Victory gardens in wartime Ukraine: community responses to food system disruptions through local food production

Introduction Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 caused uncertainty and concerns about disrupted food systems, creating new challenges for food security while simultaneously stimulating grassroots responses. Among these, Victory Gardens re-emerged as community-led initiatives increasing local food production and supporting vulnerable populations. This study examines the contribution of Victory Gardens to food security during wartime and their role as civic ecology practices amid a prolonged socio-political crisis. Methods The study is based on qualitative research involving 20 semi-structured interviews with coordinators and participants representing eight Victory Garden initiatives across Ukraine, including municipal, community, and school-based gardens. Interview data were analyzed using a thematic approach informed by the six dimensions of food security: availability, access, utilization, stability, agency, and sustainability. Results The findings demonstrate that Victory Gardens made their strongest contributions to the immediate dimensions of food security, particularly availability and access. Food access was supported through a combination of complementary mechanisms, including municipal land allocation, seed distribution, household gardens, organized transport, and family networks, illustrating redundancy as a key resilience strategy. Utilization was facilitated through existing community institutions such as schools, kindergartens, hospitals, and military support networks, ensuring that locally produced food reached those most in need. School-based gardens primarily promoted food literacy, environmental education, civic engagement, and intergenerational knowledge transfer, whereas municipal and community gardens focused on food provisioning and humanitarian support. Discussion The strongest evidence relates to food availability and access, while agency and sustainability were less consistently developed and depended heavily on local institutional capacity. As a qualitative case study, the findings are intended to provide an in-depth understanding of selected Victory Garden initiatives and should not be generalized to all Victory Garden initiatives or the wider Ukrainian context.