On January 6, Vasyl Stus' birthday, an online meeting entitled "Talking about Vasyl Stus" took place. It was a joint event organized by the Mangush and Solotvyno communities as part of the national project "Side by Side: United Communities."
Organized by the Mangush Public Library, the event became a space for lively conversation about a man for whom freedom was not an abstraction, but an inner law of life.
Natalia Vorobyova, head of the Mangush village military administration, addressed the participants with a welcoming speech, emphasizing the importance of preserving cultural memory, community unity, and intergenerational dialogue — especially today, when words are once again becoming a form of resistance.
During the meeting, participants discussed Vasyl Stus's life and creative path, as well as the generation of the 1960s, which paid a high price for the right to be Ukrainian, to think and speak the truth. Poetry was highlighted as a space for inner freedom and responsibility.
It was particularly striking that Stus's work resonates deeply with the younger generation today. Young people read, rethink, and search these texts for answers to their own questions — about choice, dignity, and honesty with themselves. And this is precisely where the living relevance of his words lies.
The meeting was not only a tribute to his memory, but also a sincere conversation about how words born in captivity continue to shape freedom today.
Because Vasyl Stus's struggle is not over.
It continues—in our thoughts, in our words, in our responsibility.
Based on materials from the Mangush Village Military Administration