A poem about ecocide in the Kherson region brought Ukrainian poet Yuliya Musakovska international recognition on three continents.
The poet reported this on her Facebook page.
According to Musakovska, her poem Natural Disaster from the collection “Stones and Nails”, dedicated to environmental crimes in the Kherson region, became a laureate of The Asian Prize for Poetry 2025. The poem was presented in a translation by Olena Jennings.
According to the poet, it is fundamentally important to her that the text about ecocide in the Kherson region had the opportunity to be heard beyond Ukraine and to convey the truth about the consequences of the war to an international audience.
In addition to the Asian prize, in 2025 Musakovska’s works were also recognized in the United States and Europe. In the United States she received the Diana Der-Hovanessian Award from the New England Poetry Club for the translation of Maria Tytarenko’s poetry. In Estonia, translator Anna Vershik was awarded the prestigious August Sang Prize for the translation of Musakovska’s poem “Magnolia Blooms in a Foreign Garden”.
The jury of The Asian Prize for Poetry noted that Yuliya Musakovska’s poetry conveys the complexity of the modern world and a voice of human resilience with exceptional artistic mastery and emotional depth.
The Asian Prize for Poetry is part of the international Asian Prizes program and is intended to support poetic works that reflect on global challenges, including the theme of the Earth and humanity’s responsibility for it.
Recall, the Kakhovka HPP dam, which was located near the currently occupied town of Nova Kakhovka in the Kherson region, was destroyed on June 6, 2023. June 18, the Kakhovka Reservoir had effectively ceased to exist.
As a result of the explosion, nearly 10 thousand hectares of wetlands of international importance were destroyed.