Kraiany association helps build ‘cosmic’ shelter for children in Kyiv Region

The Kraiany Association of Ukraine-Japan Friendship, together with the Gurtum Charity Foundation, has completed a new state-of-the art shelter in the village of Ozera in the Kyiv Region, the community reported.

It’s designed to be a place where children will finally be able to learn, play, and simply exist without fear. 

The initiative will allow a local kindergarten and two schools, which had been closed for over a year due to the lack of safe spaces, to reopen.

The goal, however, was never just to pour concrete and install ventilation. The teams behind this initiative wanted to build a space that felt alive, one where childhood could take root again. The shelter includes a play area, a sleeping area for the youngest children, and walls decorated with hand-painted murals.

A standout feature is the entrance, designed in the shape of a “flying saucer,” which has led to the shelter being nicknamed the “cosmic shelter.”

The building itself was constructed as a concrete monolith and covered with a one-meter layer of soil for protection.

“When a dream is safety, reality becomes a true cosmic shelter for children. We know exactly who and what we are doing this for,” said the Kraiany Association of Ukraine-Japan Friendship.

The Gurtum Charity Foundation emphasized that the shelter brings three educational institutions back to life. 

“This is a place where children can laugh, play, and feel safe again. It is the result of the combined efforts of people who care,” the organization said.

This isn’t the first time that Kraiany and Gurtum have tried to bring warmth and imagination to structures that are meant to protect. 

Their earlier project, the “Hobbit House,” echoed the gentle, earth-dwelling homes that were described by J.R.R. Tolkien in “The Hobbit” novel. In Tolkien’s world, hobbit dwellings are more than charming architecture, they symbolize refuge, steadiness, and the quiet courage of ordinary people who are faced with extraordinary darkness. 

By drawing on that imagery, the NGOs underscored a simple truth. That even in wartime, Ukrainian children deserve spaces that protect their bodies and nurture their sense of wonder. It’s the same way Tolkien’s hobbits relied on their snug homes as places from which hope is derived.

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