On Friday, October 17, a Therapeutic Garden was opened at the Expocenter of Ukraine (VDNH) in Kyiv. It is designed to support the recovery of veterans and all those who need it. The garden will be permanently accessible to visitors. This was reported by UNN with reference to the Ministry of Health of Ukraine (MoH) and the Telegram channel of the head of the Kyiv City Military Administration (KCMA), Timur Tkachenko.
Details
On October 17, 2025, the Therapeutic Garden began its operation – a new public space project created to support the physical, psychological, and social health of military personnel, veterans, and all those who need it.
The event was attended by the First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska, Minister of Health of Ukraine Viktor Liashko, Minister of Veterans Affairs Natalia Kalmykova, Advisor-Commissioner of the President of Ukraine for Barrier-Free Access Tetiana Lomakina, the team of the Coordination Center for Mental Health at the Cabinet of Ministers, specialists from the Main Military Clinical Hospital of the Ministry of Defense, representatives of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, initiative partners, veterans and military personnel, as well as other participants involved in the creation of the space.
According to Timur Tkachenko, the Therapeutic Garden is a pilot project implemented in the capital together with the Ministry of Veterans Affairs and VDNH as part of the National Strategy for Creating a Barrier-Free Space in Ukraine, initiated by First Lady Olena Zelenska.
All of us, especially those who have experienced the pain of war, are now sorely lacking places and situations that provide a sense of safety, peace, and harmony. Here, in the garden, one can at least get closer to them again. This is the therapeutic effect of nature and interaction with it, already proven by many scientific studies. I hope that there will only be more such places in Ukraine. We consider this garden a pilot project that will gradually grow everywhere it is needed.
The garden's concept includes various functional zones for individual and group activities.
It features:
- places for therapeutic gardening,
- an adaptive sports ground,
- a body practices zone,
- a children's playground,
- a "green room" for informal communication and a place for group meetings.
Special attention was also paid to the natural environment: all plants were selected taking into account their impact on a person's emotional state. In particular, they interact with a person through five senses (sight, smell, hearing, touch, and taste) and help reduce emotional tension. Thanks to seasonal flowering, the garden remains effective throughout the year regardless of the season.
The garden space is equipped according to the principles of barrier-free access. All infrastructure elements are adapted for people with different needs: solid non-slip surfaces, raised flower beds, comfortable benches with armrests, a drinking fountain, Braille navigation, contrasting signs, and a tactile map of the area are provided.
For reference
The project concept was first publicly presented in May 2025. It was developed by VDNH, the Ministry of Veterans Affairs, the urban bureau Big City Lab, and the architectural bureau PUPA. The implementation was supported by partners: Visa, PrivatBank, Work.ua, Expolight, and the Ukrainian Red Cross Society.
Psychologists, psychotherapists, art therapy specialists, hospital staff, volunteers, as well as landscape architects from Ukraine, Europe, and Great Britain were involved in creating the space. The team actively consulted with future guests of the space: veterans, military personnel, people undergoing rehabilitation, elderly people, and representatives of medical institutions.
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