On May 22, 2026, one of the most respected Danish newspapers, Weekendavisen, published a long essay entitled “The Ukrainian Exceptional Situation” (Den ukrainske ekvejning). This is a detailed text about the phenomenon of Ukrainian civil society — about how a country that was considered “apathetic” and politically passive until 2022 suddenly organized itself from below and survived. And among the heroines of this text is the chairman of the board of the “Initiative E+” Valentyna Varava.
For us, this is not just a mention in the press. This is evidence that the work of the Ukrainian volunteer community is visible abroad — and that it is spoken of not as a random episode, but as a phenomenon worth learning from.
The author of the essay, Lone Frank, arrived in Kyiv with a convoy of used cars collected by the Danish association Biler til Ukraine — a long-time partner of the “Initiative E+”. Arriving in the city at night, in the midst of another drone attack, the next day she met with the person who receives these cars, Valentyna Varava.
In the text, the journalist tells her story: before the war, Valentyna was a teacher in a small progressive school, and after the Revolution of Dignity she realized that she was able to organize and help — and that now this was her life's work. The author quotes Ms. Varava as saying that now she is "practically like a soldier." According to her, the “Initiative E+” team has sent hundreds of cars to the front since 2022 and delivered many tons of medical equipment to various units. The day after the meeting, Valentyna herself went east, to Sumy, which had just come under serious shelling.
The author of the essay emphasizes: The “Initiative E+” is not an exception, but part of a huge network. According to the Mobilise study cited by the newspaper, eight out of ten Ukrainians were involved in some form of civil resistance in 2022.
The value of this essay is in the outside view. A Danish reader who has never been to Ukraine discovers a country where cultural festivals are held even in frontline cities, where IT specialists, medics, drivers and ordinary people have become part of the defense. And in this picture, the “Initiative E+” appears as one of the clearest examples of how it works.
When a leading foreign publication writes about your work, it means several things at once. That the partnership with Danish, Swedish, Finnish, French friends is two-way: they not only give us cars and equipment, but also tell us about us at home. That the story of Ukrainian resilience is so compelling that they want to understand and retell it. And that the trust we have been building for years is working — including for the reputation of Ukraine as a whole.
We are grateful to Weekendavisen for their attention to the Ukrainian topic, and to our Danish friends from Biler til Ukraine for revealing the real Ukraine to their compatriots. Not a victim country, but a country that acts.
We thank everyone who supports us.
The full text of the article in Danish is HERE.
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