Under martial law, four theatres in Kharkiv have been designated as critically important, allowing them to receive additional support.

According to the regional military administration, the appeal was reviewed with consideration of the development strategies of theatrical institutions and their performance schedules.

The following theatres have been recognized as critically important:

• Kharkiv Academic Theatre of Musical Comedy,
• Kharkiv Theatre for Children and Youth,
• Kharkiv State Academic Puppet Theatre named after V.A. Afanasiev,
• Kharkiv Academic Drama Theatre named after H.F. Kvitka-Osnovyanenko.

Additionally, the regional administration allocated further funds to support the theatres, reiterating the previous allocation of 55.8 million hryvnias.

This decision was made following numerous appeals from actors across the nation, particularly after the collective of the Kyiv Drama and Comedy Theatre on the Left Bank of the Dnipro reached out on May 15.

Among those advocating for the theatres to be recognized as critical infrastructure were Oleg Stefan, Oleksiy Hnatkovskyi, Vitalina Bibliiv, journalist Ruslan Horovyi, and theatre scholar Kristina Korol.