In September 2026, Kharkiv hosted KharkivPride for the eighth time. It is organized by the Kharkiv Women's Association "Sphere" and the KharkivPride team. The week opened with a two-day charity and educational PrideFest on 5–6 September and closed with the March on 12 September.
This year, we returned to a march on foot. It was the first in Kharkiv since the full-scale war began. We held it in a city 30 kilometers from the Russian border, where air raid alerts sounded 286 times in August alone.
For two days, PrideHub hosted a lecture hall, a networking space, creative workshops and a market. Despite shelling and disrupted rail connections, we did not cancel a single event in the programme.
One of this year's central themes was LGBTQ+ people in the military and their right to be themselves. Oleksandr Demenko, head of Ukrainian LGBT Military for Equal Rights, joined the panel on LGBTQ+ service members' experience. Veteran Pavlo Lahoida spoke about rejection by his family, obstacles during his military medical board, and a psychiatrist's attempts to apply the law on psychiatric care to him.
The lecture hall also hosted discussions on trans activism in the regions and disinformation about the LGBTQ+ movement.
For the third year in a row, tactical medicine instructor Liza Ivolzhenko ran a training on first aid and stopping massive bleeding. On both days, visitors could get free HIV, hepatitis and syphilis tests.
PrideHub hosted the photo exhibition "KharkivPride Retrospective," tracing the Pride's journey from 2019 to 2025. We also set up a memorial area with portraits of LGBTQ+ service members who were killed or went missing.
Twenty-five Kharkiv brands and businesses presented their products at the market. Some of them donated a share of their revenue to PrideHub, which provides free support to LGBTQ+ people and women.
Throughout the festival, we fundraised together with the Shields charity foundation. The goal was UAH 500,000.
On 12 September, about 200 people joined the KharkivPride March. They included LGBTQ+ people, allies, activists, service members and veterans. Our goal: real legal protection of LGBTQ+ people's rights.
For security reasons, the meeting point was not announced publicly. Only registered participants who had passed a security check received the address. The March started at Derzhprom metro station, moved through the passage to Universytet station and came out onto Freedom Square. Chants for equality, protection of LGBTQ+ service members' rights and non-discrimination echoed across platforms and passageways.
Above ground, we unfurled a large rainbow banner reading "Our families are part of Ukraine." Outside the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration, we held a rally with a separate performance for each of our four demands.
Withdraw the discriminatory draft Civil Code. We unrolled a 28-meter scroll of amendments to the draft of the new Civil Code that have still not been taken into account.
Fair punishment for hate crimes. Participants recalled attacks on LGBTQ+ people, allies and KharkivPride events in past years. We demand that homophobic and transphobic motives be considered in investigations and in court.
Make safety, accessibility and equality priorities of city policy. We presented our own version of the "Kharkiv Resident Card": what the city gives its residents and what it has ignored for years, from accessible shelters to inclusive infrastructure and equal rights.
Recognize family partnerships for LGBTQ+ service members and civilians. Participants held up portraits of fallen LGBTQ+ service members and told their stories. The partners of the fallen still lack the rights the state guarantees to heterosexual families.
Several dozen opponents from far-right groups gathered on Freedom Square. They shouted insults, trampled a rainbow flag and set it on fire. Police kept the two groups apart and prevented direct contact. After the rally, participants were taken away by bus in an organized way.
The hardest part came after the March. Unknown people followed the car of co-organizer Anna Sharyhina, waited for our team in nearby alleys, damaged the entrance to PrideHub and tried to break in. Anna's car was covered in homophobic stickers and its tires were slashed. We have filed police reports and expect an investigation that takes the hate motive into account.
Courage does not mean we are not afraid. It means fear does not decide for us. We are staying in Kharkiv, continuing our work, and have already announced the dates of next year's Pride: KharkivPride 2027 will take place on 4–12 September.
Thank you to everyone who came to PrideFest and the March, to our speakers, volunteers and market businesses, to our partners, to the police who kept the event safe, and to the Defense Forces for protecting us and making it possible to live and hold events in a front-line city 🏳️🌈🇺🇦
