Concrete Sunflowers

Concrete Sunflowers: Ukrainian culture through the eyes of an international volunteer

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  • My flag

    As it was the fashionable thing at the time, I bought a flag and had it signed by other volunteers at the kitchen I volunteered in in the summer of 2023. I’ve not bothered to do flag signatures since; anecdotally I see international volunteers seeking flag signatures less commonly now.

  • Grandfather’s war

    [This post is part of the larger one A supply hub tour] R: I have a very interesting story, I can tell it [takes out a Soviet military ID]. Here, honey, open it and take a look. Read it carefully, then you’ll see it’s not as simple as it seems. Read the year. I: 1898.…

  • Ghost of Kyiv merchandise

  • Pes Patron merchandise

  • Russian Warship/Go fuck yourself merchandise

  • Misc merchandise pictures

    Jack Russels on a shopping cart in Kyiv, March 2026

  • Johnsonuk merchandise

  • Chevrons in 2022

  • Chevrons spotted over new year 25/26

  • Chevrons spotted in March 2026

  • 3D printing characters for fundraising

    V: Can you ask him if they didn’t 3D-print things like the “Ghost of Kyiv” or “Pes Patron” [Patron the Dog]? R2: Pes Patron? Nah. We do universal prints. No one ordered stuff like that. V: People don’t like them? R2: No, why? I wouldn’t say they don’t like ’em. First off, we’ve been at…

  • A supply hub tour

    R: Let’s take this one, here’s its number. See? It’s all there. And this one was shot down literally about a year ago. I: Is it made of cardboard or what? R: Yeah, sorry, as we say, it’s made of shit and sticks, no other way to put it. That’s just how it is. But…

  • Oleh on heroes and the future

     <we had been chatting prior to starting recording> Vic: So you said you believe in the Ghost of Kyiv? Oleh: I did believe. Vic: You did believe? Oleh: I did believe, like first couple of months of the war. I really thought it was a real person. But then it like became, became obvious in…

  • Запис вуличного інтерв’ю 3

    П — перекладачР — респондент English: Street interview 3 Р: Я вважаю, що тут усі без винятку — мої товариші, які виконують завдання, пов’язані із захистом Харківщини і України загалом, — усі є героями. І дай Боже, щоб усі поверталися зі щитом, а не на щиті. П: Це правда, дякую. Можливо, ви можете розповісти якусь…

  • Street interview 3

    I — InterpreterR — Respondent Українська: Запис вуличного інтерв’ю 3 R: I believe that without exception, all of them — my comrades who are carrying out tasks related to the defense of the Kharkiv region and Ukraine as a whole — are heroes. And God willing, everyone will return “with their shield, not on it”…

  • Запис вуличного інтерв’ю 2

    П — ПерекладачР — Респондент *Через сильні пориви вітру можливі неточності в передачі розмови. English: Street interview recording 2 П: Чи відомо вам щось про місцевих героїв? Наприклад, як у Києві — Привид Києва. Можливо, тут є хтось, хто вам запам’ятався? Р: Чесно кажучи, ні. П: Не маєте? Р: Ну, точно в Харкові щось таке…

  • Street interview recording 2

    I — InterpreterR — Respondent *Due to strong wind noise, there may be some inaccuracies in the recording. Українська: Запис вуличного інтерв’ю 2 I: Have you heard anything about local heroes? For example, like the Ghost of Kyiv — maybe someone here who stood out or stayed in people’s memory? R: Honestly, no. I: You…

  • Andrey on propaganda

    Vic: What is it? Conway: It’s an ancient superstition. So if you’re giving an example of an injury that happened to someone else and you point at your own body where it happened, then you’re bringing that onto your own body, that injury. Andrey: Yes, I agree. Conway: But this is ancient. Andrey: I also…

  • Vlada’s story

    Part 1: Vlada on folk heroes Part 2: Vlada’s story Vlada: Okay. Um… Ask Vic if I should tell her about… about the experience of the full-scale invasion. Valeriia: Do, do you want to hear about her experience of the start of the full-scale invasion? Vic: Um. I mean, if… if you’re happy to speak…

  • Vlada on folk heroes

    Valeriia, a friend of Vlada, originally joined to be a translator between Vic and Vlada. Half of Vlada’s responses were in Ukrainian and half in English Part 1: Vlada on folk heroes Part 2: Vlada’s story Vic: First, could you tell me your name and your age roughly? Valeriia: You are not required to answer…

  • Ivanna on folk heroes

    Note: This interview took place via a call with very bad signal. Vic: Can you please tell me your name? Ivanna: Uh, I am Ivanna. Vic: Cool. And, um… Can you think of any examples of, um, contemp… of, modern heroes that have emerged since the start of the full-scale invasion? Ivanna: Um, yes. Um……

  • Альона про мову та лайку

    Альона: [переходить на українську] Ми знаємо, що наша реальність має великий вплив на нашу мову, і так само мова має вплив на нашу реальність. Коли почалося повномасштабне вторгнення, я саме досліджувала, для своєї дисертації, інвективну [лайливу] лексику в українській мові, в політичному дискурсі. Тому, безумовно, у мене з’явилося набагато більше матеріалу для дослідження. Е, перед…

  • Aliona on language and swearing

    Aliona: [starts speaking Ukrainian] We know, that our reality has a great impact on our language, and language impacts our reality just as much. When the full-scale invasion started, I was in the middle of research, for my dissertation, on invective [swear] lexis in Ukrainian language, in a political discourse. Because of that, certainly, I…

  • Ira from Kyiv: Part 2

    Part 1: Ira from Kyiv: Part 1 Part 2: Ira from Kyiv: Part 2 Vic: So back in 2022, Ghost of Kyiv. As a person from Kyiv, did you follow the news about him at all? Ira: Yes, of course. We all were, we all were. We were so proud. We discussed it, we tried…

  • Ira from Kyiv: Part 1

    Part 1: Ira from Kyiv: Part 1 Part 2: Ira from Kyiv: Part 2 Ira: So, a superstition which I’m not sure I will be able to translate into English exactly, but I will try. So, it started with the pilots. The pilots never tell something like “my last flight”. Because “last,” [останній, ostaniy] it…

  • Sometimes the Russians just disappear

    Mary: <start cut off> just, disappeared overnight. I remember my- Vic: So they occupied it [Sievierodonetsk] in 2014, 15? Mary: Yes, it was occupied.  Basically, um, yeah! It just happened overnight. People woke up in the morning and the Russians were gone. So, that’s a great legend: you can wake up in the morning and…

  • The generator in Balakliia

    Henry: Also, this was the only spot that had a Starlink. So people from all over different villages, they would come here, because nobody had any connection. Like even the railroad signs and all that. I don’t know if I told you this before, but there was a sign that literally said, it was so…

  • Henry’s Balakliia stories

    Iryna and I were- the whole time she was telling me, like, Oh, she could drive. She could drive. Okay, cool. Mind you, she doesn’t have a- she doesn’t have a Ukrainian driver’s license. So what happens if we get stopped at a block post? But anyways, I didn’t let her drive. Nobody let her…

  • Human shields in Izium

    Iryna: <start cut off> were kept as captured and the parents didn’t have access to their kids, because Russians kept the kids as a like shield against Ukrainian drones and missiles. Because they knew that Ukrainians wouldn’t target them. I don’t have the picture right now because I changed my phones, but there was a…

  • Tank friendly fire incident

    Iryna: So, in the beginning of the war when Russian tanks and echelons were just entering Kyiv, I was acquainted with a guy. He’s very young, he’s younger than me. He was probably 19 or 18 at that moment, and he joined the military forces right away. The Russian troops were already getting closer to…

  • Ana on stamps

    Part 1: Ana on wartime culturePart 2: Ana on superstitionsPart 3: Ana on stamps Ana: Okay, so when we enter the university in Ukraine, like after the school, we should pass the exams. And it’s usually history, math, literature, and English, I’m not sure. So there was a question in 2024 during the exam, and…

  • Ana on superstitions

    Part 1: Ana on wartime culturePart 2: Ana on superstitionsPart 3: Ana on stamps Ana: I remember you asked about the superstitions, so I tried to think about some of them, but actually I don’t know. Vic: It feels like Ukrainian people have a lot of the same superstitions as British people, like black cats…

  • Ana on wartime culture

    Part 1: Ana on wartime culturePart 2: Ana on superstitionsPart 3: Ana on stamps Ana: Well, again, before, like when it started in 2022, I guess we get more stories like the Ghost of Kyiv or Chornobaivka, if you heard about that. Like it was a village in Kherson which was- the Russian troops, they…