Sisters from Druzhkivka, who lost their mother in the Kramatorsk strike, receive their own apartment from Lytvyn Foundation

Two sisters from Druzhkivka, Donetsk Oblast — 17-year-old Kateryna and 12-year-old Yuliia — have received the keys to their own apartment, purchased for them by the Lytvyn Foundation, a charitable foundation established by Ukrainian entrepreneur Volodymyr Lytvyn. The family lost their home and their mother back in April 2022, when a Russian missile strike on the Kramatorsk railway station claimed their mother's life, and subsequent shelling destroyed their family home in Druzhkivka. This was reported by RBC-Ukraine, citing the official announcement from the Lytvyn Foundation.

Loss of home and mother: how the family was left homeless

Following the death of their mother and the destruction of their house in Druzhkivka, the sisters moved to Kyiv, where they lived in a rented apartment together with their grandmother Nina Mykolayivna and their aunt Olha, who became their legal guardian. The family never received compensation for the destroyed housing in Donetsk Oblast. Kateryna, who was younger at the time of the relocation, has a disability resulting from a mine-blast injury sustained during the hostilities. For several years, the family lived in temporary housing conditions without owning their own square meters.

New apartment: who helped and how

The documents for the new apartment were signed by grandmother Nina Mykolayivna, who also received the keys to the home. According to the Lytvyn Foundation, the foundation financed the purchase of the apartment, while renovation and furnishing will be handled by a partner project — the "Right to Comfort" charitable foundation, founded by designer and architect Viktoriia Fainblat. Once the renovation work is completed, the family will be able to move into their own home. Thus, housing assistance has become one of the social areas of activity for the Lytvyn Foundation, alongside educational and technological programs.

Lytvyn Foundation: not just housing, but youth development

The main mission of the Lytvyn Foundation focuses on the development of Ukrainian youth through education, technology, and entrepreneurship. The foundation implements a number of programs where teenagers can study for free and gain practical experience. Key projects include the MindCraft online business school for teenagers aged 13–17, where students learn entrepreneurship and create their own business projects; the Code The Future hackathons, where teenagers develop technological solutions for real businesses; and a business club for young entrepreneurs. A separate direction is the ONE POINT: Game. Mind. Future. sports and educational program for young tennis players, implemented jointly with Elina Svitolina's foundation. The foundation also organizes AI marathons and summer entrepreneurship programs.

Volodymyr Lytvyn: from AI business to philanthropy

Volodymyr Lytvyn is a Ukrainian entrepreneur in the field of artificial intelligence, an investor, philanthropist, and founder of the Lytvyn Foundation. Alongside his charitable activities, he develops technological businesses, invests in young founders and promising startups, including in Europe, where the foundation collaborates with tech teams. Lytvyn explains the creation of the foundation by his desire to give Ukrainian youth access to education and entrepreneurial opportunities, as well as to provide targeted assistance to families affected by the war. The story of the sisters from Druzhkivka has become one of such targeted projects, combining social support with a long-term youth development strategy.