When Russia invaded Ukraine, the Darmenovs -- a family of ethnic Kazakhs living some 25 kilometers southwest of Kyiv -- had the option of returning to Kazakhstan to escape the war and the destruction it brought.
Instead, they decided to stay in Ukraine and defend the country they have called home for more than two decades however they could.
Marat Darmenov, the father of the family of five living in the village of Bilohorodka, quickly volunteered to help those affected by the brutal war. As Ukrainians faced power outages, water shortages, and heating cutoffs amid relentless Russian air strikes, the 55-year-old offered shelter, food, and warmth under a symbol of his Central Asia homeland: a traditional Kazakh yurt.
Darmenov and other Kazakh volunteers called their use of the circular tents covered with felt or animal skins "Yurts Of Invincibility," a play on the government-backed Points of Invincibility that provided aid to displaced Ukrainians and those dealing with blackouts.
Images of his first yurt set up in early 2023 in the town of Bucha -- the site of a brief but brutal occupation by Russian forces who tortured and killed hundreds of civilians in the early days of war -- made international headlines, and private donations, mostly from Kazakhstan, poured in.
That first yurt was donated by a Kazakh businessman named Daulet Nurzhanov and he's since sent more to Darmenov, who has set up yurts in cities and towns across Ukraine, the latest of which was erected in the western city of Novovolynsk in January. He says he drove some 500 kilometers to Novovolynsk to install the tent and cook plov, a Central Asian rice dish, for locals.
"I loaded my cooking pots and samovars into my minibus to make plov. I also took a stove, firewood, and disposable tableware -- I traveled with my whole kitchen. At the opening ceremony of each yurt, we treat visitors to plov," Darmenov said, adding that he has always offered food and drink free of charge.
'An Apocalyptic Scene'
Darmenov's volunteer work began in late March 2022, after Ukrainian forces pushed back the Russian Army from the edges of Kyiv, crushing Moscow's original aim to capture the Ukrainian capital and take control of the country in a short span.
Shutting down a successful furniture business he ran along with his relatives before the war, Darmenov joined other members of the Kazakh diaspora who decided to deliver food to residents of the cities and villages liberated from the occupation. His eldest son, Dastan, would go on to join the military to fight for Ukraine.
Darmenov recalls visiting the village of Hostomel on the outskirts of Kyiv that was liberated in early April 2022 after a fierce battle that lasted for more than a month.
He cooked plov, placing his large pot and stove in the village center, while female Kazakh volunteers prepared baursaks, a traditional fried bread that is offered with milk and tea.
"It was an apocalyptic scene there: no natural gas, no electricity, no water. Large supermarkets burned down," Darmenov recalls. "There were [Ukrainian] soldiers who told us: 'Stay in this place and don't move around because [Russian forces] have laid land mines everywhere.'"
"Residents stood in line, and we handed out food. We told them that we are Kazakhs, but citizens of Ukraine. People hugged us. One of them said: 'I lived in Kazakhstan,' another said: 'My husband is from Kazakhstan,' and another one had a relative in Kazakhstan. I filmed all of these on my phone," he said.
As the videos of yurt were shared on social media with touching messages and warm tributes, Darmenov and other Kazakh volunteers got messages of support and offers of help from Kazakhstan and elsewhere.
Among those who offered help was a Kazakh-born German national who provided 10 tons of food supplies to Darmenov.
"I set aside some of the rice and cooking oil, which we used to prepare plov and baursaks for people, and I distributed the rest of the supplies to hospitals, rehabilitation centers, and internally displaced people from the eastern regions," Darmenov remembers.
'HIMARS Didn't Scare Russia As Much As Our Yurts Did'
As footage and images of the Kazakh Yurts of Invincibility went viral, they even caught the attention of the Kremlin. An infuriated Moscow demanded an official explanation from Astana "to avoid damaging the Russia-Kazakhstan strategic partnership and alliance," Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in January 2023.
In response, Kazakh Foreign Ministry spokesman Aibek Smadiyarov said there was "nothing to explain."
"It is an initiative of private Kazakh companies. They organized it, transported it, and are providing the assistance…. We do not see any problem here," Smadiyarov told reporters at the time.
Darmenov believes that Moscow's angry reaction proves that the Kazakh volunteers' work "have not gone in vain."
"HIMARS didn't scare Russia as much as our yurts did," Darmenov said, referring to the U.S.-made rocket system that helped Kyiv to push back Russian forces.
Darmenov hopes for the war to end and for peace to return to Ukraine. He wants soldiers to come back home safely, aincluding his son, Dastan.
Dastan was 22 when the invasion started. The compulsory age for being drafted in the Ukrainian military at the time was 27, but He chose to voluntarily join the military. He has been wounded several times in the front line in eastern Ukraine.
