Stories of the strong
"Stories of the Strong" is a book by the Vadym Stolar Foundation about Ukrainians who survived the horrors of occupation, captivity, torture, bombings and rocket attacks. It was created so that the world would know the truth about the crimes committed and continued to be committed by the Russian occupation army on the territory of our country.
Get to know the project
Premiere presentation of the book "Stories of the Strong" in Warsaw and Brussels.
Watch the video from the presentation in Warsaw.
Video presentation from Brussels.
Vadym Stolar Charitable Foundation presented the book "Stories of the Strong" in Warsaw and Brussels. The presentations took place in the format of a theatrical performance based on fragments from books and with participation of well-known actors of Kyiv theaters.
"The team of volunteers of The Vadym Stolar Foundation began to actively help Ukrainians in various ways from the first days of the full-scale russian invasion. We organized evacuation, brought hot food, food, medicine, and basic necessities. Many people told us their real stories, shared their experiences. We had the idea that time to collect these stories in one book and tell about them to all of Ukraine and the whole world. This is the truth about the bloody war, about the horrors of occupation and about the facts of the crimes of the russian army, culprits of which must be identified, named and punished", Foundation volonteer Nataliia Prykhodko said.
The event in Warsaw was organized with the support of the Wilianow district administration and the Polish-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce. Guests of the presentation were both Ukrainians and citizens of Poland. In particular, the event was attended by the vice-president of the Polish-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce Andzhei Drozd.
The presentation of the book in Brussels was also attended by representatives of the official institutions of the European Union, in particular the chief adviser to the Director General of the European Commission for International Cooperation Henrik Hololei.
The Foundation started the journey of the "History of the Strong" from Warsaw and Brussels around the world. After all, it is planned to present the book in other European countries and in the United States of America.
"Our goal was to show the war and Ukraine in the war as Ukrainians see themselves. Those who personally experienced the death of loved ones, loss of housing, occupation, shelling... The Foundation team and the creative team went to other countries after presentation of the book "Stories of the Strong" in Ukraine. We started with Warsaw because Poland has become a hospitable refuge for hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians since the beginning of the large-scale aggression. Subsequently, the Foundation presented the book and a play based on it in Brussels to show European politicians and officials the whole truth about the war and russian aggression. We will not stop there and will show live and real stories of strong and steadfast Ukrainians to the whole world", the founder of the Foundation Vadym Stolar said.
Presentation of the book "Stories of the Strong" in Odessa.View the video.
We have been preparing for the publication of the book for a long time - from the first days of the full-scale invasion of Russia. Our volunteers daily communicated with Ukrainians - witnesses of the great war - and heard stories that cannot be forgotten. So we decided to preserve the stories of our citizens for future generations - to engrave them on the pages of our book.
In the book, we collected and documented the stories of indomitable Ukrainians who saw the atrocities of the Russian occupiers on their native land, were under occupation, escaped with small children in their arms, delivered humanitarian aid under fire and heroically defended their native country from the invaders. "Stories of the Strong" is a collection of memories of what hurts each of us. The voices of dozens of Ukrainians echo from its pages, telling how Ukraine stood up, courageously covering all of Europe with itself, as if with a shield, from the onslaught of Russian invaders. It has everything - pain, fear, hatred, rage, courage, unity, mutual support, hope and faith in victory.
While working on the publication of the book, we aimed to:
• to create an evidence base for the Hague Tribunal - so that those guilty of the Russian-Ukrainian war are punished;
• to ease the pain of people who sent us their stories - because when you share your grief, it becomes less;
• to remind the world of the horrors that happened and are still happening in Ukraine because of the war, so that it realizes the price of peace and that the support of our country by its partners does not decrease.
The main goal of the collection is to show the world Ukraine during the war as Ukrainians themselves see it. Such stories do not make it into textbooks, but everyone should hear them.
We thank the heroes of the book, its authors, for their trust, openness, sincerity and fortitude. We are sure that "Stories of the Strong" will find its audience and attract attention both in Ukraine and abroad.
We invited a famous Ukrainian writer to work on the book. She talked to people, interviewed them and, thanks to her writing talent, organized their stories. This is how the collection of stories became a real literary masterpiece, which we printed with the support of the Foundation's founder and patron Vadym Mykhailovych Stolar.
The presentation of the book "Stories of the Strong" took place on March 28, 2024 in Buch, a city that has become iconic not only for Ukraine, but also for the whole world. After all, it was here that it finally became clear to everyone what a terrible evil the heroic Ukrainians are fighting against.
"Stories of the Strong" in Odessa. We received very strong feedback after the performance in Bucha. Therefore, they took the event in Odessa to a new level - they gave the voices of our indomitable Ukrainians even more power and played a play based on their stories.Watch the video from the presentation of the book "Stories of the Strong" in Odessa.
Stories of the Strong book world tour. We successfully held a presentation in Poland and Belgium. We carefully prepared for these important events for our Charitable Foundation. We are sincerely grateful to the entire team of the Foundation, the cast and everyone who helped us.Our presentation evoked extremely strong and, unfortunately, very difficult emotions. After all, everyone present had to experience the atmosphere of fear and uncertainty in which you and I live every day.
"Stories of the Strong" is not a book for sale. It is published in a limited edition in Ukrainian and English.
We are actively working on creating reading centers where everyone can read stories from our unique collection. But for now, we can invite you to one of them:
• National Library of Ukraine named after Yaroslav the Wise (formerly the National Parliamentary Library of Ukraine), Kyiv, str. Mykhailo Hrushevskyi, 1.
• Installation of our Foundation in the art complex GALLERIST, Bucha, str. Instytutska, 43-B. You can read excerpts of some of the stories included in the "Stories of the Strong" collection on our website.
Anton Dombrovskyi is the owner of the food brand, which he founded on the eve of the Great War. In his story, he tells about the path from the desire to join the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to volunteering and the large-scale all-Ukrainian project "Children for Children". Read more "How I was not accepted into the Armed Forces"
Tetyana Slobodyaniuk is the wife of the fallen hero of Azovstal. The woman filled her story with memories of her love with Maxim and shared where she now looks for inspiration to live on. Read more "My beloved defended Azovstal"
Inna Kaplya is a family doctor and mother of two sons. She tells why she decided to leave Ukraine with her children and where she sought refuge. Read more "An aerial bomb will fall on him immediately."
Tetyana Hrytsai is a civil servant from Lysychansk, to whom war has come for the second time. The woman shared with us in her story about her bitter experience of living in an occupied city and how she did not believe in the beginning of large-scale hostilities. Read more "We heard distant explosions"
Yaroslava is a resident of Transcarpathia, the mother of two children and the wife of a fallen defender of Ukraine. Together with her children, she became a participant in the seventh season of our "Recover" project, which took place in February 2024. But in an interview, she told us her story. Read more "Lived with love for my family"
Alyona is the widow of a Ukrainian hero who died fighting in the Kharkiv region. With words of pride and respect, she remembers her husband and the father of her two children in an interview that the woman gave us while participating in the "Recover" project. Read more We continue the cycle of interviews
Olena, an employee of the State Emergency Service, tells us the story of saving her family from the war in her interview on Vidnovys. A woman and her two children took part in the seventh season of the project. Read more "Without holding back tears"
Tatyana is the widow of a defender of Ukraine who died defending our country. In her interview for "Recover", she shared warm memories of her husband and the terrible moments of her life that she experienced due to the loss of a loved one. Together with her daughter, she participated in the seventh season of our large-scale project. Read more. We need to hear their story
Iryna and her two daughters are from Bakhmut. In her interview for Vidnovys, the woman talks about the first days of the full-scale invasion, wandering around Ukraine in search of shelter and love for her native city. Read more "The soul remained there, on the ruins"
Galina Yashchenko, a pensioner from Irpen, talks about the horrors of the first days of the full-scale war, how the townspeople survived the Russian occupation, the difficulties of evacuation and her hopes. Read more "Why kill us"
In her story, Lyudmila Melnyk shares memories of her twin brother Ruslan, the defender of Mariupol. About the courage of him and his comrades, who held on to the last, realizing how mercilessly the enemy was destroying the city. Read more "We believe that Ruslan is alive"
Lyudmila Lozova is a resident of Gostomel, who worked as the editor-in-chief of the ITV channel in Irpen. In his story, he tells about the first days of the war and evacuation from his hometown, terrible messages from those who remained in Gostomel, and about his life abroad. Read more "The main thing is that I live!"
Olena Andriishina and her husband lived in Borodyanka when the Great War began. They decided not to leave their hometown and stay close to those who need help. Read more "The worst thing is bombs from airplanes"
Karolina Gerus is a young Ukrainian from Buchi who independently traveled a huge distance to find refuge in Europe. She told us about it in her story. Read more "Our Russophobia is not enough"
Kateryna and Oksana Belikova are a mother and daughter from Luhansk region, from Popasnaya, which was already under enemy occupation in 2014. They talk about the events of the great war, their evacuation and life in a new city. Read more "It turned out: not to salute"
Iryna Osadovska, a cardiologist, recalls how she remembers the beginning of the full-scale invasion and how she and her colleagues worked in new realities. Read more "There was a sense of confusion"
A month before the full-scale invasion, Oksana Romaniuk, having made a chart, predicted drastic changes in the fortunes of her friends. In her story, the woman remembers how hard life was for the Kherson people during the enemy occupation. Read more "I've never run so fast before"
Yakiv and Olga Gontar are a couple of pensioners from the Kharkiv region. The woman shares memories of the first days of the enemy offensive, recalls how they fled on foot from their native village. Read more "We went and didn't look back"
Tetyana Sulypa, a native of Lviv Oblast, has lived in Poland most of her life. Since the beginning of the full-scale war, the woman and her family joined in helping fellow citizens. Read more "Do good to people"
Marta Sytenko, a marketer from Ukraine and the head of the Children Hub center, after the start of the Great War, found her vocation in helping her little compatriots adapt in Poland. Read more "I couldn't stand it"
Eduard Bobrovytskyi is a resident of a village near Zaporizhzhia, who, from the first day of the full-scale invasion, resumed his old habit of keeping a diary and noted the events of those days. Read more "I was woken up by the roar of the plane"
Oleksandr Danileyko, who remained in his native Kharkiv after the start of the great war, witnessed the terrible shelling of the city by the Russian invaders. Read more "I heard the echo of explosions"
Psychologist and photographer Olga Tkachenko tells how her native Nikopol lived after a full-scale attack by the Russians. Read more "We continue to live life"
