Viktoriia Grivina

Is it smoke in our yard? No, not us. A school was hit on another street. This time.

There is nothing more nerve-racking than reading in the news that your district was hit by a russian missile, that a school and a kindergarten nearby got hit, and knowing there is a school and a kindergarten nearby your parents’ house. Driving there with your heart shooting through your lungs 👇

Weekend my the Saltivka forest in Kharkiv. As russian drones hit residential homes, people play hockey on frozen water.

To sweeten the desperate cold of winter the famous Kharkiv cake is on discount in my supermarket. 😅

25 Shaheed drones hit my district overnight in Kharkiv. It’s strange but I always feel when they target civilians specifically. Everything sounds differently. I was born in the maternity hospital that was hit. I can’t sleep and can’t wake up. They do this on weekends so that people didn’t rest.

My friends who went to get water under russian bombs, then fled and found a job in a month in a foreign country had an office colleague who would tell her they are dating a russian soldier on tinder and laugh. Imagine laughing at the victims of violence. And we don’t need to imagine.

Modernist 1960s cafe Krystal in Kharkiv, was renovated in 2020. The problem with the renovation as you see are the pines that were enclosed in concrete and died. The cafe is famous for the Bilochka (squirrel) icecream - thick cream dessert with chocolate and lots of hazelnuts.

Fingers crossed, both gardens survive the changes.

Palm tree that survived ww1 and ww2 in Kharkiv botanical garden. The greenhouse suffered from russian attack in 2022, and the tree for the first time was threatened. Now the garden is fragile as ever, as most of the homes are barely heated after continuous attacks.

David Lynch kind of days.

Derzhprom, my modernist love on an evening walk in a winter Kharkiv.

what to do with all the russian books “silencing and physical destruction of one part of ukrainian literature, and denying us the right for the other part, has been the reason why i never read about donets during my summer holidays on its banks.” viktoriia grivina (fiery scribe review) best of the net 2025: nonfiction selection @bestofthenetanthology

Check out one of our 2025 Nonfiction Selections, "What to do with all the Russion Books" by @brams884.bsky.social (Fiery Scribe Review) selected by Jen Soriano on bestofthenetanthology.com/2025-2/2025-nonfiction/what-to-do-with-all-the-russian-books/

#bestofthenetanthology #nonfictionwriting

This Kharkiv cat wishes all an adventurous Tuesday.

“Someone who could sit here is now in russian captivity”, - a sign on the bench along the Lopan river in Kharkiv.

Dear all, the first session in the Cities at War Lecture Series in 2026 will be given by Viktoriia Grivina on "Kharkiv is a Dream. Planning a Future During War". Join her timely talk on Wednesday, 07.01.2026 at 4 pm CET.

register here -> lnkd.in/eSVGc5wD

My friend mending her artwork while 5 russian missiles hit the city in the distance. @kharkivisadream.bsky.social

Kharkiv pedagogic university decorated for the holidays. Hryhorii Skovoroda, baroque Ukrainian philosopher also got an image update.

Kharkiv snowperson reflecting my emotional state.

My dear Kharkiv Tractor Factory hood. 1930s-1940s were militant years for Soviet architects, even little windows in the hallways resemble medieval fortress loopholes.

Unique modernist neighbourhood in central Kharkiv hit by two russian missiles. From the early 20th century buildings with elements of Art Deco to 1920-30s constructivism, this is European architectural legacy destroyed along 16 injured lives.

My Christmas tree in Kharkiv. Even in this hellish year I couldn’t help running down the street to a tiny Christmas tree market and decorating my crooked little tree that nobody else wanted to take 😅.

On 1 January the russian military threw two guided bombs on the enclosures of birds and tigers of the Kharkiv eco park. Many birds killed, injured tigers are hiding in the destroyed enclosure.

Happy New Year greetings from a Kharkiv Christmas tram, friends! We shall overcome, one day ❤️.

Christmas carols’ choir in Kharkiv. Singing together Carol of the Bells makes my voice breaks, as home of this beautiful song, the city of Pokrovsk is dying before our eyes. But no, Carol lives and Pokrovsk lives in it.

Snow in my darling Kharkiv.

This Kharkiv cat wishes all a productive last Monday of the year (he knows it won’t be).

Reading stories from Sloboda Ukraine on a long train ride.

Beautiful book of recipes and stories of gardening from across Ukraine, result of a workshop at Jam Factory in Lviv.

Carol singers, snow, bombs, Ukrainian Christmas.

The detail of the old doors and a privilege to have something that wasn’t destroyed. I really appreciate the rustic vibes of Lviv.