Europe-Ukraine Desk supported grants

1. Ukraine, the expansion of the nuclear industry under Russian bombs

Italian journalist Eleonora Vio, editor Lorenzo Bagnoli and Ukrainian journalist Illia Lukashov probed the nuclear industry to figure out the current state of the Zaporizhzhia power plant in central Ukraine, which has been occupied by the Russian army since the first weeks of the full-scale invasion. The team also presented perspectives on the nuclear industry’s development in other parts of the country in times of war.

2. Ukraine: Surviving after Bucha

French journalists Cerise Sudry-Le and Laurene Daycarddû, and their Ukrainian partner, reporter Anastasia Horpishenko, collaborated to cover the sensitive topic of the sexually motivated crimes conducted by Russian servicemen in the Kyiv region during February and March 2022. They travelled to Irpin and Bucha to meet the victims and the representatives of organisations, who are helping them overcome the consequences of their trauma. As a result, the stories of some of these women were published in a piece for Marie Claire magazine.

3. Ukraine lays its tracks to Europe

4. A Week of peace: Ukrainian children on summer holidays

German journalist Roman Schell and Ukrainian documentary photographer Olena Hrom joined up to follow a group of Ukrainian kids from the Kharkiv region who travelled to the German city of Magdeburg for a short break from war. In Kharkiv these kids perform at the Arira dance theatre, so their trip also gave them the motivation to practice more and to perform abroad.

5. Green hydrogen planners defy Russian energy destruction

Ukrainian journalists Yulia Valova and Viacheslav Lininh collaborated with the deputy head of Tagesspiegel Background Energie & Klima Christian Schaudwet to cover one area of Ukraine’s policy of ‘Green Transition’ to cleaner energy – the production of the Green Hydrogen. The topic became especially relevant in the context of constant attacks by the Russian army against Ukraine’s energy system.

6. Silent victims of the war against Ukraine

Journalists and cinematographers Emma Straus and Sergii Mukaieliants joined their efforts to cover the story of dolphins in the Black Sea, who are suffering because of the war. According to the official data, around 2,500 dolphins were found dead between the beginning of the war in February 2022 until May the same year. Scientists estimate that at least 50,000 dolphins have died in the first year of the full-scale war.

7. The traumas of the Ukrainians

German freelance journalist Kristina Thomas together with Ukrainian colleagues Anastasia Obraztsova and Olena Kurenkova explored the stories of Ukrainians whose lives were deeply affected by the war, and learned how they managed to heal their psychological wounds.

8. Melitopol residents "taken hostage" tell of their forced Russification

French freelance journalist Clara Marchaud and her Ukrainian colleague Sofia Kochmar conducted an investigation about life in the Ukrainian city of Melitopol, which has been occupied by the Russian army since February 2022. They talked to exiled Melitopol residents who described a picture in opposition to the positive vision shown on Russian TV. They discover the dark reality of forced Russification, tortures of those who refuse to accept new rules, forced conscription to the Russian army and total control by Moscow and its proxies.

9. “Life goes on” in Ukraine

Journalists Dorothea Nikolova, Oleksandr Baron and Rumen Sarandev teamed up to draw a broad picture of life in Ukraine during wartime. They focus their attention on the southern part of the country and show how ways of life and the economy have changed, while the weapons the Russians have been using against Ukrainians haven’t changed for centuries. They tell the story through the lives of a few select protagonists (veterans, volunteers, private entrepreneurs, and workers of the emergency services).

10. Ukrainian women are increasingly forced to retrain in typically male professions

Latvian journalist Viktors Sajenko and Ukrainian journalist Dmytro Bondarenko travelled to the villages of Ukraine’s south in order to explore how women take over jobs previously undertaken mostly by men. They talked to women who, for example, have learned to drive tractors or repair cars.

11. A trip inside Ukraine

Journalists Juan López Córcoles and Yevheniia Sobolieva created three episodes of a podcast for the Spanish media ABC. For this project they were inspired by the colours of the Ukrainian flag and their meanings, where “blue” suggests the skies and “yellow” the grain and soil. Using this idea, they explored how the industries, connected to these elements, survive in times of war.

12. Russians fighting for Kyiv

For Italian newspaper Domani, journalists Vincenzo Leone and Mykhailo Shtekel picked the intriguing topic of former Russian soldiers who decided to fight against their country. To produce two pieces, they talked to the spokesperson for Ukrainian intelligence Andriy Ysov and to Vladislav Izmailov, former Russian prisoner and Wagner deserter, who has chosen to fight on the side of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

13. Invictus Ukraine

Spanish photographer Susana Giron and Ukrainian journalist Viktor Kolomiets focused their attention on the lives of Ukrainian athletes in times of war. More than 400 Ukrainian sportsmen have been killed in action fighting against the Russian army, and more than 350 sport facilities in Ukraine have been ruined or damaged due to Russia’s air attacks. But in this Olympic year, many athletes searched for any opportunity to train and prepare themselves for the Paris games.

14. War in Ukraine: the Danube Delta, a “haven of peace” put on hold

French journalist Marine Leduc and Ukrainian journalist Anna Romandash travelled to the town of Vylkove in the Danube Delta. This area is rich in its wild flora and fauna, but also close to ports and the strategic rock in the Black Sea, Snake Island, making the zone a target for missiles and drone attacks by the Russian army. The team of journalists talked to environmentalists, who struggle to preserve the nature of the region.

15. Culture in times of war

Elena Gorgis, Ganna Haumer and Oksana Khmelyovska focused their attention on the people of culture and created a series of podcasts for Deutschlandfunk Kultur. One episode is dedicated to the story of the Ukrainian writer and volunteer Viktoria Amelina, who was killed during a Russian air attack on the Donetsk city of Kramatorsk. Another episode tells the story of a publisher Oleksandr Savchuk, who continued to run his business in the city of Kharkiv, despite a constant attack from Russia’s drones, missiles and bombs.

16. Gender stereotypes break down as Ukrainian women step up

Journalists Yuliia Surkova, Oleksii Filippov and Isabelle de Pomereau travelled across Ukraine and the Balkans to talk to Ukrainian women who have changed their careers due to the Russo-Ukrainian war. Their protagonists switched to follow professions previously perceived as “men’s jobs” like humanitarian deminer, drone constructor and truck driver. Journalists find out that women find this change fulfilling and exciting, and for some this was a chance to make a childhood dream come true.

17. The Ukrainian teens who took on Putin's gulag — and won

In a piece for Politico, American journalist Casey Quackenbush and Ukrainian colleague Natalia Drabyk tell the story of four Ukrainian teenagers. They were captured in then-occupied Kherson and taken to the annexed Crimea for indoctrination. Refusing to obey the rules and willing to come back home, the boys rebelled and were punished, but in the end were lucky enough to be rescued and taken back to their loved ones.

18. Being a teenager in the middle of war

Journalist Morgane Bona and photographer Ksenia Tomchuk went to Kramatorsk, the most important Donetsk city currently controlled by Ukraine, to discover the life of teenagers there. They discovered that close to the frontline, most of the usual teenage facilities are unavailable: there are no cinemas, few cafes and sport clubs, and their schedules are restricted by curfew. Schooling has completely switched to online. To find out how these life conditions are affecting young people, follow the link.

19. Three women’s extraordinary lives during wartime

Italian journalist Massimo Gianni and Ukrainian colleague Olha Volynska tell the stories of three different women in wartime. One piece is dedicated to Olena Yagupova, captured by Russia as a civilian and a wife of a Ukrainian soldier, and Karina Diachuk, who became a human right activist to fight for her father’s release from Russian captivity. Another piece follows the story of Olga Zaitseva, who left her job to help evacuate civilians from frontline villages. The third piece of the series focuses on Olga Yurkova, a co-founder of the Stopfake initiative which has been debunking Russian propaganda since 2014.

20. How volunteers in Ukraine rescue animals at the frontline

Spanish photographer Ricardo Garcia Vilanova and Ukrainian journalist Dmytro Drabyk joined a rescue mission organised by Ukrainian volunteers to save animals from the frontline in the Donetsk region. The journalists follow Maksym and Ruslan from Animal Rescue Kharkiv on a dangerous journey to Pokrovsk.

21. Fighting inside Russia despite heavy losses

Journalists Daniela Prugger and Olga Ivashchenko teamed up to report on the morale in Ukrainian military units fighting in Russia’s Kursk region and its bordering Sumy region in Ukraine. They talk to soldiers and commanders to find out the state of play three months after the beginning of the operation.

22. How war-scarred Ukrainian soldiers and civilians undergo rehabilitation in Lviv

In a piece for German newspaper taz, journalists Bernhard Clasen and Grigorii Pyrlik tell stories of Ukrainian soldiers wounded in action and going through rehabilitation in Lviv’s two specialised centres, Superhumans and Unbroken. They discover that demand is tremendous, yet there is a lack of such services. Also they describe the support that foreign institutions and donors, primarily Germany and France, provide to the rehabilitation of soldiers.

23. Meloni: «We will rebuild Odessa». But after a year there is not a single euro

Italian reporters Davide Maria De Luca and Sacha Biazzo together with a Ukrainian colleague Olena Chernyshova went to Odesa to investigate the problems with the promised Italian financial support for rebuilding Odesa’s historical buildings. They discover that despite intentions being voiced, not a single euro hasn’t yet arrived. Although other cities receive fundamental support from other EU countries.

24. Life on the front

German photographer Florian Bachmeier and Ukrainian author Kateryna Mishchenko collaborated to research the way the war affects people and country. Being able to look deep into the essence of the things, they produced an essay (by Mishchenko) and a photo exhibition (by Bachmeier) which provides readers and viewers with a sophisticated reflection on the existential phenomena.

25. Sparking an energy revolution in the midst of war

Journalists Sebastien Gobert and Anna Vlasenko focus on renewable energy in Ukraine, which is developing much faster due to Russia’s destruction of Ukraine’s conventional power generating infrastructure. In a piece for Reporterre they tell a story of a hospital in the city of Zhytomyr, where solar panels can ensure the facility operates 24/7, even if the city suffers power cuts.

26. Echoes of absence: 38,000 Ukrainians still missing

The topic of missing persons was the focus of a team consisting of Spanish journalist Anna Surinyach Garcia and her Ukrainian colleague Olga Tarnovska. Together they dived deep into the issue, talking to people in charge of registering information about each missing person, whether civilian or military, searching for their traces and identifying bodies. They found out that at least 45,000 Ukrainians were registered as missing. Only 7,000 of them have so far been found dead or alive.

27. Being queer in the face of the Russian invasion

Journalists Sitara Thalia Ambrosio and Yana Radchenko spent weeks travelling around Ukraine and talking to LGBTIQ people about the threats they face. As Ukraine remains a pretty conservative state, some suffered attacks in more peaceful times. But the full-scale invasion brought dangers to another level. Russian soldiers treat Ukrainian civilians with special cruelty when they suspect a person might be queer. At the same time, the queer community still fights for its rights in Ukraine. For example, they are demanding their partnerships should be considered families in the same way as heterosexual couples. This becomes crucial for partners of military personnel.

28. Love in times of war

Samuel Gratacap and Oleksandr Babenko created an intimate series of photos in order to tell a story of romantic feelings in times of war. They met different couples differently influenced by the dramatic events in the country. And managed to show the way they preserve connection despite obstacles.

29. The Torture Archipelago

Journalists Pierre Alonso and Maryna Kumeda focused their attention on the topic of prisoners of war. They talked to former detainees who were lucky enough to be freed, and reveal the truth about horrific conditions and constant physical and psychological violence by Russia. One such inmate included Maksym Butkevych, a human rights activist before the full-scale invasion, who then joined up as an officer. Butkevych described the sophisticated tortures he suffered, and shared what gave him hope and strength during months spent in a Russian prison.

30. On psychological sacrifices Ukrainians make

Journalists Serhii Stukanov and Anna Banati teamed up to produce a two-part story for Hungarian media Telex about the psychological impact of war on military personnel and those affected by conflict. They talked to servicemen with amputations, who have to undergo rehabilitation, and to former prisoners of war, as well as psychologists, to understand the horrors of the war experience and the methods people use to deal with its impact.

31. On the physical cost of a missile

A team from Spain’s El Confidencial together with Ukrainian journalist Roman Klymchuk researched the ways a bullet or shell injures a human and how the body can recover. They talked to victims of injuries and doctors, and joined forces with designers to create fascinating 3D projections. At the same time, human stories remained at the fore.

32. War in Ukraine, intimate violence

French reporter Audrey Lebel and Ukrainian photographer Oksana Parafeniuk took a sensitive topic of domestic violence. It was an issue for many Ukrainian families before the full-scale war, and the number of cases increased since it started. Journalists talk to women, suffering from violence, and experts in order to explain the nature of the problem.

33. How to make technological sanctions against Russia work

Ukrainian journalists Kateryna Venzhyk and Julia Danylenko teamed up with a Latvian colleague Imants Liepiņš to investigate how Russia manages to buy technologies for weapons despite sanctions. They also researched one of the routes microchips are bought with the involvement of Baltic states.

34. The story of a Ukrainian priest released from Russian captivity

In a piece for a Hungarian Atlatszo, Jozeph Makai tells a story of Ukrainian priest, who faced the war in Mariupol, was captivated and tortured by Russian occupiers, and later realised. This is the first piece of a bigger project Ukraine: Faith in Time of War, created by Makai in collaboration with a Ukrainian colleague Inna Varenytsia.

35. USAID suspension leaves Ukraine's most vulnerable on the precipice

A journalist Daniel Harper talks to women and kids, forced to leave their homes and start their lives from scratch. He pays attention to the fact that many supportive programmes for this vulnerable group were financed by the US. Since funding was put on, uncertainty and vulnerability increased again.