A Ukrainian sculpture collective shows how good design can improve basic military gear and save lives. From Rubryka.
As it was for many, the full-scale war began with shock for artists in Transcarpathia, the westernmost region of Ukraine. Desperate to keep the invaders from overrunning their home, many went to military recruitment offices, but those who did not have special military training were left in reserve. Then a group of seven artists decided to find a different way to help Ukraine forge its victory in their metal workshop near Uzhhorod.
The desire to be helpful to Ukraine’s armed forces was so strong that the artists found work for themselves. Since then, the atelier where they had produced creative works has transformed to produce metal products that the military needs. The artists are always working to invent and improve new useful devices to assist Ukrainian soldiers on the front lines.
Military Production as an Art Form
It all started in 2007, in the city of Perechyn, in the Transcarpathia region. Three metal artists, Oleg Putrashyk, Yan Potrogosh, and Anatolii Kryvanych, who had been friends since their student years, took out a loan to buy a workshop that would later become their “mini-factory.” Over time, four more artists from Uzhhorod and Kyiv joined them. The group worked to get the workshop in order, furnishing it with the necessary equipment, and naming it Three Ivans, later Sklad, and after the war started, it became the “military-artistic association” Shpor.
Before Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, the workshop hosted lectures, symposia, and master classes for sculptors, architects, and students from Ukraine and abroad.
The full-scale war brought new and urgent needs that radically changed the creative space’s work. The first products produced for the country’s defense were anti-tank devices. To counter Russian troops threatening to overrun Ukrainian cities, there was a great need for criss-crossed metal beams, known as “hedgehogs,” to place on roads as obstacles to stymie the advance of encroaching tank columns. The group ran a Facebook fundraiser and reconfigured their machines to start making hedgehogs with the funds they managed to collect, literally in a day. After a week, they also began to repair anti-tank devices for the military.
One of the craftsmen, Andrii Stegura, recalls times when they made 300-400 hedgehogs and shipped them on the same day. They got to know the volunteers engaged in supplying the front and gave devices to the Perechyn Territorial Defense and military command, producing them until they were no longer needed. Then, they set about producing “cats” and “hake” – devices used in demining. A specialist instructor came to Perechyn, explained to the artists how they work, and taught new recruits to become demining “sappers.” Sappers grab an anti-tank mine with a “cat” and pull it to a safe area. The “hake” – named for the fish it resembles – is used to neutralize tripwires. It is tied to a long string and thrown forward some 30 meters, combing the surface and eliminating the tripwires without getting stuck in roots. The device was made collapsible and thin so that it could be stashed in a pocket.
All spring, the artists say they worked “on pure enthusiasm” around the clock, practically living in the workshop. Andrii recalls that the materials were purchased using donations. The artists were very motivated by the photos and reviews the fighters sent from their fighting positions.
Stoves for Warriors
Soldiers at the front are in constant need of more stoves, relying on them for cooking, drying clothes, and, most importantly, keeping warm in cold weather. Today, many volunteers work to produce stoves in Ukraine, but Shpor’s stoves are unique. Light and portable, they can be quickly assembled, easily moved from place to place, and even put in a pocket. (“Shpor” is a local word for a stove in Transcarpathia).
Yan Potrogosh designed the Shpor stove in the first days following the invasion, and today it has become a signature product of the military-artistic association. Weighing just over 10 kilograms, the portable stove has two chambers and an exhaust pipe and can be used both indoors and outdoors, easily moved even while hot using special handles, and can be quickly disassembled, making it ideal for military field conditions. It can also be helpful to civilians who do not have heating.
But this portable stove isn’t Shpor’s only solution for heating at the front line. Anatolii Kryvanych came up with the “rocket stove” weighing just three kilograms and suitable for cooking food outdoors. The rocket stove is very efficient and can burn any type of wood, even twigs found in the forest.
The artists did not stop there. They took up making collapsible pocket survival stoves.First, they designed a model called “Kostka,” inspired by a German pocket stove. When they could not acquire the rights to produce it, they redesigned their own.
“Of course, we were upset,” Andrii Stegura recalls, “but not for long.” The next day, he says, “our invention was born – the ‘Tsytska’ pocket stove. A few hours passed from computer development to cutting. The stove turned out even better than the German one, and besides, it is beautiful because for us, artists, the aesthetic component is very important.”
The Tsytska is a survival stove, but is very stable and convenient. Made of stainless steel, it weighs only 125 grams and collapses down to just 100 x 120 x 10 millimeters. It can be ignited using pine cones or wood chips and can be used for cooking, heating food, and making tea or coffee.
Shpor likes to use humorous wordplay when naming its products. “Humor is as important as fire,” Andrii Stegura remarks. “It’s not just about warmth, it’s also about hope. Where there is a fire, there are plans for the future. So is laughter. If the soldier is laughing, everything is on point.”
What Comes Next?
During the first eight months of war, the artists from Perechyn made about 4,000 hedgehogs and more than 2,000 cats in five different sizes and models. They sent 241 stoves and more than 100 units each of the Fras and Tsytska models to the front.
The artisans continue to volunteer and take orders, selling their own products at cost. Regular citizens help them with donations, and the parcel service Nova Poshta gives discounts on priority shipping.
Although there is little time left to create art objects, Shpor’s craftsmen haven’t forgotten about creativity. In the summer of 2022, the artists held an art symposium, seminar, and exhibition in collaboration with Czech artists in Prague.
“In general, the Shpor project is our art during the war because what we do is truly a work of art and our present-day realization as artists,” Stegura says.
Although the war disrupted their plans for their careers as artists, the group members feel they have found their calling in this new vocation. “This is probably the best thing that could have happened to us during the war. This is a challenge for creativity, but the main thing now is to support the army,” Stegura adds.
And after the war, “The project can be modernized to find its place during the reconstruction of Ukraine,” he says.
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Reported by Alice Smahina for Rubryka, an outlet for solutions journalism in Ukraine. Edited for length and clarity. Republished with permission.
Photos courtesy of Shpor.
