In Focus | Brave Action Ukraine

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Focusing on Ukraine, we explore the interplay of war events with history, culture, and pressing issues such as propaganda, war crimes, and human values. The pieces in this section also highlight resilience and recovery, showcasing individuals and communities who are creating possibilities despite living in a hot war. Freedom, sovereignty, and human rights are being tested now in Ukraine and can resonate with us all.

Baring our heart, finding our soul

Brave Readings #3 ---When the weight of war tries to crush not only lives but entire landscapes, poetry remains a voice that should not be silenced.

Keeping going when normal is not normal

Brave Readings #2 ---Russia’s war against Ukraine has reshaped Ukrainians’ lives into realities that are hard to imagine. What once felt ordinary is no longer. What once seemed unthinkable is now part of the day-to-day. How do they, and even should they, try to live a normal life in circumstances such as these?

How we ground ourselves in the most difficult times

Brave Readings #1 ---When difficult times come our values and basic understandings are tested. The war in Ukraine has become such a case. What seemed natural before is changed, usual ways of being and interacting stop working, and people need to reconsider what truly grounds them in life.

Revolution of Dignity
Power. Unity. Honor

November 21 is the day in Ukraine when we commemorate the beginning of the Revolution of Dignity, an event that turned the tide of modern Ukrainian history.

Painting from
the Heart

Wives, mothers, daughters of fallen defenders remember their loved ones in words and works of art. Some had been with their husbands for many years, some just starting their life together — all cut short and destroyed in an instant.

Ukrainian Fiction for Understanding the War

The Russo-Ukrainian war is more than just a fight over territory. It’s about history, identity, and the struggle for freedom. To better understand the roots of this war and the realities for Ukrainians, it helps to read stories that reflect their experiences and feelings. In this article, we explore four remarkable works of Ukrainian fiction.

Illustration by Romana Romanyshyn & Andriy Lesiv

Preserving the soul
of Mariupol

Presenting “Teatromania” and its founder Anton Telbizov who built this independent theater in Mariupol, Ukraine, and after it was destroyed in russia's full-scale invasion, rebuild it again in Hanover, Germany. Photo: Till Dörfler

WAR CRIMES

OLENIVKA

Here is a commemoration of the massive explosion from the Russian occupiers on the filtration camp and prison in Olenivka on its third anniversary. Beginning with the the siege of Mariupol, evacuation of civilians, and the brutal capture and relocation of Ukrainian defenders, this article presents the Olenivka massacre of Ukrainian POWs with geopolitical perspectives and a window on the human catastrophe. Combining war data with individual accounts, we gain a reality check and inspiration from Ukrainians who go forward despite their trauma.

YOUNG VOICES

IN TIME OF WAR

A collection of short stories. Those writing for themselves give us a picture of what they are going through and their resilience. Those writing in memory of a person who died enable all of us to honor their life and their bravery.

Kharkiv and the Weight of History

The city of Kharkiv is Ukraine's second largest city after Kyiv, and it sits just 40 kilometers from the Russian border. Like borderlands everywhere, multiple influences have shaped its identity. Kharkiv’s location means that the city is a confluence of multiple historical, linguistic, and cultural influences.