Section
People & Life
Everyday life, work and school. The voices of people connected with Ukraine.
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Lake Synevyr: The Carpathian Lake Whose Area Runs From 4.45 to 7.58 Hectares With the Water Level
Lake Synevyr, high in the mountains of Zakarpattia Oblast in western Ukraine, is usually described as the largest lake in the Ukrainian Carpathians. But the lake's area itself ranges from 4.45 to 7.58 hectares depending on the water level, and the figure "29 ha" sometimes quoted for it is actually the area of the Ramsar-listed wetland, not the lake. This article traces where the numbers come from, how the lake was formed, and the legend behind its name.
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Over 200 km in One Source, Over 260 km in Another: The Gypsum Maze of Optymistychna Cave
Optymistychna Cave, underground in Ternopil Oblast in western Ukraine, is a maze-type cave whose passages spread in a net-like pattern along cracks in a gypsum layer. Its length has been given as over 200 km in a 1996 paper, over 240 km in a 2013 government regulation, and over 260 km in a 2022 encyclopedia entry, and even calling it "the world's longest gypsum cave" comes with conditions about what is being compared. This article traces where the figures come from, the nearby caves, and how the site is protected.
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Some Borrow at 3%, Others at 7%: Ukraine’s Mortgage Program “ЄОселя”
Ukraine's government mortgage program “ЄОселя” began in October 2022, and 28,579 loans had been disbursed by September 15, 2026. Service members, medical workers, teachers, researchers, and, from July 2026, war veterans, pay 3% a year; internally displaced people and other citizens pay 7% a year. Both the borrower and the home being bought must meet conditions on citizenship, floor area, and the building's age.
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Features of Ukraine’s Education System | From Kindergarten to University, and Underground Schools
Ukraine has a reputation for producing many talented people, so you might wonder what kind of education makes that possible. This time, we explain the features of Ukraine’s education system. There are many differences from Japan, such as music schools for children and continuous education, so if you’re interested in education, please read to the end. Education at Ukrainian Kindergartens Kindergarten education in Ukraine places emphasis on early childhood education. Ukraine has a distinctive kind of educational institution not found in Japan: music schools (art schools) for children. Music Schools…
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The Air-Raid Siren Lasts 3 to 5 Minutes; in Kyiv, Alerts Now Come in Yellow and Red
The first sound Ukraine uses to signal danger is a 3-to-5-minute warning tone, “Увага всім,” set out in law. In March 2022, an alert app was built in a single day, and from September 2026, Kyiv split its alerts into yellow and red levels. Shelters fall into five legal categories, treated differently in peacetime and wartime.
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Diia’s E-Passport: Useless at the Border, With No Legal Force Abroad
The e-passport in Ukraine's government app, Diia (Дія), has been legally usable in place of a card-format passport since August 23, 2021. It cannot be used to cross a border, however, and has no legal recognition outside Ukraine. This article covers everything from its QR code that expires after 3 minutes, to logging in from abroad, to the features added in wartime, and the more than 24 million users.
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The 220,000-Hectare Reserve Created Inside Chornobyl’s Exclusion Zone
In 2016, Ukraine's largest nature reserve was established around Chornobyl, which residents left after the 1986 accident. This article traces, through legislation and announcements from the reserve and the IAEA, the goals stated in the presidential decree, the reserve's four zones, the animals and plants recorded there, and the fires and land mines that remained after Russian forces occupied it in 2022.
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IDP Housing Allowance: The Extension Cap Rises From Two Six-Month Periods to Six
Since March 2022, Ukraine has paid internally displaced persons a housing allowance of 2,000 hryvnias a month (3,000 hryvnias for people with disabilities and children). The monthly form of payment for the duration of martial law changed to a payment made every six months in August 2023, and the cap on the number of extensions has been raised from two in August 2024 to six in September 2026. There is also a rule under which payment stops if a person leaves the country for more than 30 days.
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In Ukraine, You Choose Your Family Doctor Regardless of Address and File a “Declaration”
A 2017 law in Ukraine created the "Program of Medical Guarantees," under which the state pays in full for eight kinds of medical care, including emergency care and primary care. Payment is handled by the National Health Service of Ukraine (NHSU), and patients choose their family doctor regardless of address and file a "declaration." This article introduces the 14 reasons a declaration ends, drawn from the law and orders of the Ministry of Health.
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The Ukrainian Mental Health Programme Named After “How Are You?”
Ukraine's "All-Ukrainian Mental Health Programme" is named after "Ти як?" ("How are you?"), the phrase you'd use to ask someone close to you how they're doing. This article traces its growth as a state system — from training for family doctors run jointly with WHO, to the coordination centre the Cabinet of Ministers set up in 2023, to the mental health law that came into operation in February 2026 — and introduces the points of contact the official site provides.