for Life”. “The transition back to civilian life can be challenging, which is why it is so important for veterans to feel supported by society.”

That support is especially critical in smaller communities, where access to infrastructure, specialized services, and spaces for connection is often limited. Every veteran follows their own path of readjustment after returning home. When support is unavailable, emotional struggles may go unnoticed, leaving people to face them alone.

Project participant Artem remembers his own experience after demobilization:

“There were certain mental processes I didn’t like.”

One day, a friend invited him to a jiu-jitsu practice. Over time, the sport became an important source of stability.

“It gave me direction—somewhere to channel my emotions and a healthy way to clear my mind.”

Nearly ten years later, Artem remains part of the jiu-jitsu community. His experience showed him just how important movement, teamwork, and a sense of belonging can be in rebuilding life after military service.

Another participant, veteran Artem P., underwent a long recovery after being wounded and losing both legs.

“I was unconscious for a long time. For nearly two months, I was constantly under medication following multiple surgeries. When you finally return to everyday life after that, it’s difficult to find your place again,” he says.

Throughout his recovery, his greatest source of support was his family — his wife and daughter. Later, he joined an adaptive archery program. Training helped him better understand the capabilities of his body, regain confidence, and discover new goals.

“The most important thing is changing the way you see yourself — not as someone who is helpless, but as someone who is still capable of so much.”

For Artem, adaptive sports became much more than part of his physical rehabilitation. They became a space where he could test his limits, keep moving forward, and once again feel like an active participant in life.

How Do Adaptive Sports Help?

Oleh, the head coach of the “New Calling: A Profession for Life” project, explains that adaptive sports help participants develop body awareness, regain control over their movements, and improve their sense of balance.

“During the first few months of training, we focus on learning how to fall safely without getting injured. For people with disabilities, this is a skill that can make a real difference in everyday life.”

The ability to fall safely, maintain balance, or simply feel confident in your own body may seem like a small thing — until one day you have to learn those skills all over again.

Supporting Mental Health and Healing from PTSD

War leaves behind more than physical wounds. After returning home, many veterans face the psychological consequences of combat, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, irritability, and feelings of isolation. Adaptive sports offer a safe and structured way to work through these challenges.

Oleh, who primarily teaches Brazilian jiu-jitsu, explains the science behind the process:

“In training, we redirect the aggression associated with PTSD into a controlled environment. We know the violence isn’t real — it can stop at any moment — but hormonally, the body responds as if the danger is real. When the sparring session ends, the brain receives a clear message: I survived. Dopamine is released, and the person’s emotional state begins to improve.”

In this way, adaptive sports support recovery on multiple levels, helping veterans rebuild both physical strength and psychological resilience.

Nataliia, the project’s program manager, emphasizes that recovery is never one-size-fits-all. Different people need different entry points.

For some veterans, working with a psychologist comes first, giving them the confidence to eventually step onto the training mat.

For others, the process unfolds in the opposite direction. They need to release tension through physical activity before they are ready to open up in therapy.

Adaptive sports make both paths possible, meeting veterans where they are and allowing recovery to begin in the way that works best for each individual.

Rebuilding Confidence and Finding New Purpose

Adaptive sports do more than support rehabilitation — they also open the door to new careers and ambitions. For many veterans, they become an opportunity to pursue competitive athletics or become coaches after military service.

With just two or three years of training, many Ukrainian veteran-athletes are already competing at national and international tournaments, earning podium finishes and proving that recovery can lead to new achievements.

Nataliia recalls one particularly inspiring story:

“We had a participant with bilateral above-the-knee amputations. He had been training for only one year, and he came home with a gold medal.”

Ukrainian athletes continue to achieve remarkable success on the world stage. At the 2025 World Jiu-Jitsu Championship in Abu Dhabi, Ukraine’s national team finished second in the overall team standings and third among participating nations.

Coach Oleh hopes to see the team reach the very top — and is determined to help make that happen.

“Brazilians used to dominate jiu-jitsu. They were used to being the ones everyone looked up to. In 2024, Ukraine burst onto the scene, and people were genuinely surprised. In 2025, we performed even better. We want to keep building on that success and show the world how strong we are.”

Adaptive jiu-jitsu is unique because it allows athletes to transform what others might see as limitations into competitive advantages. Some of Oleh’s athletes with disabilities even aspire to compete in open divisions alongside able-bodied competitors.

“In this sport, your disability can actually become your strength. When your opponent encounters it for the first time, they’re disoriented — they simply don’t know how to respond.”

Jiu-Jitsu as “Human Chess”

Andrii, a participant in the “Sports Ambassadors” project, an experienced jiu-jitsu coach, and a veteran who defended Donetsk Airport in 2014, describes the sport as “human chess.”

Every match, he says, is a contest of two minds, with opponents solving complex problems under constant pressure. Success depends not on physical dominance but on strategy, timing, and the ability to use an opponent’s strength against them. In jiu-jitsu, the smaller or seemingly weaker competitor can defeat a stronger one through skill and tactical thinking.

For Ukrainians, this idea feels deeply familiar. Throughout Russia’s war against Ukraine, Ukrainian defenders have repeatedly faced a much more powerful enemy, relying on ingenuity, adaptability, and determination to overcome overwhelming odds.

For many veterans, adaptive jiu-jitsu recreates that mindset in a safe environment. It allows them to experience familiar emotions — stress, focus, determination, and resilience — without the life-threatening danger of combat. On the mat, they learn not only how to respond under pressure, but also that they are capable of regaining control, trusting themselves again, and moving forward.

From Athletes to Community Leaders

Training offers veterans more than physical recovery — it creates opportunities to reconnect with others who share similar experiences, both on and off the mat. For veteran Artem, the gym has become much more than a place to exercise. It is a place to meet friends, unwind, and talk openly with people who understand.

“These are the same people I stood in line with at the military enlistment office.”

Inspired by the support he found through jiu-jitsu, Artem dreams of returning to his hometown of Uman and building a local jiu-jitsu community where fellow veterans can train, connect, and support one another.

This is precisely the kind of impact Razom’s adaptive sports initiatives are designed to create. By equipping veterans with new skills, professional training, and leadership opportunities, these programs empower them to build lasting support networks in their own communities.

“New Calling: A Profession for Life”, implemented by the nonprofit “TMS – Fighting for Ukraine”, helps veterans build new careers as adaptive sports coaches. Participants completed comprehensive training in coaching, rehabilitation methods, psychological resilience, and entrepreneurship. Upon graduation, they received professional certificates and support with admission to the National University of Ukraine on Physical Education and Sport.

“Sports Ambassadors 3.0”, implemented by “StratCom UA”, focuses on developing veteran leadership through adaptive sports. Over five months, participants completed training in leadership, communications, grant management, and community project development. Thirty finalists representing 20 communities took part in an in-person intensive program, where they presented their own adaptive sports initiatives. At least seven of these community projects will receive grant funding from Razom to bring their ideas to life.

The impact of these programs extends far beyond the participants themselves. Every graduate becomes someone who can pass on their knowledge, mentor others, and strengthen their local community. One trained coach can support veterans for years. One adaptive sports program can transform an entire community. And one veteran who regains confidence often goes on to help dozens of others begin their own journey of recovery.

Step by step, these initiatives are restoring more than individual lives—they are helping build a stronger, more resilient, and more connected Ukraine.

Author Mariia Krychevska

Razom for Ukraine Applauds Senate Passage of Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, Calls on House to Act Without Delay

Published: August 7, 2026

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Razom for Ukraine Applauds Senate Passage of Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, Calls on House to Act Without Delay

Washington, D.C., August 7, 2026 —Today, a bipartisan supermajority of Senators passed the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026, which targets Russia’s financial sector and puts a substantial pressure on Moscow and its enablers to end the brutal war against Ukraine. We are grateful to every Senator who supported this critical legislation.

“This marks the second piece of pro-Ukraine legislation to pass a chamber of Congress in just over two months,” said Daniel Balson, Director of Advocacy at Razom for Ukraine. “Ukraine’s battlefield successes have injected new urgency into Congress, while Putin’s relentless attacks on civilians have hardened its resolve. The House must now meet the moment by passing this bill and sending it to President Trump’s desk for signature.”

“The strong bipartisan support for this bill is a fitting tribute to Senator Lindsey Graham, who devoted years to supporting Ukraine as it bravely resisted Putin’s war machine. We are glad to see senators from both parties ready to take up the torch in the fight for freedom and democracy.”

Americans across the political spectrum have consistently supported stronger sanctions on Russia. The Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia Act answers that bipartisan demand by providing a comprehensive set of tools to weaken Russia’s economy while extending sanctions on Iran — a key military partner of the Kremlin that has also attacked U.S. troops in the Middle East.

“Putin should be under no illusion: the longer he continues his illegal war, the higher the cost he will face. We thank President Trump for publicly backing this legislation. Ukraine’s many supporters across the country now expect Congress to finish the job and make this bill law,” said Daniel Balson.

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Razom for Ukraine is a U.S. nonprofit providing medical and humanitarian aid to Ukraine and a leading advocate for continued U.S. assistance to Ukraine. For more information or to request an interview, please contact: Ostap Yarysh, Media Advisor at Razom for Ukraine ostap.yarysh@razom.org

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.