On September 5, 2025, Olena Kovalska, Deputy Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine for Humanitarian Affairs, Yuriy Huzynets, Deputy Head of the Zakarpattia Regional State Administration, and Viktoriia Tochena, Head of the Department of Culture and Tourism of the Donetsk Regional State Administration, met with the staff of the Donetsk Academic Regional Drama Theater (Mariupol) in Uzhhorod.
The theater is the only one of five professional theaters that has remained and operated in the Donetsk region since the outbreak of hostilities in 2014. In May 2022, it was relocated to the city of Uzhhorod, Zakarpattia region.
The forced relocation of the theater was not only a challenge but also an opportunity for rethinking and revival.
The main components of the theater's development concept are: preservation of local cultural identity, further formation of a professional Ukrainian troupe; introduction of contemporary Ukrainian drama with new approaches, innovations, artistic breakthroughs, work on classic works of Ukrainian and world drama; and cultural diplomacy.
Over the past three years, the theater has already created and presented 14 premiere performances. In August 2025, a new premiere was presented - A Night in Lisbon by Erich Maria Remarque.
During the conversation with the theater staff, we discussed the problematic issues of the relocated cultural institution, which is key to preserving culture and identity as the basis of our national security.
Such meetings allow not only to identify urgent needs but also to jointly develop effective mechanisms for the further development and functioning of cultural institutions in wartime.
In October 2025, the theater plans to present the Mariupol Drama storytelling to an international audience: in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, Poland, the Czech Republic and the Baltic States.
We are grateful to the Office of the President of Ukraine for its assistance in resolving important issues of relocated institutions and to our colleagues from Zakarpattia for their friendly shoulder in times of need.
Such events give us strength and inspiration to continue to tell the truth about what is happening in Ukraine and keep Ukrainian theater alive.