The city that in 2022 became a symbol of evacuation and destruction now serves as a methodological platform — Irpin is sharing its veteran-related practices with other communities at the level of the presidential Congress. This is not a metaphor for recovery. This is concrete administrative logic.

What the community presented

Acting Mayor Angela Makeieva spoke at a session in the "Dialogue with communities" format within the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities under the President of Ukraine — a consultative body that brings together community representatives to interact with the state. The event was chaired by the head of the Congress Presidium, Viktor Mykyta.

Among Irpin’s concrete initiatives is the first inclusive sports ground in the Kyiv region on the city’s embankment. According to First Deputy Mayor Oleksandr Pashchynskyi, it was created for children and adults with disabilities, people with limited mobility, as well as military personnel and civilians undergoing recovery after injuries. The site is equipped with special exercise machines, ramps and surfacing that meet inclusivity standards — and was implemented jointly with the veterans’ administration and private businesses.

At the same time, with support from the Ministry for Veterans Affairs, Irpin opened VETERAN SPACE. IRPIN — the third such hub in the Kyiv region after Brovary and Boryspil. It is a so‑called single point of entry: legal assistance, psychological support, information on rehabilitation and a space for the veterans’ community to meet.

Why this is more than a report of successes

Irpin is not a wealthy community. The city is still rebuilding destroyed infrastructure after the occupation. That both the sports ground and the veteran hub were launched under such conditions is the result not only of local initiative but also of the mobilization of resources from the Ministry for Veterans Affairs and private business. It is this combination — a model the Congress is trying to scale up.

"Recently we opened the first inclusive sports ground in the Kyiv region on our embankment — it is an example of how conditions for sports activities need to be created today for people"

— Angela Makeieva, acting mayor of Irpin

Veteran policy at the community level is not a slogan. The Congress records a significant unevenness: some communities have adopted local support programs, have a coordinator on staff and infrastructure — others limit themselves to one‑off payments. Irpin falls into the first group.

What remains unresolved

Among the topics discussed at the session was support for families of prisoners and missing persons. This is a category for which infrastructure across the country remains the least developed: neither standards of assistance nor clear funding at the community level exist. Irpin has included this direction in its practice, but there is no systemic solution either there or at the national level.

• Inclusive sports ground — the first in the Kyiv region, oriented in particular toward rehabilitation of the injured
• VETERAN SPACE. IRPIN — a hub providing psychological, legal and informational support
• Support for families of the deceased and the detained/missing — a stated priority without clear standards for implementation

If the Congress limits itself to exchanging experience without mandatory minimum standards for every community — in a year similar sessions will be talking about the same problems, only with different cities at the podium. The question is not whether Irpin has something to show, but whether what is shown will become an obligation for the rest — and when.