This Craft is a social enterprise that supports not only crafters, but also people like us - social entrepreneurs, business with a mission. We want more Ukrainians to know about enterprises that work not so much for the sake of profit as for the realization of their dreams of reconstruction, a clean country, cultural development, and assistance to the unemployed and disadvantaged. Today you will get to know the manufacturers of Ukrainian puzzles. The team and the brand called it Ukrainian puzzles. Why? Read the story and buy Ukrainian Puzzles for yourself and as gifts to support social entrepreneurs in rebuilding Ukraine and preserving our cultural memory.

The idea of creating Ukrainian Puzzles (UP) arose in April 2022. It was the second month of the war. Many objects of cultural heritage of Ukraine were destroyed. There was a great need to communicate with the world, to talk about events in Ukraine, to look for ways to support and help.

"Since February 24, I have been looking for ways to contribute to our great struggle. There is no rest - I know that a drop belongs to me. In the moment after reading a difficult message from a friend who returned from the front line, the idea for these puzzles arose. In April, I registered as an FOP. By some happy twists and turns, we found the brilliant designer Vita Vorobchuk and started working on the case." - Says the founder of Ukrainian Puzzles Yaryna Zhurba.

The idea of depicting destroyed or damaged Ukrainian monuments on puzzles has a strong symbolic side. Reproducing, reconstructing, a picture in a puzzle, a person joins in real reconstruction.

Ukrainian sights in the first collection of Ukrainian Puzzles puzzles

The first collection of puzzles shows 9 Ukrainian monuments that were destroyed. It depicts pre-war

  • AN-225 Dream (two images)
  • Center of Kharkiv
  • Mariupol Drama Theater
  • Chernihiv library for youth
  • Karazin University
  • Mariupol Mosque
  • Sviatohirska Lavra
  • Popov estate
  • Kyiv TV Tower

The profit from the sale of puzzles with images of the An-225 Mriya will be transferred to a special account created by the Antonov concern for the restoration of the Mriya. Profits from the sale of Kharkiv Karazin University puzzles will be transferred to an account created by the university management. Proceeds from the sale of all other Ukrainian Puzzles puzzles are donated to the Ukrainian Cultural Fund.

 

To promote the brand in the conditions of war

Ukrainian Puzzles started another interesting way to talk about their product and collect additional funds for help - these are puzzle tournaments. The idea is that people gather and in teams "rebuild" destroyed or flood-damaged Ukrainian monuments in puzzles. There is no prize fund. Participation in the tournament is free. There is a donation box at the tournament. In short, a tournament for altruists. Whoever completes their puzzle the fastest determines which of the Ukrainian reconstruction funds the collected donations will be sent to. The first such tournament was held in Austin, Texas, USA. The victory was won by the team that made the puzzle "Kharkiv Karazin University", accordingly all donations from the tournament (7320 hryvnias) were transferred to a special account of the Karazin University Association.

The American market is open to Ukrainian Puzzles social entrepreneurs

Assembling a team, finding a production facility with sufficient capacity, setting up logistics and bringing a new Ukrainian brand to the market in the midst of a war (!) is not an easy task, but who, if not the Ukrainian people, can handle it? Currently, Ukrainian Puzzles are in warehouses in Ukraine and the USA and are available for purchase in any country (except for two low-quality neighbors, of course).

We will rebuild not only the country, but also Ukrainian culture

UP design manager Vita Vorobchuk talks about plans for the future - "I have a lot of ideas and plans! We see that the puzzles are perceived positively, we received requests for creating puzzles with images of Lviv, Odesa, Kherson. We are working on the development of a collection of puzzles "Glory to Ukraine", which will combine images of the symbols of this war, the first puzzle "Russian warship goes...!" now available for purchase. We also want to show the beauty of our cities and the uniqueness of traditions in the "Know Ukraine" collection, and of course we are planning a collection of puzzles for children, with images of paintings by Maria Priymachenko."

Ukrainian Puzzles is a craft created with the nation in mind, and it is the most meaningful gift, an exciting activity and a contribution to the reconstruction funds of Ukraine! If you haven't spent your evenings doing puzzles yet, you should definitely try it - you'll like it!