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The founder of the organization Vshanuj was combat medic and journalist Iryna “Cheka” Tsybukh. She spoke extensively and systematically researched, among other things, the culture of memory. In May 2024, she delivered her first lecture on this topic for businesses. On May 29 of that same year, she was killed during a rotation in the Kharkiv direction. However, a team remained and continued to develop what had been fundamental to her vision. The organization was represented at the “Memory Polis” forum held by the VETERANKA Movement at the KSE Dragon Capital Building on January[...]
06.02.2026
Culture Helps Solidarity supports arts and culture professionals from Ukraine to sustain creativity, resilience, and community connection during and after the war. Running until 2028, it combines three grant schemes (individual grants, thematic project grants and collaboration grants) and a rich programme of mentoring, learning, and peer exchange. Culture Helps Solidarity is co-financed by the EU through Creative Europe and implemented by the European Cultural Foundation (Amsterdam) with Insha Osvita (Kyiv), zusa (Berlin), and[...]
02.02.2026
The memory culture platform “Past / Future / Art” has existed since 2019. Its curators, Kateryna Semeniuk and Oksana Dovhopolova, set out to create a space for public discussion and for working through questions that are connected to the past, but in fact remain urgent for the present. The team took part in the “Memory Polis” forum organized by VETERANKA at the KSE Dragon Capital Building on January 23.
Until 2022, the team focused on tragedies that were more distant in time, such as the Chornobyl nuclear disaster. Since 2022, the platform has also been working on memorialization[...]
02.02.2026
On January 23, VETERANKA hosted the large-scale forum “Memory Polis” at the Kyiv School of Economics Dragon Capital Building. The event brought together experts and representatives of memory and memorialization initiatives. More than 120 participants joined offline, while over 800 people have already watched the livestream and recording.
Across four panel discussions, we explored how the culture of memory is being shaped today, where commemoration practices in Ukraine are heading, and how different wartime experiences and narratives coexist in the public space.
The forum also[...]
29.01.2026
On August 29, 2024, the project The Unwritten was officially launched by writer and combat medic Olena Herasymiuk together with writer and serviceman Yevhen Lir. They began compiling the list back in spring 2023, when it included 48 names. Today, it contains more than 275 individuals — authors, writers, editors, journalists, cultural managers, and others.
Olena Herasymiuk took part in the “Memory Polis” forum organized by VETERANKA at the KSE Dragon Capital Building on January 23.
“For us, this is a deeply personal story. Some of these authors were our acquaintances, friends,[...]
23.01.2026
In 2025, as part of the program Scattered / Sown, Dasha Chechushkova, Anna Nykytiuk, and Kseniia Shcherbakova launched the project Situational Flowerbeds, dedicated to the fallen soldier and artist Artur Snitkus. The team took part in the “Memory Polis” forum organized by VETERANKA at the KSE Dragon Capital Building on January 23.
Artur Snitkus was killed on June 7, 2024, while carrying out a combat mission in Donetsk region. He was an artist, musician, and stylist, and a member of the queer community. He was 36 years old.
The project team shares that it was the need to process the[...]
21.01.2026
The Maksym “Dali” Kryvtsov Foundation was established by his family and friends in January 2024 to preserve the memory and creative legacy of the poet and soldier. Representatives of the Foundation took part in the “Memory Polis” Forum, held by VETERANKA at the KSE Dragon Capital Building on January 23.
Maksym “Dali” Kryvtsov participated in the Revolution of Dignity and, in 2014, volunteered to join the front lines. He defended, among other areas, Pisky and Avdiivka in the Donetsk region. After demobilization, he worked at the YARMIZ Center for Reintegration and[...]
20.01.2026
At the initiative of the VETERANKA movement, experienced tactical medicine instructors and psychologist Kateryna Vasylieva held hands-on trainings on first aid and psychological support, “How to Act in Crisis Situations,” open to everyone.
The war has been ongoing for its 12th year, with the full-scale invasion nearing its fourth. Russia’s attacks are becoming increasingly brutal and large-scale.
In these conditions, first aid and psychological support skills are critically important—for both military personnel and civilians. However, learning once how to apply a tourniquet or[...]
23.12.2025
Yuliia Shcherban has been a volunteer since the post-Maidan years, a combat veteran of the 120th Separate Territorial Defense Brigade, and today an activist of the Vinnytsia branch of the VETERANKA movement. She is also the head of the NGO Led by the Heart and the coordinator of a regional educational hub teaching the subject Defense of Ukraine.
For Yuliia, the war began back during the Revolution of Dignity. Even then, she clearly understood: Russia was trying to destroy Ukraine.She has always had a strong civic position — she could not stay indifferent and consistently stood up for[...]
19.12.2025
Yaryna Mruts, callsign “Athena,” a member of the VETERANKA movement and a combat medic, was killed on November 22, 2025. She was 26 years old.
With a medical education behind her, Yaryna voluntarily joined the Armed Forces. She wanted to be useful to her country and to save lives at the front. Her professionalism and sense of responsibility allowed her to advance quickly in military service. She later received an officer’s rank. In her final post, Yaryna served as Head of the Medical Point of the 210th Separate Assault Regiment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
She Mobilized After[...]
03.12.2025