The Fall 2023 issue of Vogue Ukraine Edition comes out with the life-affirming tagline, The Will to Win: for the first time in the title’s history, elite female athletes grace its three print covers – the most acclaimed Ukrainian tennis player Elina Svitolina, the Olympic champion in saber fencing Olga Kharlan and current high jump world champion Yaroslava Mahuchikh.
These Ukrainian athletes are at the peak of their careers; and today they are shaping international sports agenda. The ambassador of UNITED24 fund-raising organisation and a strong voice in Ukrainian sport diplomacy, Elina Svitolina shares with Vogue editor Alyona Ponomarenko the story of her triumphant return to the tennis court and talks about her namesake foundation that supports talented young tennis players in Ukraine. Olha Harlan explains how the support of the Ukrainian people helped her overcome the most serious crisis of her life and to rewrite the rules of professional fencing. Yaroslava Mahuchikh talks about her coveted gold at the recent World Championships and the responsibility to win the highest honours for her home country. Despite the war, the pain, and a sense of injustice, the athletes are confidently moving forward, their eyes set on the upcoming Summer Olympics in Paris.
Vogue Ukraine Edition continues to explore Ukrainian cultural identity and tectonic shifts in the society. In the issue, designer Iryna Karavay reflects on the use of the traditional heritage in her collections and the ethics of creative expression during the war. In the Agents of Change section, Vasylysa Stepanenko, 23, a recipient of this year’s Pulitzer Prize for her reporting from the occupied Mariupol, talks about the moral obligations of journalists. Collective and cultural memory is the focus of the Shadows of the Unforgotten Ancestors project. Singer and musician Maria Kvitka reconceptualizes Ukrainian folklore. Researcher Maksym Rokhmaniko reconstructs historical events and social processes by recreating architectural spaces. The Center for Spatial Technologies team that he runs gathers evidence of the war crime tragedy at the Mariupol Drama Theater.
To address today’s urgent concerns, the Social section appears in the magazine’s pages for the first time. It features stories of mothers and wives of Azov regiment fighters waiting for the return of their loved ones from captivity, and Vogue’s editor Daria Slobodianyk’s research on ways to support the mental health of Ukrainians in wartime. Ukraine's first lady Olena Zelenska, who is a patron of the national How Are You? Programme is featured in the magazine. Continuing the legacy of publishing social photo essays, Vogue presents a black-and-white portfolio by Stehpan Lisovsky. The Visibles is dedicated to the growing number of Ukrainian adults and children who have lost limbs.
The fall issue of Vogue Ukraine Edition will come out on October 24 and can be pre-ordered starting today at shop.vogue.ua.