Voices of Defenders: friends from Denmark visited us in Lviv

In March 2026, we had the pleasure of welcoming our friends and partners from Denmark to Lviv as part of the Voices of Defenders project.

On the first day, we visited the Field of Honorary Burials to pay tribute to the fallen defenders. Then we went to the veteran coworking space “Bereh,” created by Volodymyr Saveliev (Mongol), a veteran who, after being wounded, is returning to life and building his own work and a place of strength. He is also one of the authors of our first collection of short stories, Voices of Defenders vol.1.

Later, we visited Zenyk Art Gallery to introduce our Danish friends to the work of the outstanding Taras Shevchenko. They didn’t know there was a monument to him in Copenhagen, so they were amazed and promised to visit it.

The next day, we visited the Molodvizh Center, where Taras Chura gave us a wonderful tour of the space and told us about the events within “Lviv — European Youth Capital 2025.” We also had the pleasure of introducing our guests to Yaroslav Stepchyn, who shared more about student self-governance in Lviv.

After that, we visited the 1991 Found. We wanted to show how young people unite to support defenders, how small ideas and volunteering at the beginning of the full-scale war grew into structured, ongoing support worth millions of hryvnias every month. The team shared insights into building a community of so-called “fundraisers” and many meaningful stories and experiences. This meeting helped our Danish friends better understand the Ukrainian context and the everyday life of youth today.

We dedicated the third day to working on the Voices of Defenders project. We talked about activities, meetings, and most importantly, the amazing people we’ve had the chance to collaborate with. Looking back, we realize that none of this has been in vain. That same evening, the most “work-focused” day, we spent in the wonderful company of defenders and volunteers who became authors of our short story collections.

On the final day, we visited the UA Comix Store and then had a discussion with young people from our Leadership School. Many of them will travel to Denmark this summer to attend the Folkemødet political festival. It felt like we had known each other for years, the conversations were easy and warm, which was truly uplifting. Later, a whole group of children joined us, and we sang and danced traditional haivky (Easter spring songs and games), since Easter is just around the corner. Now our Danish friends know how to lead haivky too!

These were very bright and meaningful days, and we’re grateful to have such friends. Two volunteers recorded their podcast about youth life in Ukraine, giving us yet another opportunity to tell the world about who we are, how we support those we love, preserve and pass on traditions, develop culture, and build community.

And from here on — only more to come!