The project to send reclaimed windows to Ukraine began in Poland, which is the largest exporter of windows in the European Union. “We found out that Ukraine has no facility producing window glass and that before the war 75% of it was imported from Russia and Belarus,” said Kyiv architect Petro Vladimirov.

He co-founded Okno Projekt (Project Window) with Polish activist Zofia Jaworowska in July 2022, when a wave of Ukrainians began returning home from Poland to liberated areas around Kyiv, Chenihiv and Kherson oblasts. It works with local Ukrainian non profit groups, including the Ukranian Metalab Foundation, Unity and Strength, and Svoi Lydu, which are working on rebuilding bombed homes.