War Through the Eyes of Children

Some things require no translation. A child’s drawing is one of them.

A few years ago, hundreds of Ukrainian children picked up pencils and paints to tell the story of what had changed their lives forever. This gave birth to "War Through the Eyes of Children"—an initiative by the "Magic Wings" Charitable Foundation where children's art became far more than creative work; it became a sincere testament to Ukrainian reality.

The journey of these drawings did not end on the paper. They traveled across the globe so that people in different countries could see the war through the eyes of Ukrainian children.

A total of 540 children whose parents are defending Ukraine participated in the contest, including 167 children from the Truskavets community.

Behind every artwork lies a personal story. Some drew a father protecting the country. Others drew their home, to which they long to return. Some envisioned Ukraine as they see it after Victory.

These works carry extraordinary value precisely because of their absolute honesty. The children did not try to create a "proper" image of war—they simply depicted the world exactly as they feel it.

The young artists' works expanded far beyond the competition, making their way well past Ukraine's borders.

The drawings created by children from the Truskavets community were exhibited in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. In Sweden and Norway, the exhibitions took place in major public libraries, while in Denmark, they were displayed in art gallery exhibition halls.

Later, this traveling exhibition journeyed even further—crossing the ocean to Los Angeles, California, in the United States.

Through this journey, art created by Ukrainian children gained the power to share its message with people living thousands of miles away. Herein lies the unique strength of art: it allows people to perceive war not merely through statistics, news bulletins, or numbers, but through the eyes of a child.

Adults process war through news briefings, frontline maps, missile sirens, constant loss, and heavy decisions. Yet children experience it quite differently—for them, it consists of small, deeply painful moments:

It is when a father no longer hugs them in the morning because he is far away
It is the fear when a siren tears through the midnight quiet
It is packing favorite toys into a single backpack and leaving home for parts unknown;
And, ultimately, it is a single shared dream—for an ordinary day where fear simply does not exist.

This is why international exhibitions of children's art hold meaning far beyond an artistic event. They serve as a powerful reminder to the world: the war in Ukraine is not an abstract conflict. It impacts the daily lives of children.

As Father Petro Potocki, rector of the Orthodox parish of St. Agapitus of the Kyiv Caves in Truskavets, noted: the world must see what Ukrainian children are living through and never tire of supporting Ukraine.

The initiative expanded further with the creation of a 2023 calendar featuring 216 children's drawings—18 for each month.

These calendars were distributed in various countries worldwide, with all funds raised directed toward supporting the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

In this way, children's creativity became not only a medium for sharing the truth about the war, but also a direct instrument of support for those defending Ukraine.

The "War Through the Eyes of Children" contest was launched on the eve of St. Nicholas Day by the "Magic Wings" Charitable Foundation, with the blessing and support of the Primate of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine, Metropolitan Epiphanius.

The initiative was realized in partnership with the Truskavets City Council, the Truskavets Center for Social Services, the Children's Services Department, local village leaders, schools, preschools, and after-school institutions. Yet the most essential participants in this story remain the children themselves. Але найважливішими учасниками цієї історії залишаються діти.

Their artwork continues to live, travel, and speak where words sometimes fall short—from Truskavets to Scandinavia, and from Scandinavia to the United States.

Because the world must know the price Ukraine is paying for its future—and hear the voice of its children.