Every year on June 4, Ukraine observes a nationwide moment of silence to commemorate the Day of Remembrance for Children Who Died as a Result of the Russian Federation’s Armed Aggression. This year, the youth wing of the Donetsk region proved that remembrance is not just about tears; it is active engagement that unites communities scattered across the country by the war.
Despite the fact that due to security risks and relocation, most youth centers and councils are now operating in host regions, the youth of Donetsk Oblast became a powerful driving force behind the All-Ukrainian campaign “Voices of Children,” launched by Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska, as well as the silent campaign “Angels of Memory.”
Youth councils, students of educational and cultural spaces, and civic activists became the central source of strength during the commemorative events. Boys and girls crafted white paper angels, doves of peace, and symbolic bells. Each of these creations embodies the pure soul of a child whose voice was forever silenced by brutal shelling but continues to resonate in our hearts. These quiet symbols adorned trees in various corners of Ukraine, creating a special heavenly echo.
In Dnipro, representatives of the Vuhledar community, together with the Volnovakha District State Administration and internally displaced persons, held a large-scale event at the ATO Museum. Young people from the Kurakhiv community gathered at the local educational and cultural hub, while representatives of the Bakhmut City Council, together with students from Bakhmut Educational Complex No. 11, organized the “From Heart to Heart: A Boat of Remembrance” event at the city’s “Alley of Remembrance,” launching paper boats as a symbol of unfulfilled childhood dreams.
A commemorative workshop for IDPs took place at the Hrodiv Community Support Center. Members of the Pokrovsk Youth Council, representatives of the sports community (SK “Bars,” the Children’s and Youth Sports School, and the “Sport for All” center) also came together to hang paper angels.
In Kyiv, the memory of the little angels was honored at the Kurakhiv Community’s youth space “380 Volts,” and at the capital’s Mykilsk Community Hub, young people and the administration held a touching event called “White Wings for Angels.”
In the Poltava region, the “Leader-Hub” youth space of the Kurakhiv community and representatives of the Novohrodiv community gathered young people in the park of the village of Dykanka. In the village of Koshmanivka, Mashivska community, members of the Vilnensky Cultural Center from the Khlibodarivska community hung bells on trees, and artist Milana Fomenko moved the audience with a recitation of her own poetry. Volunteers from the “Myrazom” IDP Support Center of the Kramatorsk District, representing the Illinivska community, also joined the memorial rally in Poltava by releasing white balloons into the sky.
In the Kirovohrad region, specialists from the Novodonetsk Community IDP Support Center, together with local youth, decorated trees with symbolic bells mourning the lives lost. The Druzhkivka IDP Support Center organized a memorial workshop titled “Bright Memory for Little Angels” for evacuated residents, where participants honored the memory of the victims of aggression with a moment of silence, and
In the Cherkasy region, the Rozdolne Cultural Center of Donetsk Oblast, based at the Yurkiv Gymnasium, gathered children and youth who joined the campaign “Fragile Lives, Destroyed by War,” hanging doves with bells on the trees.
In Kremenchuk, teachers and students from the Lyman community created their own memorial corner at the Lyman Educational and Youth Space, and Lyman Lyceum No. 1 additionally launched a digital interactive board where every student could leave a drawing or a word of remembrance.
In Uman, the coordinator of the social hub “Avdiivka. Free People. That’s How It Was, That’s How It Will Be” enlisted volunteers to make paper bells of mourning.
In Kramatorsk’s “Family” Park, a poignant installation has been created: an empty bench bearing the inscription “Childhood should not have to sit here,” next to which young people and city officials have placed paper doves of peace.
Young visitors to the Novooleksandrivka branch of the Central Children’s Library, youth centers, and cultural institutions in the Mariinka, Selidovo, Myrne, and Mangush communities formed human chains of remembrance, decorating local public spaces with white silhouettes of birds and angels. Teachers and students at the Vuhledar Educational Complex held a memorial service dedicated to their student Bohdan Vikovskyi, whose life was mercilessly taken by the war. The Youth Council under the Oleksandrivka Village Council was particularly active, with its members creating their own “tree of remembrance.” The youth of the “Leader” MP, a branch of the Central Committee of the Communist Party in Mirnodolynsk, held a workshop on making angel bells.
The mass movement of youth councils across Donetsk Oblast during the “Voices of Children” campaign proved that the dispersion of young people does not stand in the way of a strong culture of remembrance and solidarity. The quiet ringing of paper angels across the country is not only a tribute to the past; it is our shared commitment to persevere, prevail, and rebuild a peaceful future.