First symbolic, then real rebuilding: how the Ukrainian Puzzles initiative helps Ukraine's reconstruction
Currently, the Ukrainian Puzzles team runs speed puzzle competitions and participates in festivals to raise money for charity.
In a conversation with Yaryna Zhurba, the author of the idea and co-founder of the project, Rubryka learned how the Ukrainian Puzzles project works.
What is the problem?
The Ministry of Culture and Information Policy reports that as of November 25, 2023, more than 863 cultural heritage objects have been damaged or destroyed. This part of the history of the Ukrainian nation has been mutilated beyond recognition.
"I had a terrible feeling of helplessness when I saw how many victims, how much destruction the full-scale invasion brought," says Yaryna Zhurba.
Meanwhile, an active volunteer movement is flourishing throughout Ukraine, offering everyone a chance to contribute to the future reconstruction of the country.
What is the solution?
Ukrainian Puzzles was created in response to the devastation caused by Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The idea arose that cultural sites can be symbolically rebuilt with puzzles. The goal was to create a social organization that would redirect all net profit to the fund for reconstruction.
Thanks to Ukrainian Puzzles, everyone can participate in the reconstruction by purchasing a puzzle of a landmark they want to help rebuild.
The project's co-creators, Vita Vorobchuk, Nadiia Zhurba, and Yaryna Zhurba, registered their enterprise in April 2022, and on August 7, 2022, they sold the first puzzle. According to Yaryna, from the moment of founding Ukrainian Puzzles to the first sale, the team faced a lot of difficulties:
- The lack of paper factories in Ukraine that produce high-quality binding cardboard from cellulose and not from waste paper.
- Problems importing puzzle material due to a blocked port.
- An arduous process to obtain a license to print photos or illustrations on puzzles.
- Problems with finding a contractor: production started in Lviv and then moved to Kharkiv.
- Experiments to find the perfect box and puzzle design: the company spent a lot of money to find its standard.
Despite all the challenges, the first batch is remembered with pleasant emotions: "We have already celebrated the anniversary of the first sale this year. We still remember the name of our first customer," says Yaryna Zhurba.
Anniversary celebration. Photo: Ukrainian Puzzles Facebook
How does it work?
Currently, the company directs the profit from the sale of puzzles to production, although it plans to donate it to charity in the future. At first, they invested their own money and made a small batch to test the market. They reinvested the proceeds from the sale into producing new batches and covering other needs such as transportation. When they saw that the idea was well received, and people were buying puzzles and giving good reviews, they started to look at the initiative as a business idea.
"We are working to grow the business: expanding production and adding new puzzles to our range because the more it grows, the more margin there will be, which can be transferred to charity. We hope that we will make a tangible contribution to reconstruction," explains the project's co-founder.
Ukrainian Puzzles works transparently, so anyone can view all the company's financial transactions in real-time.
In the future, the company will be able to calculate its annual earnings, divide it by the number of puzzles sold, and calculate how many hryvnias the buyer will contribute to reconstruction by buying one puzzle.
How is the company already helping the reconstruction?
Ukrainian Puzzles conducts speed puzzle solving tournaments. During the events, participants and observers make charitable contributions. All collected funds are transferred to the fund assigned to the winning puzzle — the one done the fastest in the tournament. For example, suppose it is a puzzle with the AN-225 Mriya airplane, the biggest airplane by weight in the world, produced in Ukraine and destroyed by Russia at the beginning of the full-scale invasion. In that case, the money will be transferred to the ANTONOV Company fundraiser, and if it is with Karazin Kharkiv University — to the fund created by the Association of Graduates, Teachers, and Friends of the University.
Tournament in Austin. Photo: Ukrainian Puzzles Facebook
Yaryna Zhurba shared the story of the origin of the idea to hold tournaments: "We realized that there is still a long way to go to net profit, but we would like to do something now. It is also precious and interesting when people of different ages gather from different parts of Ukraine and are all united by puzzles. During the tournament, we hear special stories, for example, at one of the tournaments, there was a group from Kharkiv who made a souvenir that they saw every day from their apartment window. This moment was significant and poignant for them."
Also, Ukrainian Puzzles actively participates in various events to interest as many Ukrainians as possible in the product: "We try to constantly participate in festivals. For example, Mystetskyi Arsenal, Ukraine's flagship cultural institution that brings together various arts, helped popularize our puzzles because they always have a board games section, and the target audience is already formed," the idea's author shared with Rubryka.
"We had good sales, and even President Zelensky bought a puzzle with the image of the Mriya plane. However, at the Lviv Forum, it was much more difficult. People were surprised because puzzles appeared for the first time at the festival; before that, there were only books. We need to create demand among our people."
President Zelensky with the Ukrainian Puzzles team. Photo: Ukrainian Puzzles Facebook
Does it really work?
On October 26, 2022, the team that completed the puzzle with Kharkiv Karazin University won the tournament in Austin and donated $200 for the reconstruction of the university building.
On March 27, 2023, at a tournament in New York, the puzzle with the Sviatohirsk Lavra was solved the fastest, and $500 was transferred to the Ukrainian Cultural Fund.
For the project's anniversary, on August 7, 2023, Ukrainian Puzzles held a tournament in Lutsk. The first solved puzzle was "Russian warship go…!" and the contribution in the amount of ₴5,150 was transferred to the "Return Alive" Fund.
The winning puzzle. Photo: Ukrainian Puzzles Facebook
Competition in Lutsk. Photo: Ukrainian Puzzles Facebook
What are the plans for the future?
Yaryna Zhurba shared plans to expand the range of Ukrainian Puzzles:
📌 The collection of cultural attractions will be expanded to immortalize as many damaged monuments as possible.
📌 A collection of classic Ukrainian art will be released. For example, a puzzle with Ilya Repin's painting "Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks" has already been released, and Kateryna Bilokur's work, "Flowers" is currently in production. The company hopes to obtain a license for the paintings of Taras Shevchenko and Maria Prymachenko.
📌 Active work on new puzzle collections "Glory to Ukraine" and "Open Ukraine" has begun.
📌 A "Retired Patron" puzzle will appear.
📌 A puzzle with a sinking Russian ship will be added to the collection.
Retired Patron. Source: Ukrainian Puzzles archive
The company will continue to popularize Ukraine thanks to puzzles. The main goal is to increase demand for the product, expand production, and be able to donate the net profit to charity.
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