Society & Culture

Ukraine has managed to bring back Viacheslav, a teenager who had been illegally deported by Russians from the Donetsk region’s temporarily occupied city of Mariupol. The relevant statement was made by Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister - Temporary Occupied Territories Reintegration Minister Iryna Vereshchuk on Telegram, an Ukrinform correspondent reports. According to Vereshchuk, Viacheslav was raised without parents. In 2021, he turned 15 and began studies at Mariupol Higher Metallurgical Professional School. “As the enemy seized the city of Mariupol, the occupiers deported Viacheslav to Shakhtarsk. But, the boy turned out to be brave and smart. He found a way to…

The chairman of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Humanitarian and Information Policy, MP from the Servant of the People party, Nikita Poturaev, has proposed to create cultural and information centres for enslaved peoples living in Russia in Ukraine. He said this on the air of the New Countdown talk show on Suspilne TV, Ukrinform reports. "This work with national minorities seems very prospective to me. We know that in the so-called federation, all cultural rights and freedoms of the enslaved peoples are completely suppressed. The native language, the languages of these nationalities, have already been removed from school courses, not…

Another child deported from the war zone to Russia was eventually returned to Ukraine. That’s according to the Verkhovna Rada Commissioner for Human Rights, Dmytro Lubinets, who broke the news on Facebook, Ukrinform reports. The Office has helped a Ukrainian mother get her son back from Russia, the Ombudsman said.” Nikita and his mother are now in Ukraine. However, the story of their return home can become a movie plot, where a mother goes to another country, which abducted her son under the pretext of ‘evacuation,’” noted Lubinets. According to the official, the woman almost ended up behind bars in…

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has attended events to mark the Day of Ukraine's State Service for Special Communications and Information Protection (SSSCIP). That's according to the press service of the Office of the President of Ukraine, Ukrinform reports. The head of state congratulated all communications specialists on their professional holiday and thanked them for their daily important work for the country and people. "Today, it is important, first of all, to thank you. Each and every person who provides reliable communications for our people, Ukraine, our defense – all Ukrainians. Those who protect communication lines, restore damaged communications, and protect…

President Volodymyr Zelensky honored the memory of the victims of the Great Terror committed by the totalitarian communist regime on Ukrainian lands in 1937-1938. This was reported on the President's website, Ukrinform saw. On Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Political Repression, on behalf of the Head of the State, a flower basket was placed at the monument of the repressed, erected at the entrance to the National Historical and Memorial Reserve Bykivnia Graves. Wreaths were placed at the mass grave and memorial plaque for the Polish burials on the territory of the Reserve. As the president noted, trumped…

A Ukrainian-language audio guide has been launched at Nordiska museet – a Sweden’s museum of culture and ethnography. An Ukrinform correspondent learned this from Olesia Gordiyenko, the project manager and director of the Ukrainian Cultural Center in Stockholm "I am sure that a new Ukrainian-language audio guide at Nordiska museet will be a valuable road map for Ukrainians in Sweden to explore and appreciate the rich spiritual and material cultural heritage of Northern Europe, to learn more about its customs and traditions. The project was implemented thanks to the joint efforts of our Center and the Embassy of Ukraine in…

On Sunday, Pope Francis called on the international community not to get used to conflicts and violence, and to continue to stand by the Ukrainian people. That’s according to Vatican News, Ukrinform reports. “Please, let us not get used to conflict and violence. Let us not get used to war!” the Pope said. He added a plea to continue to stand by the “tormented people of Ukraine.” Pope Francis also issued “a heartfelt appeal” to warring factions in Sudan to lay down their arms, while calling on the international community “to spare no effort to ensure that dialogue might prevail…

The Holy See Press Office confirms that Pope Francis has entrusted Cardinal Matteo Zuppi with a mission to help ease the tensions in the Ukraine conflict. That's according to Vatican News, Ukrinform reports. "I can confirm that Pope Francis has entrusted Cardinal Matteo Zuppi, Archbishop of Bologna and President of the Italian Bishops' Conference, with the responsibility of leading a mission, in agreement with the Secretariat of State, that contributes to an easing of tensions in the Ukraine conflict, in the hopes that this can initiate paths of peace, something never abandoned by the Holy Father," said Matteo Bruni, the Director of…

Ukrainian Parliamentary Commissioner for Human Rights Dmytro Lubinets said that he personally monitors the issue of the release of UNIAN journalist Dmytro Khilyuk from Russian captivity. Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said this in a comment to Ukrinform. "I personally keep it under control (the issue of the journalist's release - ed.)," he said. The Ombudsman informed that after he received an appeal (regarding the captured journalist from UNIAN on May 4 - ed.), he worked on this issue with the Russian side. Answering the question of whether there was any reaction from the Russian side, Lubinets noted that this is…

Invaders in the temporarily occupied Crimea conceal information about the health status of unlawfully convicted citizen journalist, medical professional Iryna Danylovych. As the Crimean Solidarity association reports, the Federal Penitentiary Service of the Russian Federation sent Olga Mazurova, a doctor and public figure from Moscow, a document containing a refusal to name Danylovych’s diagnosis. This document states that Danylovych is under supervision in medical unit No. 91. "More detailed information about the provision of medical assistance to her, her health status and the diagnosis are not subject to disclosure," the document of the federal service states. At the same time,…