Author:
Yuliia Didenko
The photo exhibition Thread: Transformation Rather than Brokenness has set off on a journey across Ukraine. Fifteen portraits and fifteen stories of children whose lives have been changed by the full-scale war launched by Russia will now be displayed at the main post offices of nine cities — from Sloviansk to Kherson. A joint project by the Voices of Children Charitable Foundation and photographer Marta Syrko is traveling from city to city with logistical support from Ukrposhta, helping more people hear these children’s stories.
How Thread Made Its Way to Ukrposhta Branches
The exhibition first opened at Kyiv’s Main Post Office. Ukrposhta provided the space free of charge to draw attention to children affected by the war and help raise funds for the Foundation. After seeing the portraits in person, the Ukrposhta team suggested taking Thread across the country and displaying it at branches in different regions.
Teams at post offices in frontline regions reached out to the Foundation: “Kherson, Donetsk region, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia — can we take it there? Maybe five portraits at a time, so we don’t risk the entire exhibition...” They work under the daily threat of Russian attacks, yet they were concerned about keeping the children’s photographs safe. Of course, the Foundation provided the full set of photographs to every region without restriction.
The war continues, but we have almost stopped asking ourselves when it will end. We simply live our lives. The question now is what we draw strength from. That source of strength will be different for everyone. With this exhibition, we wanted to convey the voices of children — voices of strength, faith, love, anxiety, and loss. It was important for us to capture how children from different parts of the country are living through the present. So that someone might recognize themselves in these stories and ask: What can I do for children?
What Thread Is About
The Voices of Children Foundation collected these stories to show what it means to grow up in times of war. Each portrait reflects an experience no child chose: loss, evacuation, Russian occupation, the search for a new home. Eighteen-year-old Liza from Oleshky cared for abandoned animals amid Russian attacks. The family of nine-year-old Liuba from Berdiansk took in people fleeing Mariupol.
The project’s name comes from the image of an invisible thread connecting the stories of children living through war. The portraits draw attention to the children’s eyes and the experiences held within them, while the texts below tell how each child has lived, changed, and found something to hold on to. The photographs were created by Marta Syrko, who was named by Forbes in 2025 as one of the 10 Women Preserving and Shaping Ukrainian Art and Culture.
The project’s name comes from the image of an invisible thread connecting the stories of children living through war. The portraits draw attention to the children’s eyes and the experiences held within them, while the texts below tell how each child has lived, changed, and found something to hold on to. The photographs were created by Marta Syrko, who was named by Forbes in 2025 as one of the 10 Women Preserving and Shaping Ukrainian Art and Culture.
As the exhibition travels from one main post office to another, new knots are added to this thread. In Dnipro, the Foundation’s regional team attended the opening. Soon afterward, families who recognized parts of their own experiences in the children’s portraits reached out to the Foundation’s psychologists. In this way, the children in the photographs are helping others find the courage to ask for support.
Where and When to See Thread
We are carrying these stories forward from city to city. Look out for Thread at your city’s main post office and come get to know the children through their stories.
You can help by sharing their stories, telling others about our work, or supporting Voices of Children with a donation. Your contribution helps us provide psychological support to children who have left occupied territories, experienced forced displacement, or faced other consequences of the war.
You can help by sharing their stories, telling others about our work, or supporting Voices of Children with a donation. Your contribution helps us provide psychological support to children who have left occupied territories, experienced forced displacement, or faced other consequences of the war.
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