15 steps to Ukrainian unity: a schoolgirl creates a project about Ukraine’s history

A schoolgirl from Dnipro, Mariia Arshinnikova, created the project "15 steps to Ukrainian unity" to list things that unite modern Ukrainians and dive into the state's history.

She created a website that briefly describes the history of Ukraine: from the times of Kyiv Rus to the full-scale russia's war in Ukraine. All articles can be viewed in four other languages: English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Arabic.

Mariia Arshinnikova studies in the 11th grade of the Dnipro Lyceum No. 129. In parallel with her studies, the girl is engaged in social activities. Mariia works as a project manager at an educational organization. She is also a member of the STEM FEM community, a European Youth Ambassador, a member of the European Youth Parliament, and a student of the Girls Diplomatic Academy. The girl also writes a research paper "The Impact of Corruption on the Economic Development of Ukraine" at the Small Academy of Sciences.

Due to the war, Mariia and her family were forced to move from her native Dnipro to Chernivtsi, where she began volunteering. Now the girl continues to study remotely at the Dnipro Lyceum. Although, as she says, constant alarms and blackouts in her hometown often interrupt classes. Therefore, now the girl has more time for extracurricular activities. One of its directions was the project "15 steps to Ukrainian unity".

"I just had the idea of ​​a website about the history of Ukraine in my mind. Before that, I had not seen a single resource with consistent and concise materials… I collected references, then started looking for a team. While studying at school, I attracted new people to the project and managed a team of historians and writers. Together we developed the idea of ​​the project. We started with articles, and over time we moved on to the development of the technical component – the Ukrainian IT company Clickable helped with this." Mariia said.

The co-founder of the project "15 steps to Ukrainian unity" was her older sister Anna.

The site consists of 15 sections, each of which covers a certain period in the history of Ukraine. Texts are accompanied by illustrations, links to videos, and articles.

Mariia plans to hold offline debates or discussions on historical topics for young people, as well as create videos about Ukraine's relations with other countries, which would not only show Ukraine's future to Europeans but also its past. The girl wants to unite proven Ukrainian historians who could cooperate with foreign media – in particular, provide them with professional comments.