Starting out as a local group offering mutual support to those who stayed in the capital’s central Pechersk district in the days after Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, the Kitty Pechersk volunteer community has now grown to hundreds of members.
Used primarily by snipers to blend in with their background, ghillie suits, also called kikimoras in Ukrainian, are nets covered with woven stripes of fibres that cover the body and head.
A ghillie suit (Photo: finbarr@finbarrtoesland.com)“A lot of volunteers say it’s very good for their mental health because your hands are busy – you’re not scrolling on your phone, it’s like meditation. It’s good to get together and do something around one idea for the victory [of Ukraine],” adds Maistrenko.
Russia’s war against Ukraine has run for more than 1,000 days and the demand for camouflaged clothing remains high.
Volunteers with their materials (Photo: finbarr@finbarrtoesland.com)
At the weekly workshops, a lot of time is spent by volunteers cutting and weaving 1cm-wide and 25cm-long strips of fabric onto the nets. Different sizes of camouflage nets are made to fit the needs of the military, with most normally reaching either 5x7m or 12x8m.
When Kitty Pechersk first started, Ishtenko would try to volunteer every working day for three or four hours. She often found herself working with Ukrainians who were displaced and fleeing from occupied territories.
‘They lost everything, but they don’t lose hope’
It’s not just practical weaving skills that volunteers like Ishtenko gain. “A lot of foreigners come from around the world, from America to England and China, helping improve our speaking skills in different languages.”
“Kitty Pechersk is a second family,” says Ishtenko, who is originally from Bulgaria but moved to Ukraine 34 years ago. “People bring in sweet things, cookies and tea. Everybody’s coming with an open soul and an open heart.”
Eric Haar, a Kitty Pechersk volunteer from Texas, USA (Photo: finbarr@finbarrtoesland.com)
It’s not just Ukrainians who support Kitty Pechersk, with Eric Haar, from Texas, becoming one of a growing number of foreign volunteers, after finding Kitty Pechersk through a volunteering website. Haar, who was based in Kyiv during the pandemic and returned to the city in September 2023, now leads international engagement for the organisation and sees it as the ideal chance to give back to the community in Kyiv.
“As you make progress, volunteers can see we have just completed a net that is going to go directly to protect the lives of the men fighting on the front lines – it’s very gratifying.”
Unlike camouflage netting, it’s quick to produce trench candles, according to Daryna Oleksiivna, 17, a volunteer who teaches workshops where candles are made.
Making a trench candle (Photo: finbarr@finbarrtoesland.com)Master classes are held regularly in order to meet demand for the candles, which can dry out a trench and boil water. With each candle burning for around five hours, a constant supply is being sent to the front line. “You can imagine how many candles just one group of soldiers needs,” says Oleksiivna. “We need to make a lot of them.”
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