Blog
The sound of drones as soundtrack of childhood: Psychosocial support in frontline communities
Living in frontline proximity is not only highly dangerous – it also affects every aspect of children´s lives. It limits their opportunities to connect with peers, it eliminates all possibilities to roam freely and discover the world, and deprives them of nearly all other experiences that are a natural part of childhood.
Kateryna Shutaliova
Psychologist with Somatic Experience Ukraine projects
Hope Is Stronger Than Captivity
This blog looks at the Shadows Behind Bars project and discusses how despite their terrible conditions and imprisonment, prisoners were able to stay hopeful throughout their sentences.
Liubov Pravdina
Head of the NGO “New Ukrainian Narratives”
Return and Arrival
The teenagers’ pimped-up motorcycle roaring through the streets of Berlin could be a Shahed drone. The noises coming from the construction site resemble an explosion. Returning from Ukraine to Germany does not merely come with logistical baggage.
Ira Ganzhorn
Humanitarian Aid Officer
What is independence? Ukraine’s long fight for autonomy.
From the Ukrainian People’s Republic in 1917 to Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine’s struggle for independence has been shaped by repression, resistance and the defence of its right to self-determination. Writing from a Scottish perspective, this blog explores how Ukraine’s history has shaped a different understanding of what independence means to me and why Ukrainians continue to defend it today.
Grace Maclean
Intern
When even shelters are no longer safe
Three of my friends and colleagues from Kyiv share how they experienced the night of the Russian attack on 24 May: in the hallway of their apartment building, in an overcrowded metro station, among shattered windows, burned-out familiar places, and the exhaustion that followed.
Kseniia Levadna
Public Relations Officer
The last train to Kharkiv: Infrastructure under fire
Today is March 18. For the first time in four years of war, Ukrainian Railways has suspended Intercity high-speed service on the Poltava–Kharkiv route.
Dariia Khlebnikova
Project Manager at WBWU in Kharkiv
What Russian occupation really means for Ukrainians
When politicians discuss occupied territories during peace negotiations, they speak as if these are empty spaces. But millions of Ukrainians live there. These people are caught in a gray zone with no tools to defend their rights, freedom, property, lives, children, or loved ones.
Oleksandra Matviichuk
Ukrainian human rights lawyer and the head of the Center for Civil Liberties.
How do you survive winter in Kharkiv?
I am sitting in the passenger seat next to my friend Ivanka. Suddenly she says: “Don’t put on your seatbelt.” I laugh. “Is that a new law in Kharkiv?” She answers seriously: “It depends what you’re more afraid of – a car accident or not being able to get out of the car quickly enough during a Russian drone strike.” We laugh. But we don’t buckle up.
Kseniia Levadna
Public Relations Officer
The light disappears, the life goes on.
Russia is systematically attacking Ukraine’s civilian energy infrastructure. Attacks on power plants and substations are causing massive electricity, heating and water outages and are deliberately targeting the civilian population. Around 60,000 households in Kyiv alone are without electricity, with outside temperatures at -15 degrees.
Kseniia Levadna
Public Relations Officer
Prayers in the basement
The most recent attacks on residential buildings in Dnipro show how crucial it is to continue providing humanitarian aid to the affected civilian population.
Ira Ganzhorn
Humanitarian Aid Officer