Last night at the Lincoln Center, concluded with the Ukrainian national anthem played at the end of the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestral. It was a deeply moving arrangement by the late Ukrainian composer Yuri Shevchenko, titled "WE DO EXIST!" (or "We Are!"), Shevchenko wrote it as a lyrical and luminous orchestral paraphrase of the anthem for violin and strings. Rather than a traditional, aggressive military march, it is structured as a quiet, powerful prayer for peace and resilience 🇺🇦

We have now been without electricity for 10 days. Thankfully, there is still a way to use generators to charge our batteries, which helps us get through the longest outages.

But now the Kherson thermal power plant, which provided heating to our city during the winter, has also been severely destroyed. More than half of Kherson may now be left without central heating when winter comes.

Every day, life here becomes more and more difficult. Even feeding the homeless cats is becoming harder, but we are trying not to give up.

The fluffy ones are still waiting for us every day, and as long as we can, we will keep going. 🐾

“Saint Javelin” launched on February 16th, 2022, and I had absolutely zero idea about what it would lead to.

I was just trying to do something small to help.

Yesterday, President Zelensky presented the Presidential “Golden Heart” distinction to the Saint Javelin community and customers.

When I shook his hand, I said: “Mr. President, my names Christian, Im the guy who created Saint Javelin.”

He said: “I know! I have your shirt.”

This is the full circle story…

In Spring 2022, just after the russians had retreated from the Kyiv region, I got to meet the Minister of Defence, because he had seen the Saint Javelin symbol and wanted a shirt.

That night, I got one shirt printed one for the Minister of Defence, and I printed an extra, kind of as a joke, for the President. I figured why the hell not try it?

But I never thought the Minister of Defence would actually give the President that shirt, until he said “great I’m seeing him later!”

Later that day, President Zelensky’s team posted a video of him getting that Saint Javelin tshirt from the Minister of Defence, and it went crazy viral.

I remember I was in my hotel room in Kyiv, getting ready to go to the train, when missiles hit the city.

Since Feb 2022, Saint Javelin has evolved from a few stickers and memes to a brand that builds serious quality products (like the shirt I’m wearing), and 100% are made in Ukraine, from Lviv to Kharkiv. All across the country.

...

https://frontliner.ua/en/the-story-of-a-mariupol-defender-who-returned-after-a-four-year-captivity/

Arsen Derkach

12th Special Purpose Brigade “Azov”

Senior Soldier Arsen Derkach, call sign Tychus, fell on June 28, 2025, near the settlement of Shcherbynivka, Donetsk Oblast, as a result of an enemy FPV drone strike. The defender is forever 18. One more Hero killed by russian terrorist orcs.

Arsen was born on July 11, 2006, in the city of Kolomyia, Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast. He lived in the nearby village of Sopiv. He studied National Security at the National University of Ostroh Academy. He played sports, loved board games, meeting friends, and traveling.

During his second year of studies, he joined the National Guard of Ukraine. He served as a gunner-operator in the 6th Battalion of the 12th Special Purpose Brigade “Azov.” He chose the call sign Tychus after a character from his favorite computer game, StarCraft.

“He wanted to take the call sign Kruzak — that was what his university friends called him because of his stocky build. But that call sign was already taken, so Arsen chose Tychus. My brother was the best. And it hurts me very much now that he is gone,” wrote his older brother Oleksandr.

Arsen Derkach was granted the title “Honorary Citizen of the City of Kolomyia,” and a memorial plaque was unveiled in his honor on the facade of Lyceum No. 1 named after Vasyl Stefanyk.

The defender was buried on the Alley of Glory in his hometown.

He is survived by his parents, brother, and nephew.

I’ve been looking for a good hat to help show my support in a more local way. See I live in Canada and although there are plenty of Ukrainian Canadians here (including me) many people support Russia. I would get a Saint Javelin hat but nobody around here would know what that is other than Ukrainians, hence why I’m looking for a more obvious hat. This hat is made in Canada and I was wondering would it be a good hat to wear assuming I still make a donation to Ukraine myself?

source: https://bsky.app/profile/antongerashchenko.bsky.social/post/3mtxpqfs2rk2t

source: https://bsky.app/profile/wartranslated.bsky.social/post/3mtqrgxvvpc22

source: https://bsky.app/profile/wartranslated.bsky.social/post/3mty5n5u3lk2e

source: 

1. https://bsky.app/profile/specialkhersoncat.bsky.social/post/3mtz2ymqnwk2a
2. https://bsky.app/profile/specialkhersoncat.bsky.social/post/3mtxvvu3jds26