From Kharkiv bomb shelter to Antarctica, Ukrainians unite for annual radio dictation

Participants joined from Germany, Sweden, Canada and even Antarctica, where Ukrainian polar researchers took part from the Akademik Vernadsky research station.

Hromadske journalists visited two locations: the Sens bookstore in Kyiv and V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University, where students and faculty wrote the dictation in a shelter.

Nadiya, a Kyiv elementary school teacher with 15 years of experience, said she participates every year. For the second consecutive year, she joined the event at the bookstore.

“This is a dictation of unity. It's wonderful when we support one another, especially in such difficult times,” she told hromadske.

This year's text was written by Ukrainian author Artur Dron, who said he wanted it to feel like a personal conversation with each participant - as though the words belonged to them.

“Even if these words were spoken in different voices, and a million people wrote them down at the same time, each would be thinking of someone special. I am thinking of you,” one passage reads.

For Vasylina, who works in communications, the text was so moving that it became difficult to concentrate on writing.

“I had a lump in my throat because of the text,” she said. “The author wanted everyone to recognize themselves and their loved ones in it - and he succeeded.”

The dictation ended with a simple declaration:

“I love you. That will always be true.”

The annual event is as much about a shared sense of belonging as it is about spelling and punctuation - a tradition Ukrainians continue at home, abroad and even under the threat of Russian attacks.