PLACE OF HONOR AND GRATITUDE

Dmytro Brook

Lecturer of the Department of Teleporter Skills
Kharkiv State Academy of Culture

Advisor to the commander of NSU for strategic communications. Senior researcher at the research laboratory of moral and psychological support for service and combat activities of the NSU Research Center for Service and Combat Activities of the NSU.

The winner of the contest "Chasopys" in the nomination "Journalistic investigation" (Kharkiv regional organization of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine), as well as the winner of the contest "Chasopys" in the nomination "Journalism" (Kharkiv regional organization of the National Union of Journalists of Ukraine).
Winner of the All-Ukrainian competition of the National Union of Journalists in the nomination "The Best Journalistic Action of the Year" for the project "ATOgraf" to cover the work of the National Guard of Ukraine in the ATO zone.
In 2014, he received a nominal watch from the Head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine for covering the activities of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the National Guard of Ukraine in the ATO zone.

Since the beginning of the war, he has been providing comprehensive assistance to the National Guard of Ukraine.

In May 2022, he received the post of Officer of the National Guard of Ukraine.
Actively provides communication between the Eastern Operational-Territorial Association of the National Guard of Ukraine, the 5th Slobozhanskaya Brigade of NSU and charitable foundations.

Dmitry Vadimovich is actively working to create comfortable conditions for our fighters. He took responsibility for such areas as providing battalions of the National Guard with ammunition, first aid kits according to NATO standards, military vehicles, drones, medicines and food aid.

In October 2022, he received an award from the National Academy of the National Guard of Ukraine for participating in the Tenth International Conference on the problems of professional communications, translations and integration processes in society.

Vadim Melikhov

Lecturer of the Department of Modern and Ballroom Dance
Kharkiv State Academy of Culture

Judge of the highest category of the Dance Sports Federation of Ukraine. Artistic director of the ballroom dance ensemble "Creative" of the Kharkov State Academy of Culture. Founder and organizer of international and all-Ukrainian artistic events: "Kharkov Waltz", International Ballroom Dance Competition "Open Kharkiv ball", Festival of choreographic art "Territory PA", All-Ukrainian Ballroom Dance Competition Step by step".

The Volunteer Team of Vadim Melikhov Charitable Foundation has been engaged in humanitarian assistance to the population of Kharkov and the Kharkov region since February 2022. Now attention is more paid to the liberated territories of the Kharkov region. The Foundation works thanks to caring people and assistance and grants of the American charitable foundation United Help Ukraine.

As part of the fund, on a volunteer basis, Nelia Maigurova, Panshin Yuri, Panshin Maxim, Belko Dmitry, Chizh Alexander and others work.

In March 2022, one of the volunteers of the fund, Yuri Volchukov, died from a mine rupture. Bright memory to him.

The Foundation and personally Vadim Melikhov were awarded diplomas of the mayor and the Order of Archangel Michael of the fifth degree for volunteer activities.

Vadim Melikhov and his team had to work in various extreme conditions and transport humanitarian aid even by boat, because there were no other delivery routes.

Kirill Shkureev

Senior Lecturer of the Department of Modern and Ballroom Choreography
of Kharkiv State Academy of Culture

Head of the Charitable Organization "Charity Foundation" Greatness of the Motherland.

Organizer of the Championships and Cups of Ukraine in sports dances, organizer of the World Cup in sports dances, many All-Ukrainian and International competitions.
He trained more than 35 Masters of Sports of Ukraine and more than 20 Masters of Sports of Ukraine of international class. Among them are 11 National Champions of Ukraine in sports dances and 13 World Champions. In total, more than 100 athletes were part of the national team of Ukraine in the sport of sports dancing.
Leading specialist in sports dances in Ukraine and abroad. Trains and prepares couples of the highest professional level throughout Ukraine and abroad.

Since the beginning of March, at the initiative of the President of the All-Ukrainian Dance Union, Honored Coach of Ukraine, Kirill Shkureev, a team of leading specialists was formed who conducted classes in sports dances online. The dance-teaching marathon "Together to Victory" was launched. By this time, more than 500 hours had already been spent, about five hundred dancers of different skill levels were involved.
These dance classes were the only ones in Ukraine that regularly took place regardless of the circumstances, due to which many athletes were saved, regardless of their location. Leading experts from Ukraine and around the world joined this initiative. Like Kirill and Margarita Shkureev, Victor Paliy, Anastasia Ermolenko, Basetsky Sergey, Vitaly Medyanik, Vartanyan Elena, Dmitry Chaika, Bublikova Darya and Dmitry Sashkov.
The marathon "Together to Victory" was intended to continue learning dance in the distant form of children from those territories of Ukraine, where the usual training process became impossible due to active hostilities. In fact, there were children from all over Ukraine: Kharkiv and the region - Gemini, Lozova, Odessa, Uman, Lviv, Kyiv, Dnipro, Khmelnitsky, Ternopil and others. Immigrants from Germany, Switzerland, Canada, the USA, Italy, Poland, Moldova, Spain and France joined, which attracted the attention of the Ukrainian diaspora, which greatly helped not only with money, but also with medicines, things and others.

Thanks to his own contacts and students, Kirill Shkureyev, a lot of money was raised, a lot of equipment for our defenders was transferred, cooperation with patrons and benefactors was set up. Through the efforts of Kirill Shkureyev's team, more than 300 body armor, 300 helmets, 300 sets of uniforms, 100 knee pads, 20 pairs of shoes, more than 100 tourniquets, 200 T-shirts, 500 pairs of socks were purchased and transferred. Many boxes of medicines, tons of food and much more were handed over, such as generators, refrigerators, flashlights, bags, tactical first-aid kits or belts of life, 5 ambulances.
Kirill Shkureev registered the charitable organization "Charity Foundation" Greatness of the Motherland "which helps now.
"We continue to help our defenders and inspire others to help" - Kirill Shkureyev.

Vyacheslav Mavrichev

applicant for the second level of higher education (master's degree, 2nd year)
Kharkiv State Academy of Culture

A journalist who goes beyond purely professional duties.

Around the clock from the beginning of the large-scale invasion of the Russian-Ukrainian war, the Social Kharkiv news team has been working. This editorial board is led by journalist Vyacheslav Mavrichev - Ukrainian journalist, editor, media manager, war correspondent, holder of the Order of Merit of the III degree (2022).

He and his team warn of air alarms, enemy missile strikes and mine danger in certain areas in cities and villages. And every morning they publish the addresses of distribution of humanitarian aid, medicines. In constant communication with the authorities, military, volunteers, spectators and readers.

The morning of the journalist on the first day of the war?
- Everyone had their own morning. The fact is that once in this very critical situation, everyone set priorities for themselves. Someone was engaged in order to protect loved ones, children, families, someone protected himself, someone went to the military enlistment office to enroll in the defense, someone continued to work - all these answers are absolutely correct.
Personally for me, for my editors the morning began at 05:08, at that time i did not sleep, i just put the news on Putin's appeal, at that moment heard the explosions. We immediately put up our first message in Telegram that explosions were heard in Kharkiv.
At six in the morning there were the first inclusions from the subway, which at that time turned into a shelter, it was the calls of all emergency services regarding what was happening at all, it was the establishment of constant contact with the civil protection department.
The air alert system did not work in the city, and we, as journalists, were obliged to warn people about whether there was no threat from the air.
We checked a lot of information because we understood that there was panic in the city, people were confused and we had no right to trust everything that appeared in Telegram channels.
The Public has an iron rule - always refer to primary sources, re-verify information, so it was very appropriate and correct.
Actually, this is how we continued to work, informing people about the security situation, re-checking information, looking for service information: where to hide, what can be a shelter, where to be safe, where not.
This was the first day of the invasion for me, as editor-in-chief and for the editorial office of Public Kharkiv.

How would you describe your main goal during the war, both as chief editor and as a large team of Public Kharkiv?
- Be useful! It became our motto, it was our credo, it became the main goal, it became the main fuel for the whole team - to be useful at this moment.
We understood that lack of information and emotional vacuum stifles people. At the moment when a person is "on the border with reality", in such stress, a person who does not have answers to the most important questions: "Where to hide? Where can danger come from? Where to look for heat? Where to look for food? Does transport work? How to evacuate?" - all this required answers and our task was to find answers to vital questions, to deliver them to people in the shortest possible way.
To be useful is what kept us, the whole team, feeling that we do what we can and benefit the audience, readers, listeners - it was extremely important.

About Telegram, as the fastest social network?
- We relied on Telegram. The fact is that it allows you to make short text messages, and only then "finish" the links to the site, add photo and video materials for illustrations. But the most important thing that people needed was information.
As for me, Telegram turned out to be the most convenient platform for quick operational informing of people. Actually, we saw feedback. On February 23, a little more than 2 thousand people signed up for our Telegram channel, and now there are more than 108 thousand of them. The numbers speak for themselves - it's really convenient, efficient and useful.

The peculiarity and importance of informing the population?
- The information vacuum, as for me, it strangles, it kills, it simply bleeds, weakens a person and this is also a weapon. Creating an information vacuum when people are pulled out of a full-fledged information field, when people are additionally intimidated, "pumped up" by Russian propaganda is also a weapon of mass destruction. The most important thing for the enemy is to force Ukrainians to surrender. They are not able to overcome, to overcome Ukrainians by force, so a very big bet was obviously made on the information front. Here is the task of Ukrainian journalists to break through this information blockade, to convey truthful information to people.
And for us, as for the Public, it was important to keep in touch with people in the de-occupied territories. And every day we searched for an information path on how to get to Volchansk, Kupyansk or Izyum - and somehow we even managed to do it. It helped people hold on, feel like they hadn't been forgotten. Those who were in the territory controlled by Ukraine, they felt that their relatives and relatives had not been forgotten.
I am very, very proud of our radio workers, who processed all the information that we received, processed, published it in radio broadcasts. Thanks to this, for people in the occupied territories it was a lifeline, a kind of cable, for which they very firmly held on and withstood this invasion.

What is "Order of Merit III degree" for you? Confirmation of conscientious, long-term work? Or perhaps you attach a different meaning to the award received?
- In fact, the Order of Merit is such a thing that now my colleagues are teasing me all the time. Just kidding.
The story is that, to be honest, I'm a little bit embarrassed when someone reminds me of this award, because internally there is no feeling that you did something super important, extraordinary, extraordinary that someone else did not.
I was among those who just did their job, who tried to be useful, who - to protect their country and their compatriots with the knowledge and skills that we have.
Therefore, from the very beginning, I perceived this award and continue to perceive it now, no revaluation has happened, as a reward for the entire team of Public Kharkiv. Because news is a team game, there is no such thing that one person created a miracle. Everything that was done was done by the team all this time, and for me it is a reward for the whole team, it was just given to me. But this is a reward for people who only tried to do their job qualitatively and help people. True, it is awkward to somehow focus on this award.

What is the atmosphere in your team now? Has it changed from the first day of the war?
- Very difficult to describe in one word. Of course, all the time, 9 months, to stay solely on adrenaline is unrealistic. Therefore, at some point, adrenaline subsided, it was necessary to look for other ways to mobilize, to look for internal motivation. For example, when it was shelling, we focused on the fact that we have to help people understand where the danger will come from. When it was an evacuation - how can people find a safe path, when it was occupied territories - hear the voice of people, feel what they are going through.
And right now, the main motivation for us is to record the war crimes committed by the Russian invaders. We understand that we have no right to forget any dead person. We have to fix everything that happened to them, in order to honor them, and to show the world what lead to such regimes that now exist in russia. In order to eventually bring it as evidence in international courts. So that in the end, every single quote, every single frame, ends up in the history books. documentaries, so that future generations understand what evil can be, that they may learn to resist him, and that this evil may not be repeated in our land; nor on the land of our neighbors, of all those European countries that help us now, which Ukrainians cover with their own bodies, to whom they give their fates, in order to protect not only their native land, but also the entire civilized world.
In our team, the mood right now is no longer tactical, how to escape and help, but they are deeper, more worldview, more existential. This is still an attempt to make this tragedy as detailed as possible in history and not happen again.

What did the war teach? Have you changed personally?
- Honestly, it is very difficult to answer. I and, I think, the whole team are still working in the mode of some crazy, overload, this is a work of 16-18, sometimes 20 hours a day. Literally - seven days a week. I personally have not yet had time, the opportunity to reflect something.
Of course, there are changes, it seems to me that in the profession this is something about efficiency. When you discard all those comfortable things that were the norm for you in civilian life, and realize that your task is to be as effective as possible. Give up something, set priorities differently, but be as effective as possible. But to somehow formulate right now, I don't know, to somehow bring the "fat line" and say that I have changed like this - I still can't, it's not time to reflect, I still need to work, work, not stop, work again.

What would they say for students as future specialists, given the current environment?
- In fact, it doesn't matter where you work afterwards, it doesn't matter if you're a TV journalist, make some digital content, or work on radio, it doesn't matter even if you don't work with the media at all. The most important and most important thing that you get right now and what you have, in my opinion, to reach for is to understand how to work with information. Because information is any field of activity, it's communication, it's fact-checking, it's understanding how to find the source, how to check the source of information, how to analyze some information that you received. All this will be necessary for you in any profession and even just in everyday life, because for many years our neighbor has been waging a hybrid war against us, because both politicians and companies resort to dishonest and often criminal methods of manipulating people.
Understanding how to properly handle the information you receive, how to properly configure your own filters is simply vital.
Therefore, I really hope that this basis of information hygiene, this understanding of how information is distributed - it will help, will become the foundation for your future careers, in whatever field you work.