Life in Ukraine

As winter temperatures plunged in Kyiv on January 15, UK Embassy staff joined invited guests at the Motherland Monument for an evening light display marking one year of the UK–Ukraine 100-Year Partnership Agreement.

In  U Are the Universe , Andrii Melnyk, the last man on Earth, navigates a desolate world in 2070, relying on a robot for company. Their banter, laced with humor and tinged with loneliness, offers a glimpse of human connection amid devastation. The sci-fi film, released amid Russia’s full-scale invasion, is a huge hit in Ukraine.

Born amid the street clashes on Kyiv’s Independence Square in 2013, the Ukrainian documentary collective Babylon 13 has spent more than a decade filming the country’s resistance—from the Revolution of Dignity to Russia’s full-scale invasion. What began as rapid, anonymous shorts shot on the barricades has evolved into one of Ukraine’s most extensive cinematic archives.

The Ukrainian struggle for freedom has inspired people across the globe—including renowned US adventurer, filmmaker, and director Mark Fisher. Now, he’s looking for a way to share that inspiration with the world, filming in Ukraine.

You may already know the long journey coffee takes from distant farms to expert roasters to your morning mug. Now add Russian airstrikes to that process. Across Ukraine, even under fire, people still brew. This is how they keep the ritual alive.

On January 6, Ukrainians across the country marked Epiphany with a time-honored tradition—plunging into icy waters to renew their faith. Despite ongoing challenges from Russia’s war, the ritual of immersing in frigid rivers, symbolizing the Holy Trinity, remains a powerful expression of Ukraine’s cultural resilience and spiritual renewal.