“I am grateful to each and every one of the more than two hundred participants from all over the world who, at our call, created and improved more than 1,500 Wikipedia articles on Ukraine. This is an important contribution to the decolonisation of Ukrainian culture and countering Russian appropriation, historical myths and propaganda. This is the fourth year in a row that we have held the Ukrainian Cultural Diplomacy Month on Wikipedia, and I am glad that the project is growing in scale year by year. Together, we are protecting Ukrainian identity from Russian attempts to destroy it,” said Dmytro Kuleba, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine. 

The project engaged 200 participants from around the world who improved 425 existing articles and created 1260 new ones on the platform. The materials were created in 66 languages, which was a record figure for the four years of the project. 

“Due to the long distance between the two countries and various other reasons, many people in China do not understand Ukraine, especially Ukraine after independence. I translated some entries, especially about modern and contemporary Ukrainian celebrities, to help Chinese people better understand Ukrainian culture,” User Uyiliu2, China.

Within the project, the participants wrote articles about Shevchenko’s ‘Testament’ in French, Kamianets-Podilskyi Fortress in German, St. Andrew’s Church in Arabic, the film ‘Earth’ in Chinese, and the ‘Pamphyr’ movie in Uzbek. Materials were also created about Iryna Tsilyk in Tamil, the Slovo Building in Urdu, Taras Kompanichenko in Berber, the Ukrainian national anthem in Breton, and Lesia Ukrainka in Manipuri.  

“I love Ukrainian folktronica music and I wanted more people to learn about it. I love how this unique genre combines modernity and traditional Ukrainian stories and instruments, such as ‘sopilka’. Ukrainian folktronica artists keep their beautiful culture alive and strong, they are rightfully proud of their independence. I love this. But I also joined to have fun: I liked it, so I am participating again next year!“ User Dream Indigo, Italy. 

The participants also paid much attention to Ukrainian intangible heritage. Now Wikipedia has articles in Assamese about Ukrainian national clothing, in Esperanto about Khortytsia island, and about historical figures and events – in Georgian about Ivan Mazepa, in Cantonese about the Ukrainian People’s Republic, and in Hungarian about Anna Yaroslavna. 

“I grew up around many Ukrainians and Slavs, and I’ve always been interested in Ukrainian culture and history. With the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, I felt like Ukraine’s Cultural Diplomacy Month would be a good way for me to apply my skills to do something good for the world. I hope that all of our edits encourage more people to learn about Ukraine,“ User Michaeledits, the USA.