Harding donates funds from advance to Ukraine library

A Ukrainian farming town at the heart of BBC correspondent Andrew Harding’s latest book, A Small, Stubborn Town: Life, Death and Defiance in Ukraine (Ithaka), has held a celebratory event in his honour.

The Emmy-winning journalist and author has donated funds from his advance to set up a distance learning centre in Voznesensk’s library, to support the education of children displaced by the war. 

The event – which Harding joined online – was part of Voznesensk’s programme to mark Ukraine’s Independence Day celebrations on 24th August. The town wanted to recognise how the author has drawn wider public attention to its resistance against invading Russian troops in March 2022. 

 “We so glad this book has shone a light on our community,” said Voznesensk’s mayor, Yevhenii Velychko. Velychko said they are now rebuilding the bridge that the community helped blow up in order to stop the Russian advance, the story of which is at the centre of Harding’s book.  

Many of those whose stories are told in A Small, Stubborn Town joined the event, including Svetlana Martsynkovskyi, a pensioner whose cottage was turned into a Russian field hospital.