About the project

This is a project created by planetarium commentator Olena Zemliachenko and a group of volunteers connected through the stars.
The Kharkiv Planetarium in eastern Ukraine is currently forced to remain closed because of the war.
Parts damaged by the attacks still remain unrepaired.

Olena once worked at the Kharkiv Planetarium, devoting herself passionately to sharing the beauty of the stars with visitors.

Her passion reached many children, making their eyes shining as brightly as the stars themselves.

It was also a place where many adults deepened their curiosity about the universe.

For the people of Kharkiv, it was an irreplaceable and beloved planetarium.

However, in February 2022, the war in Ukraine began.

To escape the devastation of the war, Olena and her husband evacuated to Japan in April of the same year, where they knew no one.

At first, she could not speak Japanese.

Nevertheless Japanese planetarium narrators generously offered their support making many

Ukrainian-themed planetarium programs possible.

Today, she is invited to planetariums all across Japan, where together with fellow narrators she connects Japan and Ukraine through the starry sky.

People in many places have been touched by Olena’s storytelling about the stars, renewing their hopes for peace.

This project was born amid these activities in planetariums.

The idea was to revive the Kharkiv Planetarium — Olena’s home planetarium — in a virtual space,

so that visitors could once again share the stars together.

Volunteers gathered to support this idea, and this website was created as a part of the project.

This project is non-profit and will operate as a platform for donations.

The donated funds will be carefully reserved for the day when Ukrainian children can once again look up at the stars,

and will be used for the repair and reconstruction of the Kharkiv Planetarium after the war.

One sky for all

“The sky is one beyond all borders.

Everyone is a part of one family on Earth.”

These are words Olena often says.

We hope to become a bridge of stars and work toward a peaceful future without war.

Even in the midst of the sorrow caused by war

we believe that people can still live with compassion for one another.

If you share these feelings,

would you lend us your support?

Please become one of those, who connect the starry sky to the future.

Let us look up at the stars and the future together.

We hope to share these feelings with everyone who visits

the Virtual Kharkiv Planetarium on this website.

Every visit becomes one step toward reconstruction.

We look forward to your participation.