ENGThe Village Ukraine launches in English. Here’s why we need your support

Early morning on 24 February I was awakened by these flat explosion sounds.

Now, seven months into the full-scale Russian invasion, Ukrainians know exactly what a bombardment, a missile attack or the activation of air defence systems sounds like. But that morning there was no way to know. All we knew was that our country was under attack.

The first thing I did was open my laptop to break the news about the Russian invasion to the readers of The Village Ukraine. Needless to say I was in a state of shock. “Can you please double-check it?” I asked the then Editor-in-Chief Andrii Bashtovyi on completion, “because I’ve never covered war being declared on my country.”

For the next 223 days – and counting! – our media (previously focused on Kyiv’s booming creative industry, urban transformation and entrepreneurship) pivoted to war coverage. Our Head of News Olena Panchenko spent 14 days in late February and early March in Bucha while the town was under Russian attack and then occupation, and a number of our team members were putting in shifts from all over Ukraine after fleeing their homes.

The Village Ukraine is still the leading voice of modern Ukrainian citizens, it’s just that our country is in a state of war. Our ongoing projects are now dedicated to internally displaced persons, documenting Russian war crimes and life in frontline cities, we’re also developing multimedia projects about Ukrainian museums at war and the history of Ukraine. We’ve managed to find a way to cater to our audience in the most direct way, covering the latest developments on our Telegram channel. Our Normalni Novyny (Normal News) channel has grown tenfold to almost 100,000 subscribers, rivalling the biggest Ukrainian media in both reach and efficiency.

At the same time, we continue to cover the new Ukraine, highlighting the stories of the creatives, cultural icons and small business owners who are supporting their communities and the Ukrainian economy despite the brutal and unprovoked Russian war. And our co-founder and publisher Bashtovyi is now on the literal frontlines, having joined the armed forces and making us proud by liberating cities in the east of Ukraine.

The Village Ukraine strives to be the leading voice of the new Ukraine – the free, vibrant and creative democracy, the future of which is at stake in this war. And we believe this voice deserves to be heard across borders. That’s why we’re launching The Village Ukraine in English.

The stories about Eurovision 2022 winners Kalush Orchestra embarking on their first North American tour, the Saint Javelin meme empire and Mriya, a Ukrainian restaurant in London are already available in English. We also have an in-depth interview about the philosophical aspects of the war and the mental health challenges posed by the war, along with a primer on war crimes and the documentation of the atrocities committed by Russian forces in Ukraine. Our English-language section will be regularly updated, keeping you up to date with what's going on in Ukraine.

We need some help to keep up this work and that’s why we’re asking you to consider donating to The Village Ukraine. Every donation we receive goes a long way: all the funds will proceed directly to our editorial staff, so we can continue to cover the ongoing war and its impact on our country. We strongly believe that the themes we’ve focused on – urbanism, culture and mental health to name a few – are particularly important in these trying times.

It takes a village, quite literally now.