An Exhibition in Memory of the Fallen Ukrainian Children
On 25 September at 13:00, The Price of the Silence of the World (Lith. Pasaulio tylos kaina), an exhibition in memory of the Ukrainian children who have died at the hands of the Russian invaders from 2022 to 2024, will open at the Stained Glass Gallery of the Seimas (Building 1). Exhibition visitors will have the opportunity to learn about the stories of the Ukrainian children who have perished in the war. Together with the photographs, the exhibition will feature 30 stories in English. Later in the year, the exhibition will also be held in the parliaments of several other EU countries and in the European Parliament.
The exhibition dedicated to Ukrainian children is one of Prof. Valiulis’ initiatives, an active member of the Vilnius University community and Chairman of the Labour Council. On 10 March 2022, Prof. Dr Habil. Arūnas Valiulis organised a high-profile international petition for the protection of children suffering as a result of the war, which was signed within 36 hours by 42 international paediatrician organisations and academic leaders from more than 50 countries. A group of enthusiasts led by Prof. Valiulis welcomed Christmas 2023 by launching a direct support campaign for the children from large Ukranian families whose enlisted parents had perished in the war.
On 24 August 2024, on the occasion of Ukraine’s Independence Day, on the initiative of Prof. Valiulis, 10 students from the University of Kharkiv—a city which continues to be devastated by the war—who have lost their parents in the war, but who have found the strength to continue their medical studies at their university, were awarded the Lithuanian-Ukrainian Dignity Scholarship.
These scholarships have also already been awarded to orphaned students from Poltava, Ternopil and other Ukrainian universities. You can read more about the Dignity Scholarships in this year’s interview with Prof. Valiulis. Furthermore, during 2022–2024, Prof. Valiulis, together with colleagues from Vinnitsa, Kyiv and other Ukrainian universities, published a three volume textbook for medical students. This is one of the first textbooks on paediatric diseases in the Ukrainian language to meet EU standards.
“We all must do more than we think we can for Ukraine,” Prof. Valiulis said, when inviting members of the Vilnius University community to the opening of the exhibition and thanking all those who have contributed to the organisation of the exhibition.
The organisers of the exhibition are Prof. Valiulis from the Clinic of Children’s Diseases at the Faculty of Medicine at Vilnius University, Professor of Paediatric Diseases at the University of Kharkiv (Ukraine), Dr Olga Belousova, who is currently on a fellowship at the Clinic of Children’s Diseases, IPOKRaTES Lietuva Fondas and the NGO Memorial Platform, an organisation that documents war crimes in Ukraine. Linas Slušnys, an MP and former child and adolescent psychiatrist, has also contributed a great deal to the organisation of the exhibition.
The exhibition is sponsored by UAB Garsų pasaulis, UAB Press Ideas, the law firm LEADELL Balčiūnas & Grajauskas, IPOKRaTES Lietuva Fondas, Blagodiinyi Fond Za Bezpeechnu Medytsynu, the Lithuanian Paediatric Society, public institution Testas and others. The full list of sponsors will be announced at the opening of the exhibition.
If you would like to attend the opening of the exhibition, please register in advance by email: