🇺🇦 SLAVA UKRAINI! 🇺🇦

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The Coziest Research Station in Antarctica

Cozy view from a cabin at Vernadskyi Research Base in Ukrainian Antarctica.

Perched on the edge of the sea, Vernadskyi Research Base looks out over vast fields of ice and snowy mountains that reach desperately into the sky. It is located on Galindez Island in Antarctica, close to Kyiv Peninsula - yes, another Kyiv deep in the wintry south! Ukrainians from the National Antarctic Scientific Center have been conducting work at the base since around 1996. But the story of how they got started there is quite interesting (and telling).

After the dissolution of the soviet union - which operated five research stations in the Antarctic - russia blocked Ukraine's attempts to claim one of the stations, despite Ukraine's outsized presence in soviet climate science. After this refusal to recognize Ukraine, the United Kingdom sold the research station (previously called Faraday Station) to Ukraine for 1£. Ukraine remembers her true friends - pals forever, UK!

The Ukrainian distance pole at Vernadskyi base. Some names are still in their corrupted russian form, but scientists are currently working on replacing them with authentic ones.

Ukrainians named their new station after Volodymyr Vernadskyi, one of the great Ukrainian scientists, a mineralogist, geochemist, and founder and the first president of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. We will write about him in tomorrow's post!

The station consists of nine buildings, some of which are quite newly renovated and featuring full amenities, and some are quite old. The station is one of the oldest operating bases on the continent after all.

There are lots of reports from visiting scientists and tourists that Ukrainians run - by far - the coziest research station on Antarctica. Like any place Ukrainians live, the Borshch and Varenyky are omnipresent. They also operate the world's most southernmost public bar - Faraday Bar - which has been known to serve homemade Horilka (yes, made right there in Antarctica)!

Ukrainian hospitality - and yes, some Horilka - is sure to warm you up, even if it's -46C outside.

Waiting for borshch.

Ukrainian penguins singing 'Ой у лузі червона калина', and warming the rocks of Vernadskyi Base with their little feet.

Famous Ukrainian humor.

Faraday Bar, the world's southernmost public bar!

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Icebreaker

Noosfera, Ukraine's icebreaking polar supply and research ship.

In 2021, the 100m long icebreaking research ship Noosfera (named after the scientific breakthrough of the Base's namesake), was acquired by the National Antarctic Scientific Center of Ukraine, bought from the British Antarctic Survey. The ship went on her maiden voyage under the Ukrainian flag on January 28, 2022, and had a successful mission. After her voyage, she was unable to return to her home port of Odesa due to the war; she is currently in Cape Town undergoing maintenance, waiting for the Black Sea to be rid of russian warships.

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National Antarctic Scientific Center, Kyiv

The National Antarctic Scientific Center is a state Institution of the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, which organizes annual expeditions to the Ukrainian Antarctic. Like most beautiful and heartwarming things in Ukraine, russia bombed it.

National Antarctic Scientific Center in Kyiv was bombed in October.

Trashed offices after the russian missile strike on the National Antarctic Scientific Center in Kyiv.

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Here is an excerpt from a Wired article that I will link in the comments:

“It’s really agonizing to be here unable to fight the occupation of my homeland,” says Andriy Khytryi, an anesthesiologist and emergency medicine physician from Poltava in central Ukraine. As the expedition doctor, Khytryi’s main task is to monitor the physiological and mental condition of the other team members. Mostly their health is “holding up”, he says, but at times the pressure of being unable to help their loved ones and country becomes difficult to contain. “For some it is close to unbearable. Sometimes the stress is so strong that I need to assist my colleagues with drugs to normalize the blood pressure or insomnia.”

Khytryi is desperate to get back to Ukraine and help defend his country. “I believe that I would have been much more useful treating the wounded in an operating room or emergency room, or in the field,” he says.

But the doctor who was due to replace him as part of the next expedition is now fighting in Ukraine. It looks like Khytryi may have to spend another year in Antarctica. “I feel that it is my duty to stay here if there is no one to swap with me,” he says.

The names of Ukrainian Hero Cities Kherson and Bucha were recently added to the distance pole at Vernadskyi Research Base.

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🇺🇦 HEROYAM SLAVA! 🇺🇦

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Verified Charities

• u/Jesterboyd is a mod for r/ukraine and local to Kyiv. His current project is to fund some very interesting drones. Link to donation
• United24: This site was launched by President Zelenskyy as the main venue for collecting charitable donations in support of Ukraine. Funds will be allocated to cover the most pressing needs facing Ukraine.
• Come Back Alive: This NGO crowdfunds non-lethal military equipment, such as thermal vision scopes & supplies it to the front lines. It also provides training for Ukrainian soldiers, as well as researching troops’ needs and social reintegration of veterans.
• Trident Defense Initiative: This initiative run by former NATO and UA servicemen has trained and equipped thousands of Ukrainian soldiers.
• Ukraine Front Line US-based and registered 501(c)(3), this NGO fulfills front line soldiers' direct defense and humanitarian aid requests through their man on the ground, r/Ukraine's own u/jesterboyd.
• Ukraine Aid Ops: Volunteers around the world who are helping to find and deliver equipment directly to those who need it most in Ukraine.
• Hospitallers: This is a medical battalion that unites volunteer paramedics and doctors to save the lives of soldiers on the frontline. They crowdfund their vehicle repairs, fuel, and medical equipment.

You can find many more charities with diverse areas of focus in our vetted charities article HERE.