As part of the “CultResistance” project, the War Museum hosted a public meeting with Andrii Kyrychenko - a writer and short-story author, current serviceman, and veteran of Ukraine’s War for Independence.
Andrii Stepanovych is a career serviceman and officer who has served in the Armed Forces of Ukraine from 1998 to the present. Since 2014, he has been a participant in the russian-Ukrainian War. He is the recipient of numerous literary and artistic awards and the author of the poetry collections This is War (2017), This is Our Truth (2018), Shell Casings in the Pocket (2019), The Ice of Angels’ Wings (2021), Cannonicality (2024), and Charoslovia (2026), as well as the short-story collections Grad Hunters (2022) and Dombeiko (2024). Andrii has also been a member of the National Writers’ Union of Ukraine since 2017.
During the public event, visitors learned about the life and combat path of the serviceman, who dedicated 20 years of service to the 72nd Separate Mechanized Brigade named after the Black Zaporozhians. In particular, Andrii Kyrychenko spoke about his experience as a combat officer in Volnovakha, Avdiivka, and Bakhmut in 2016–2018. He also highlighted the cultural tour “From Country to Ukraine,” during which cultural figures shared their work with residents of small towns across Ukraine.
The poet believes that the role of writers in war lies, above all, in documenting traumatic events through the power of words. By drawing on literary skill, one can move both sophisticated literary critics and those who have little interest in poetry. It is this need to reach human hearts that he sees as the writer’s central task.
The author spoke about his approach to writing poetry. Visitors also had the opportunity to choose the themes of poems, which Andrii Kyrychenko gladly recited for everyone. In addition, the audience had a chance to ask the veteran questions.
At the end of the meeting, Andrii Stepanovych donated valuable artefacts to the Museum, including insignia of the 72nd Brigade, his own poetry collections - This is War…, This is Our Truth!, The Ice of Angels’ Wings, and Shell Casings in the Pocket - as well as sleeve insignia and an enemy trophy patch.
The Museum sincerely thanks Andrii Kyrychenko for his participation in the “CultResistance” project. We deeply value the creative work of servicemembers and contribution to promoting the Ukrainian language and our military culture. We are also grateful to the distinguished guests of the event - students and cadets of the National Academy of Internal Affairs - for the warm meeting and their active participation in the discussion.
We look forward to seeing you again at the War Museum!
