A damaged monument to Taras Shevchenko, one of the greatest Ukrainian poets of the 19 century, with a bullet hole in the forehead, in the town of Borodianka, Kyiv region. The town was occupied by the Russian forces in early 2022. Via Wikipedia, free to use.

In 2023, Global Voices collaborated with the Folkowisko Association/Rozstaje.art, thanks to co-funding by the governments of the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia through a grant from the International Visegrad Fund to publish a series of essays and stories written by Ukrainian artists who decided to remain in the country after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022. 

The stories, also available in several other languages, showcase how war encompasses a wide range of experiences from trenches in the east of Ukraine to the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone, from private homes to public spaces in a country constantly attacked from the ground, air, and the sea. War tests people and writers are no exception — some of those featured in this collection are themselves fighting on the frontline.

The stories by Myroslav Laiuk, Vira Kuryko, Artem Chekh, Alla Vaskovska, and Olya Rusina cover the period from February 24, 2022, the date when Russia started its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Between the lines, the authors also share their own experiences and those of their protagonists during the previous eight years when their country fought a local war with Russia in the east of Ukraine, a conflict that went largely unnoticed in global news. 

This series presents stories that will shake and shock readers, such as the one about a woman who had to give birth by herself in her home in a frontline town under Russian occupation. At the same time, the essays and stories carry the strong belief that good eventually  wins over evil, that life prevails over death, and that true kindness, courage, dedication, love, and mutual support by people and communities exist, work, and do wonders. 

Find the stories below: