«We are occupied, but we are not giving up»

This is a story about support for sailors, which has no borders.

On March 16, 2022, Russian invaders seized the main building of the Kherson State Maritime Academy.

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The next day, March 17, 2022, the Germans raised the Ukrainian flag over the sailboat Gorch Fock I, which was stationed in Kherson in the past and remains one of the symbols of the city.

The Soviet Union received the legendary barque Gorch Fock I according to the reparations agreement from Germany. The ship was renamed "Tovarishch" and in 1951 was transferred to Kherson as a training ship for a maritime school. Thousands of people from Kherson were trained there. In 2003, the sailboat returned to its original home port – the German city of Stralsund, where it became a museum. The employees keep the memory of the Kherson period of the ship's history, because it was during these times that the sailboat made its most famous achievements – it took transoceanic voyages and won in international regattas.

On March 17, the Kherson Maritime State Academy reported:

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"Today, the Ukrainian flag was raised on the mast of the Tovarishch-Gorch Fock barge as a sign of solidarity with the people of Kherson and with Ukraine. We are occupied, but we are not giving up. Our gratitude to the Gorch Fock I team for their position and support."

Wulf Marquardt, one of the leaders of the sailboat revival project:

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"Dear friends from Ukraine and especially from Kherson, all the thoughts of your friends from Germany are now with you. Every day. Especially of the Gorch Fock team, on which the flag of Ukraine is currently flying. The first journey of Gorch Fock-Tovarishch will be to Kherson."

The Ukrainian flag was raised again over the Kherson Maritime Academy on December 14, 2022. This flag survived the occupation. During the occupation, Yuri Storozhenko, who during peacetime was responsible for raising the flag on the building, hid it from the enemy in the building of the academy.

The museum of the Kherson Maritime Academy was destroyed during the shelling of Kherson in July 2024.