Anna Brovko is a Kharkiv-based correspondent for Current Time, the Russian-language network led by RFE/RL in cooperation with VOA. She was born in Ukraine and graduated from the Kharkiv State Academy of Culture.
Ukraine's Finance Ministry says demand for private bomb shelters has risen twentyfold since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of the country in February. A host of companies are offering shelters that they say can protect occupants from shelling and shock waves.
Borodyanka, outside Kyiv, was occupied by Russian forces soon after the launch of the full-scale invasion in late February. Yekaterina Holoviy managed to escape, but she has been left traumatized by the loss of people close to her -- and of her hometown itself.
Yuriy Napora sings while his dad, Nazar, plays the piano on the streets of Lviv in western Ukraine. The 8-year-old came up with the idea to raise money for the Ukrainian war effort, and his father quickly taught himself the piano so that he could accompany him. So far, they've raised over $5,000.
Children are painting the walls in a bomb shelter beneath their school in Lviv, western Ukraine, helping parents, teachers, and others get the building ready for lessons to resume in September. Across Ukraine, schools are gearing up for an academic year like no other.
A youth creativity center in Ukraine's western city of Lviv is having summer classes to teach high-school students basic self-defense, weapons handling, and shooting. The mayor’s office plans to introduce similar classes and first aid as part of the regular school curriculum next year.
He points to what he says are entry and exit wounds where a bullet passed through his face. Mykola Kulychenko says a Russian soldier placed a gun to his mouth and tried to execute him, and says his two brothers were shot dead, with one falling on top of him.
Prefab housing for 350 internally displaced people (IDPs) has been constructed in Lviv, western Ukraine, as the city struggles to cope with a massive influx of people fleeing fighting in the south and east of the country. Mayor Andriy Sadoviy said some 50,000 IDPs would stay in the city longer term.
