Bridges of Ukraine

“Bridges of Ukraine” is an author’s project of Margarita Sytnyk, co-founder of the Holka civil initiative, which aims to build bridges between Ukrainians who remain in Ukraine and those citizens of our country who have left for various reasons and can help the state during the war and in post-war reconstruction.

Millions of Ukrainians abroad can do much more than just one ambassador and be ambassadors of Ukraine’s interests: advocate for the needs of our country at the local and national levels in the countries where they are currently living, promote Ukrainian culture and language in the world, and counteract hostile disinformation.

In 2025, “Holka,” together with partners from the Center for Innovation Development, supported communities in preparing for the Ukraine Recovery Conference. Nearly 250 representatives of local self-government bodies applied to participate in the event. One of the important areas of work is building partnerships with sister cities, where Ukrainians living abroad can help their communities establish these connections.

Bridges can be both objects of historical and cultural heritage, which is important for preserving our identity and can be built using high-tech and modern engineering solutions. It is the combination of preserved identity and such new approaches that are important for the development of a state communication strategy that should not only unite the entire nation by building bridges but also set the direction for joint actions aimed at victory and reconstruction.

The prototypes of the “Bridges of Ukraine” logo were the Preobrazhensky Bridge in Zaporizhzhia, which crosses the Dnipro River to Khortytsia Island—the capital of Ukrainian Cossacks—and the human chain that united Ukraine on Unity Day.

The program premiered on September 27, 2024, as reported by “Detector Media”, “Channel 24”, “Zaxid.net”, and other media outlets. The guests of the project will be diplomats, politicians, and experts. The first guests of the project studio were: Former Foreign Minister and diplomat Pavlo Klimkin, Head of the Center for Strategic Communications Ihor Solovey, historian, publicist and MP Volodymyr Viatrovych, and migration expert, Doctor of Economics Andriy Gaiduskyi.

Pavlo Klimkin

former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine

Ask Question

Thank you for being willing to talk about this. This is an important topic where we lack an honest conversation — one without whining or fantasies. We need a very human and honest dialogue. Ukrainians abroad are an incredible asset we cannot afford to waste.

Serhiy Kvit

former Minister of Education and President of the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy

Ask Question

"Bridges of Ukraine" professionally raise topics that lie within the public interest, yet receive insufficient attention in the media.These are bridges to little-known but critically important aspects of Ukrainian society: Ukraine’s relationship with its vast diaspora, the absence of a coherent state policy, and even the most basic attention to diaspora institutions—institutions created through the remarkable civic energy of Ukrainians around the world for over a century. The war for independence brings new challenges. Bridges of Ukraine urgently needs support, as it raises awareness of what truly matters and demands our immediate attention and effort.

You can watch the episodes on  the “Holka” YouTube channel.

Project partners: Espreso, Glavkom, The Ukrainian Review, Poglyad media, Hromadske Interactive Television (Lutsk) (broadcast on the TV channel and on Radio-1 (100.1 FM, Volyn)), the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, and the International Institute of Education, Culture, and Diaspora Relations. The project is produced without donor support. You can support its activities with a donation.