The annual Wikimarathon is not just an opportunity to enrich the Ukrainian Wikipedia with new articles but also a chance to come together, learn something new, and feel part of a large community.
WikiFlashmobs (later renamed WikiMarathons) have been organized annually by the NGO “Wikimedia Ukraine” since 2014. The idea of holding WikiFlashmobs in the Ukrainian Wikipedia was first proposed by Ihor Kostenko, a Wikipedia contributor who lost his life during the Revolution of Dignity and became part of the “Heavenly Hundred.” The Heavenly Hundred is a collective name for the protesters who were killed during the Euromaidan events in Ukraine in 2013–2014 while defending the ideals of freedom and dignity.
In 2025, the marathon took place from January 25 to February 2. During this time, participants created 905 new articles. A total of 309 people joined the initiative, including 52 newcomers. In addition to online editing, dozens of wiki-meetups were held, helping to expand the wiki-community and encourage more people to contribute to Wikipedia.
WikiMeetups: Uniting the Community Around Knowledge
A key feature of Wikimarathon is always live interaction. In 2025, 29 wiki-meetups took place in various cities across Ukraine, including Vinnytsia, Poltava, Sumy, Zhytomyr, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Odesa, Kirovohrad, Ternopil, Kharkiv, Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Kyiv regions, and several events in Kyiv itself. Additionally, eight meetings were held abroad for Ukrainians living in Lithuania, Norway, the Netherlands, and Poland.
Despite Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, the community has a strong demand for offline events, so we had to carefully develop a security plan for each region to ensure the safety of participants. For example, in some regions, a mandatory requirement for hosting an event was the availability of a bomb shelter near the venue, while in others, meetings were held exclusively in underground shelters.
Darina (user Rina.sl), who conducted three wiki-meetups for Ukrainians in Poland (a neighboring country where millions of Ukrainians found refuge in the wake of Russia’s military invasion), shares her experience:
“This year, I held three offline meetings, each of them very interesting and unique. The first training took place in Łódź, where I currently live. We gathered in a small group at one of the city library branches. Some of the attendees were my friends, which added extra responsibility since I had already told them a lot about Wikipedia and the wiki-movement, and now they had the chance to create their first article. My second meetup was in Poznań at a bilingual school. Interestingly, half of the participants were children aged 9–14, so I prepared a fun quiz with Wikipedia facts for them to determine which were true or false and explain their reasoning. There was also a group activity using cards, where participants had to match Wikipedia roles (editors, patrollers, and administrators) with their main tasks. Of course, we had small gifts—wiki-stickers. The other half of the participants were young volunteers, including two girls from Croatia and Kyrgyzstan. They understood Ukrainian and were highly interested in the movement, so I shared some facts about Wikipedia’s development in their countries, and we exchanged contacts. My third training took place the day after Poznań, at the Ukrainian library in Kraków, with a completely different audience—members of the 55+ club. It was fascinating to observe how people of different ages and experiences perceive information differently and ask varied questions. This year’s Wikimarathon taught me that Wikipedia editing is an engaging hobby for people of any age, nationality, or background. It is truly important to reach a broad and diverse audience to spread awareness of the wiki-movement.”
Events were not limited to major cities like Kyiv or Lviv but also took place in smaller towns such as Bar and Berdychiv and even in villages like Dzvynyach in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast and Ozernе in Kyiv Oblast. Volunteers across the country contributed to Wikipedia’s growth. Activities were held in both safer regions, such as Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast, and frontline areas, including Kharkiv Oblast, where five events were organized, proving that the thirst for knowledge persists even under the most challenging conditions.
Yevhenii Shybetskyi, who organized a meetup in Berdychiv, Zhytomyr Oblast, shared his experience:
“We reviewed Wikipedia’s rules and explained them to newcomers. At the event, I traditionally show high school students how to create articles. Most participants receive a homework assignment to start a Wikipedia article.”
The photo shows Wikimarathon meetings in different cities of Ukraine.
Additionally, organizers held four webinars and one consultation session for those who wanted to learn editing but could not attend in person.
Approximately 500 people participated in offline wiki-meetups in Ukraine, with another 50 attending abroad. Around 40 participants joined the online webinars.
At the wiki-meetups, newcomers received support from experienced Wikipedians, learned about editing rules, how to work with sources, and how to format articles according to Wikipedia standards. Such meetings help lower the entry barrier for those new to Wikipedia and often mark the beginning of a long journey as an editor.
Olena Yakovlieva conducted a wiki-meetup at Bohodukhiv Lyceum No. 2 in Kharkiv Oblast:
“The main goal of the meetup, as well as the marathon itself, was to involve as many new volunteers as possible in enriching Ukrainian Wikipedia. Teachers learned about the participation conditions in the flash mob, including recommended topics and basic article-writing requirements. Now, we can proudly say that Ukrainian Wikipedia has grown by 12 articles, the result of dedicated volunteer work.”
What Topics Did Participants Choose?
For those unsure where to start, organizers prepared a list of recommended topics. Thanks to this, high-quality articles on important but previously underrepresented or missing topics appeared in Ukrainian Wikipedia.
For instance, articles were created about the lunar crater Tíl, the Spanish-Canadian pianist, composer, and music educator José Evangelista, and the multi-time World and European Championship medalist in orienteering, Oleksandr Kratov.
Halyna Kachurovska organized Wikimarathon at Bar Vocational Construction Lyceum (Vinnytsia Oblast), a long-standing tradition for the institution. She shares:
“Participants had very different levels of experience with Wikipedia. Some students learned for the first time that the encyclopedia is written by volunteers. Second- and third-year students knew the basics, but some were creating their first article. It was especially rewarding that two of the participants were graduates who joined the lyceum’s Wikimarathon for the second year in a row after finishing their studies. The event consisted of two parts. In the first part, we watched a presentation…”
Wikimarathon 2025, January 26 at the Poltava Library named after O. Gonchar.
Article Patrolling
As every year, we strive not only to increase the number of new articles but also to ensure their quality. Therefore, patrollers were involved in checking articles to ensure they complied with Wikipedia’s rules. They reviewed all articles submitted for Wikimarathon. It is worth noting that as a result of these checks, only five articles were deleted—less than one percent of all submitted articles.
This year, a record number of users participated in patrolling, with the 12 most active receiving souvenirs and certificates.
Wikimarathon 2025 once again confirmed that Ukrainian Wikipedia is not just an encyclopedia but a living project enriched by the efforts of thousands of volunteers. Thanks to the participation of hundreds of people, Ukrainian Wikipedia has grown even richer, and wiki-meetups and webinars helped find new authors who may remain in the community for a long time.
We thank everyone who took part and hope to see even more participants in the next Wikimarathon! For more information visit the Wikimarathon page (in the Ukrainian language).
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