It used to be that nobody was surprised the army was marginalized in Ukraine. Combat capabilities were critically low, and the Armed Forces were associated only with government spending and bribes some families paid to members of draft boards.   

But all that changed in 2013-2014. Support to the Ukrainian army from volunteers, international partners and the state helped usher in positive changes. Improvements were made in the supply of weapons and equipment, training of personnel, and food. But few people knew about this. In addition, Russian propaganda insisted that the Ukrainian army could never fend off Moscow’s armed puppets in the eastern pseudo-republics.

Stratcom Ukraine Strategic Communications Centre, on the initiative of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine, began informing the world about the achievements and positive changes in the Ukrainian army. Thus the campaign “Army. Rebirth” was born. We explained to Ukrainians and foreigners that they should be proud of and more informed about the Ukrainian military.

The heart of the campaign was the online platform newarmy.in.ua – a collection of objective photos and videos about the everyday lives of Ukraine’s servicemen and women. Content was provided by soldiers, volunteers and civilians actively involved in the anti-terrorist operation in Eastern Ukraine. This ruled out any doubt as to the authenticity of the information.

Before the annexation of Crimea and war with Russia, there was little interest in the Ukrainian army. Everything changed when it became the only institution stopping our neighbour from swallowing up our country.

The armed conflict brought systemic changes to the Armed Forces of Ukraine – involving supplies, food and administration. But due to the lack of effective communication, the public knew little about the true state of affairs.

To address the issue, Stratcom Ukraine Strategic Communications Centre, on the initiative of the Ministry of Defence, launched the “Army. Rebirth” photo project. The aim was to “photograph the history of rebirth”, and to bring the formation of the new Ukrainian army closer to the Ukrainian people.

The “Ukrainian Military Photography Contest” was one of the components of the project. We invited people from all corners of the country to participate, and ended up with 327 participants documenting the history of positive changes in the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The contest to support the reputation of the army and demonstrate the remarkable courage of Ukraine’s military was held from October 13 to November 30, 2016.

We launched a special website -- photo.newarmy.in.ua – where contestants uploaded more than 1,500 valuable images documenting modern Ukrainian history.

The contest was accompanied by a large informational campaign in social media. This tool allowed us to attract amateur military photographers, volunteers and people living in areas where fighting continues.

A jury of professional photographers chose 31 winning images by 17 photographers in 5 categories: People, Life, Together, Freely, In Focus.

Before 2013, Ukrainian society wasn’t interested in the army and its problems. There was even talk that as a country “that has not fought and never will” Ukraine does not need a military. However, the annexation of Crimea and war with Russia in the east put that issue to rest. Ukraine’s security forces had to not only defend its independence, but change quickly under pressure from society and international partners. Four years into this process, the public has little understanding of the systemic reforms being carried out in the defence sector, and unfortunately some label the Ministry of Defence solely based on the latest report of a batch of low quality canned food found during an inspection at a military unit.

What is the logic of defence reform? What has been accomplished in these four years? When will the Ukrainian army become compatible with NATO armies? What help are western partners providing? The need for communications support of the work of the Ministry of Defence Reforms Project Office was evident.

To spread the word about changes in the Ukrainian army, Stratcom Ukraine Strategic Communications Centre began systematically informing Ukrainians and the MOD’s western partners about reforms in the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the activities of the MOD Reforms Project Office. Two channels of communication are used to reach the target audience: print and digital.

Stratcom Ukraine works with the press services of the MOD and other security agencies to develop high-quality presentational and print materials in which information is presented clearly. Readers include diplomats, military attachés and diplomatic missions of NATO and EU countries in Ukraine.

Our team also develops specialized digests and other thematic materials (booklets, infographics) for high-level international events (e.g., 2016 NATO Summit in Warsaw). In 2015-2017, our materials were used at more than 10 events that were attended by members of the Ukrainian government and representatives of other states.

Stratcom Ukraine is also active on the digital front. The site defence-reforms.in.ua (in Ukrainian and English) is a niche provider of information about defence reform. In addition, we distribute a weekly e-digest with news highlights to a wide range of subscribers.

Digital support of reform projects is provided through the bilingual Facebook page of the Reforms Project Office.

Since the outbreak of hostilities in the east of Ukraine and the occupation of parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts, the social climate in the region has deteriorated significantly. Violence against women and girls in Eastern Ukraine has increased. Several international organizations that deal with gender issues initiated the project “Countering Gender-Based Violence in Conflict-Affected Regions of Eastern Ukraine” with the aim of analysing the problem, proposing effective mechanisms of protecting the most vulnerable populations, and also drawing the attention of the media to the problem of gender-based violence.

At the request of the UN Population Fund in Ukraine and Ukrainian Women’s Fund, in autumn 2015 the Centre for Strategic Communications StratCom Ukraine organized 5 trainings for journalists and 5 round tables in front-line oblast centres: Kramatorsk, Severodonetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro and Kharkiv.

During the trainings, experts on gender issues taught the journalists proper terminology related to gender-based violence and ethical principles to follow when reporting on violence against women. During the round tables, representatives of local government, civil society and charitable organizations discussed ways to combine efforts to help victims and reduce gender-based violence.

As part of the project, we also conducted a large-scale campaign called “Break the Circle” in the eastern oblasts to raise awareness about preventing violence and what to do in the case of violence. We held trainings for journalists, printed and distributed informational materials, organized round tables and published information in the media.

In spring 2016, Ukrainians took a strong interest in the Netherlands – a country more than 2,000 km from Kyiv.

The reason was simple: on April 6, the people of the country of tulips would vote in a non-binding referendum on the fate of the Association Agreement between the European Union and Ukraine. Polls showed that 40-60% of Dutch voters planned to vote “against”, 20-40% were “for”, and a strategic 30% were undecided.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Stratcom Ukraine Strategic Communications Centre set an ambitious goal: to sway the opinion of these 5 million “neutral” Dutch voters in favour of Ukraine.

Stratcom Ukraine launched an information campaign to explain the benefits of building economic and cultural ties between the two countries.

Our similarities became the underlying message of the Like.U campaign. We emphasized that while it was difficult to compare Ukraine and the Netherlands, our countries share a common desire to live in a democratic society built on European values.

The slogan of the campaign was: “More in common. More to share” – in English and Dutch.

The first step in the campaign was a joint press conference with the MFA, which was featured in 51 published articles and televised newscasts.

Stratcom Ukraine provided the MFA with support in the digital sphere. A website developed specially for the project – LikeU.org.ua – informed the citizens of the Netherlands about Ukraine’s European course, and invited Ukrainians around the world to join the campaign.

Meanwhile, on the website MyUkraineIs.org (in Dutch and English), Ukrainians could share positive and interesting facts about Ukraine with the rest of the world.

The Revolution of Dignity in 2013–2014 and the armed conflict with our eastern neighbor forced Ukraine to change. For the first time since independence, our country abandoned its pro-Russian vector in favor of democratic development and embarkеd on a path to European integration.

The new geopolitical objectives prompted the Ukrainian government to undertake a program of far-reaching reforms, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was tasked with promoting the image of a new Ukraine as a valuable partner for the EU with great cultural and economic potential. Stratcom Strategic Communications Centre helped the MFA tell the world about the renewed Ukraine and the values that will guide its future.

Ukraine. People’s Cut

Dignity, freedom and creativity – these are the core values of modern Ukraine. Ukrainians are building a new country, eliminating all that is unnecessary and turning a rough stone into a true gem. We took this idea and developed the communications campaign Ukraine. People's Cut, which grew into the platform My Ukraine Is to promote Ukraine internationally, among diplomats and the broader public.

The campaign had several components:

• We designed folding brochures that unveiled different “cuts” of Ukraine, as well as posters that were distributed along with the brochures to diplomats in Ukraine and abroad.
• We developed the website myukraineis.org which contains interesting information about Ukraine and allows users around the world to add stories and facts about Ukraine they are proud of.
• We launched a social media campaign with the hashtag #MyUkraineIs that Ukrainians could use on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to show why they’re proud of Ukraine. The hashtag first appeared on the official Twitter and Facebook accounts of Ukrainian government ministries and diplomatic missions, and soon became popular among a wide spectrum of social media users.     
• We made a two-minute video about the values of the new Ukraine, presented through the history and achievements of the Ukrainian people.

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Since the start of its armed aggression against Ukraine, Russia has fabricated cases and charged dozens of Ukrainians with bogus crimes. Most of them are still being held in Russian jails and penal colonies, in a state of indefinite captivity. Their only chance for freedom is through broad publicity and the intervention of the international community.

At the height of the wave of arrest of Ukrainian citizens in 2015, Stratcom Ukraine Strategic Communications Centre together with the Ministry of Information Policy of Ukraine launched the project Let My People Go to inform Europeans and people around the word about the plight of each Ukrainian political prisoner who had fallen hostage to Russia’s undeclared war against Ukraine.

Together with the Ministry we developed a brochure with details about the Ukrainians illegally held in the Russian Federation. These were the stories of 11 Ukrainians: Nadiya Savchenko, Serhiy Lytvynov, Mykola Karpyuk, Stanislav Klykh, Oleh Sentsov, Oleksandr Kolchenko, Oleksiy Cherniy, Hennadiy Afanasyev, Hayser Dzhemilev, Valentyn Vyhivskyi, and Yuriy Soloshenko.

24,000 copies of the brochure were published in 8 languages. They were sent to Ukrainian diplomatic missions and offices abroad, and distributed during official events of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine.

Ukraine’s military history dates back centuries and saw many resounding victories. With Ukraine pulled into military conflict and its army’s image at a critical low since independence, the Government faced the task of reviving the prestige of military service and reminding the world about the winning traditions of Ukraine’s warriors. 

The druzhynnyky of Kyivan Rus, Cossacks, Sich Rifleman, Cyborgs – Ukrainian warriors have had many faces. This became the basis of the exhibition “Warrior. Freedom Through the Ages”.

Together with an historian and professional photographer, we reconstructed Ukraine’s military milestones with 40 images that tell the nearly one-thousand-year history of the Ukrainian warrior.

The exhibition was shown in 5 Ukrainian cities as well as abroad.

When returning home, demobilized servicemembers and their families face problems receiving state support. The information they need can be found on dozens of government portals, social networks, and volunteer organizations’ web resources. How do you make is easier for our soldiers and their families to navigate the difficult process of finding verified information? How do you present this information in a simple and clear way? How do you inform the wider audience?

We created the site demobilization.info where servicemembers and their families can find instructions on how to receive government social assistance. It provides guidance on issues such as housing, medical care, discounts on utility bills, professional adaptation, prosthetics, and psychological help.

The site launch was accompanied by an active media campaign. Our messages accompanied soldiers throughout their way home, and could be found in bus stations, trains, military enlistment offices, social services, volunteer organizations and all post office branches. We produced 6 PSAs that were aired on national television, radio, and digital channels.