A selection of essays by laureates of the All-Ukrainian Student Essay Competition
In 2014, the Russian Federation launched an armed aggression against Ukraine, occupying the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and the city of Sevastopol, parts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. In 2022, Russia moved to a full-scale invasion, as a result of which the entire territory of Ukraine came under fire, parts of the territories of Kyiv, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions were occupied, and the zone of active hostilities expanded significantly.
Russian aggression has led to the destruction of the lives of millions of Ukrainians, including children. Some of them live in danger due to ongoing shelling by Russia, some are in danger due to active hostilities in the areas where they live, and some are under occupation, where Russia is introducing a system of re-education and erasure of children’s Ukrainian identity.
As of 2024, more than one million six hundred thousand children remain in the temporarily occupied territories of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, the city of Sevastopol, parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson regions.
Children fell under the pressure of Russian propaganda, betrayal and distrust, fear and hatred. However, they have remained themselves, and they need our support, primarily moral, they must know that they are remembered, heard, and waited for.
That is why in June-August 2024, the public organization “Center for Civic Education “Almenda” held the All-Ukrainian Student Essay Competition “I Hear You: A Letter to a Peer in the Occupation”, which was held with the support of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine as part of the project ” Childhood Unchained: Standing Against Occupation’s Impact”, which is implemented with the financial support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic as part of the Transition Promotion Program.
The purpose of the competition is to support children who live under occupation by creating an empathic wave in Ukrainian society and disseminating information about the realities of children’s lives in the temporarily occupied territories.
241 pupils of 8-11 grades of general secondary, professional pre-higher, vocational and technical education institutions took part in the competition. In their works, the children expressed their empathy, feelings, and hope for the end of the war and the restoration of destroyed cities and villages. And most importantly, they not only supported those who remained in the occupied territory, but as if they stood next to them, shared the pain and fear felt by their peers in the occupation.
According to the results of the work of the jury, which consisted of representatives of the Ministry of Education and Science, public organizations, teachers and the media, 30 works were selected to became laureates of the competition, among which the winners were chosen.
This selection contains the works of laureates and winners. It will be useful for teachers, public organizations, government officials who work with the problems of the protection of children’s rights in armed conflict, as well as for the media.
The selection is illustrated with children’s drawings from the exhibition “Images of the Future”. In their works, the children represented their vision of the world and Ukraine after the victory. The exhibition was organized as part of the tenth International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival “Docudays UA”, which took place in the city of Chornomorsk in November 2023.
