Despite the challenges posed by the war and the evacuation, young people from the Donetsk region, together with community representatives, actively took part in nationwide and regional commemorative initiatives to honour the memory of the defenders who gave their lives for the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of our state, and to express their boundless gratitude to the fallen heroes.
The main focus of the memorial events involving young people from Donetsk was the regional campaign ‘From the Heart to the Sky’. The aim of the initiative was to immortalise the memory of the heroes through living symbols. School pupils and university students, representatives of youth councils and congresses, and internally displaced persons planted trees, shrubs and flowers as a sign of eternal respect and love flowing from the heart to the sky.
Young people from the Dobropillia community, together with the head of the city’s military administration, took part in planting boxwoods and junipers near the Museum of the Modern Russian-Ukrainian War in Dnipro. Young activists from the Hrodiv community created a floral memorial walkway near the IDP Support Centre.
Young people from the Udachne community planted greenery, which has become a living symbol of gratitude to the soldiers for their heroism. Residents and young people from the Shakiv community joined these memorial initiatives at the Multifunctional Space in the village of Kropyvna in the Cherkasy region.
The sunflower remains the traditional symbol of remembrance on 29 August. In the Sviatohirsk community, on the initiative of young people, online campaigns entitled ‘Light of Remembrance’ and ‘Sunflowers of Remembrance: Heroes Never Die’, as well as a flash mob called ‘Sunflower in the Window’, were held. Workshops on making amulets and memorial candles were also organised.
Young people from the Khlibodarivska community, as part of the national project ‘Side by Side: United Communities’, attended a joint workshop on making symbolic sunflowers at the Koshmanivsky Cultural Centre in the Poltava region, which brought together children, young people and adults. A themed workshop entitled ‘Sunflower of Remembrance’ and a commemorative gathering on the Walk of Fame were organised for young people from the Oleksandrivka community.
The memory of those who sacrificed the most precious thing for Ukraine’s future lives on in every tree planted, every flower crafted and in the daily unity of our people. Eternal glory and honour to the Defenders of Ukraine!