far from where the violent conflict of war with Russia is taking place and destroying human lives Ukrainians are fighting a different type of battle: for culture and dignity Millions of Ukrainians have left the country Many others have joined the army — with many killed on the front lines — and war efforts have soaked up people’s energy and resources As they defend their territory from advancing Russian forces many in Ukraine are also fighting to preserve a cultural heritage in peril The Transcarpathian Folk Choir performs a song and dance for a music video that they are working on to share their music a meeting place and museum for local history believes he’s fighting on a sort of cultural front line “my war actually started that year.” That was when Bartosh started his effort to preserve the medieval St He says he found signs that in Soviet times with a lack of respect given to its history was in disrepair when Joseph Bartosh decided to work on restoring it more than 20 years since he started the project there is still more work to be done to preserve parts of the castle Joseph Bartosh stands in a patch of window light at St he's taken on the effort of restoring the medieval castle whose earliest known mention is believed to be around 1450 the inside has already been transformed into a space for art exhibitions community events and a museum where people can learn about the castle’s history the Transcarpathian Folk Choir is performing in the castle’s yard and filming for a music video The Transcarpathian Folk Choir performs a dance while filming a music video There are instances throughout Ukraine’s history in which the people were spurred into action to preserve their culture Villagers here remember the Soviet history of Ukraine as a time of erasure of unique regional traditions Hanna Haiduk recalls her relatives having to hide their embroidered shirts to save them from being destroyed by Soviet troops “People were putting [vyshyvankas] inside of glass jars digging holes underground trying to hide those vyshyvankas there And people were trying to save vyshyvanka for years for the next generations in this way,” Haiduk recounts over tea in her kitchen Hanna Haiduk grew up learning traditional Hutsul embroidery techniques She is part of the Hutsul ethnic group from the Transcarpathian region which is mainly part of modern-day Ukraine from a village in the Carpathian Mountains called Kosivska She remembers learning to embroider as a child They would often gather under one large tree in the village to work on communal projects chatting and laughing together as she and other kids would help and learning different embroidery techniques as their parents directed them Hanna Haiduk uses a needle and thread to form intricate designs many of which she copies from historical works she finds in books or those she saved from her family's past work Haiduk passed her love of tradition to her eldest son showing off regional culture to people from around the world He was killed while serving in the Ukrainian army just one month after the war began in 2022 She recounts all this with tears in her eyes “The war touches everywhere in this country; it’s a misconception that we are free from it here,” Haiduk says Hanna Haiduk does her embroidery mostly at home in Uzhhorod She lost her son when he went to fight at the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022 But not every part of the region’s cultural heritage has been successfully preserved Richka is known locally as the village that makes hunias Olha Mys and her mother and sisters used to make hunias fewer people were producing and wearing hunias because of how time-consuming and meticulous it is to make them and her sister walk near their house in Richka down to where a valylo is built into the side of a stream They use the valylo to wash wool and then to wash hunias for hours after they are woven Making a hunia takes months just to complete one coat then combed and woven on a loom that takes up an entire room The woven fabric is then washed for multiple hours in a valylo a kind of natural washing machine that people construct on the side of a mountain stream Valylos can only be used when the stream is very full and the water runs clear to keep dirt out of the materials The hours of washing in the valylo helps with felting the woven fabric creating a material that is dense and spongy Olha Mys shows a photo of her grandmother wearing a hunia The tradition of crafting the coats has been in the family for generations Villagers estimate more than half of the population has left since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 the war has shrunk the population of Richka estimate that over half have left since the war started nearly three years ago says that this population drop affects the materials she needs for the process “All those people that left because of the war even despite the fact they weren’t producing hunias,” Hychka says “When they left they sold their sheep or rented them to people in other villages you don’t have this amount of choice [in wool].” Wool from local sheep is used in making a hunia Lubov Hychka demonstrates how to weave the hunia fabric while Vasyl Hychka (unrelated) who takes care of the property where the loom is housed large flocks of sheep used to ramble through the Carpathian Mountains spending summers on wide alpine meadows while shepherds lived alongside them with usually just a few nibbling on grasses together on the outskirts of each village Mikhailo Bilak sits to smoke a cigarette after walking all morning with his flock of sheep Mykola Yakbuk (right) has come to take one of the ewes and her lambs back to a barn where they can be more closely cared for watches over his flock of more than a hundred sheep are some of the rare shepherds who still raise sheep in this way Mikhailo Bilak holds two lambs while their mother looks on Even on this remote mountaintop, the war still looms. At 59, Bilak has nearly aged out of the military draft, which goes up to 60, but the country’s mobilization remains a threat these sheep will be packed immediately for slaughterhouse Nobody will take care of them,” Bilak says bluntly before he runs after his moving flock down the mountain waving goodbye and apologizing at the hasty exit a small wooden museum is tucked into a valley that curls around a flowing stream between the pine-covered peaks of the mountains actors who perform Hutsul theater are having a modest feast after rehearsal A variety of cured meats and cheeses are stacked on thick prepare to rehearse a play at Hutsul Theater Their kind of theater was created over 100 years ago based on the culture and stories of the Hutsul ethnic group The theater nearly went extinct during both World War I and II dedicated enthusiasts revived it once the wars ended but still on an average Sunday in early November they were able to gather a handful of performers to rehearse greets his son and grandchild outside the small museum in Krasnoillya where the history of Hutsul theater is documented and sometimes performed “I don’t think that it can cease to exist this time,” says Roman Sinitovych the museum director and one of the actors in the troupe He says this is because people have learned from the past They care more about preserving cultural identity during this war Sinitovych served in the territorial defense in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region during the first year of Russia’s full-scale invasion The difficulties during wartime never dampen his optimism Why do you need to perform?’ But you know actually we need because those are the things that unite us They pour shots of a local alcohol made with galangal the sweet notes of a flute waft through the air round and round until they merge into a blur Volodymyr Sinitovych ties up traditional shoes that are part of his costume members of the Hutsul Theater troupe have drinks and share some meats and cheeses together on Nov <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/12/25/g-s1-38399/ukraine-culture-traditions-russian-invasion"target="_blank" >Click here for the full story Tags: Europe, News, World, Culture Stand with OPB and protect independent journalism for everyone Listen to the OPB News live stream (opens new window)Streaming Now Jonathan Levinson is a multimedia reporter covering policing for Oregon Public Broadcasting Jonathan spent five years as an infantry officer in the U.S Army and has a master’s degree in international affairs from Columbia University pulls a wagon with a Canadian flag cornhole game while walking to meet her fiance at Peace Arch Historical State Park in Blaine government closed the Canadian side of the park in June due to concerns about crowding and COVID-19 park due to a treaty signed in 1814 that allows citizens of Canada and the U.S A measles outbreak in Clark County led to dozens of cases of the preventable disease.","copyright":"Copyright OPB","created_date":"2020-08-12T20:17:50Z","credits":{"affiliation":[{"name":"OPB","type":"author"}],"by":[{"byline":"Bradley W Unprecedented wildfire conditions across Oregon and the American West kicked up several fires over Labor Day weekend.","copyright":"Copyright OPB","created_date":"2020-09-09T06:07:54Z","credits":{"affiliation":[{"name":"OPB","type":"author"}],"by":[{"byline":"Bradley W He was also a state lawmaker and three-term state attorney general.","copyright":"Copyright OPB","created_date":"2020-08-19T17:12:59Z","credits":{"affiliation":[],"by":[{"byline":"U.S including coronavirus screening and follow up care FILE PHOTO","version":0,"template_id":620},"address":{"locality":"Columbia","region":"SC","country_name":"USA"},"auth":{"1":"64f2ba16818b09227145262b99c17407e51093de509e4a282284408420b13e2f"},"caption":"FILE - In this Feb Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden speaks at a primary night election rally in Columbia The Democratic Party’s attempt to adapt its typical convention rituals to a pandemic-induced virtual affair will be put through its paces Tuesday night Her reporting seeks to hold powerful people to account promote honesty and transparency in public affairs She formerly contributed award-winning programming to Georgia Public Broadcasting and Jefferson Public Radio and reporting to community newspapers like the Del Norte Triplicate in Crescent City Emily graduated from the University of Texas in Austin. Send her feedback and story ideas at ecureton@opb.org Washington has been urged to come clean over its biolab program in Ukraine after the Department of Defense admitted its existence The Pentagon said on Thursday that it has operated 46 biolabs in Ukraine handling dangerous pathogens after previously dismissing the charges as Russian propaganda China has joined calls for the United States to explain the role and capacity of the laboratories following the Pentagon’s stunning reversal after months of denial In March leaked papers appeared to suggest that its operations in Ukraine were sensitive while Kiev was reportedly blocked from public disclosure about the program According to a document signed between the two nations Ukraine is obliged to transfer the dangerous pathogens to the U.S Department of Defense for biological research Those who had raised concerns over the presence of the biolabs have been dismissed as conspiracy theorists and accused of regurgitating Russian disinformation Deputy Secretary of state Victoria Nuland in March prompted further suspicions when she appeared to confirm the biological program saying she feared the labs would “fall into Russian hands.” China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said on Friday that the U.S must explain its activities and called on it to stop “single-handedly opposing the establishment of a verification mechanism for the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) conducts more bio-military activities than any other country in the world is the only country opposing the establishment of a verification mechanism for the BWC “The international community has long had concerns over this Russia has further revealed the U.S.’ bio-military activities in Ukraine and raised clearly that the US has violated the BWC is under an obligation to provide clarifications on Russia’s allegation so as to restore the international community’s confidence in the U.S.’s compliance,” he said Washington denies Russian claims that it has experimented on humans after it was alleged that testing of pathogens was carried out on psychiatric patients from Kharkiv The United States has been accused of engaging in biological warfare in the past Late Cuban leader Fidel Castro claimed that its operatives had introduced swine fever and dengue fever into the country with a previously unknown strain of the latter created in a laboratory The aim was to create “the largest number of victims possible,” he said Former Daily Worker (U.K.) international correspondent Alan Winnington and Australian journalist Wilfred Burchett were accused of treason and had their passports canceled after exposing the U.S an International Scientific Commission headed by Cambridge University’s Professor Joseph Needham concluded that China and North Korea had been subjected to bacteriological weapons 2023): This article contains partial information which may lead readers to conclude that the U.S Department of Defense admitted to operating biological weapons laboratories – “biolabs” – inside Ukraine government confirmed was the funding/operation of biological laboratories researching certain diseases and pathogens in Ukraine The Russian government has long claimed that these labs were also conducting (or could in the future conduct) research and development on chemical and biological weaponry Many Q-Anon and other right-wing conspiracy theorists have repeated the Russian accusations The implication of the above article is that given the U.S.’ long and atrocious record of conducting chemical and biological warfare in places like Korea such a possibility is not outside the realm of believability fully disclose the nature of the research it collaborated on with Ukraine there is no confirmed evidence of chemical or biological weapons research being carried out at the labs in question Amidst capitalist crisis and war, Russian Communists struggle against Putin and... Pre-election turmoil in Bolivia ─ is U.S. imperialism ready to pounce? U.S. air strike on Yemen kills dozens of African migrants ‘Sinners’ review: Horror, history, and Black American folklore combine for trailblazing cinema  Chickens coming home to roost: Remember what Malcolm said Amidst capitalist crisis and war, Russian Communists struggle against Putin and the oligarchs U.S. imperialism’s new Cold War against China fosters anti-Asian racism at home Amanda Simpson: trailblazer for equality will be established in the Sadok area of the Chynadiyovo settlement in the Mukachevo district of the Zakarpattia region The decision to include it in the Register of Industrial (Manufacturing) Parks was made by the government during a meeting on March 11 "Zakarpattia continues to develop its investment potential This is already the twelfth industrial park in the region The 'Made in Ukraine' policy makes industrial parks an increasingly attractive tool not only for Ukrainian but also for foreign investors we will see the development of the processing industry in Ukraine to the level of our closest neighbors—Poland and Turkey," stated Vitalii Kindrat The KARPATY industrial park will operate on an area of 25.6479 hectares and create approximately 1,300 jobs The initiator of its creation is the Chynadiyivska village council The industrial park will specialize in the following sectors: