The Vines of Victory initiative transforms de-mined land in Ukraine’s Chernihiv Region into the world’s first AI-powered agrivoltaic vineyard, in a unique programme that combines viticulture, renewable-energy, and veteran-led enterprise to deliver a moral-capitalist recovery that is founded to protect and safeguard the rural way of life in Ukraine. All of this programming is underpinned by the careful and well-nurtured framework for sub-national diplomacy that we established through the Kent–Chernihiv Regional Partnership (2024). The Vines of Victory Vineyard is a flagship, trilateral, recovery initiative transforming de-mined land in Ukraine’s Chernihiv Region, into a hybrid vineyard and solar energy facilities operated by war-veterans and local communities.

 

This innovative project will restore agricultural productivity in war-damaged, de-mined land by establishing vineyards and agro-processing industries. Implemented in the Chernihiv Region, the vineyard will be underpinned by expertise/training, finance and supply chain support by established wine making companies in the UK and USA.

The initiative further supports the rehabilitation of veterans, offering Ukraine’s defenders training, employment, and purpose while transforming land once scarred by war into fields of prosperity.

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BRIEF PROJECT OVERVIEW:

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• We will work to establish a vineyard on land that was previously contaminated by the war and with other limited uses

• 40 defenders of Ukraine (some with life-limiting injuries) will be selected to attend specialised training in the United States and the United Kingdom. During this time, they will also have access to specialists to aid their recovery and adaption to civilian life.

• They will return to Ukraine with a guaranteed job at the vineyard.

• We will develop a multi-year, multi-agency programme by which veteran defenders in Ukraine can learn from the best in vintnery, sustainability, communications and export industries by undertaking training at award winning
  vineyards and businesses in the UK and USA.

• This project is the ‘Triple U’ Assurance in practice.

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WHY THIS PROJECT MATTERS:

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We are on a simple mission to prove that out of the ashes of destruction that local people know best what will work for their future prosperity. We know that most significant national changes only occur due to well-thought out, locally focused initiatives. We want to show Ukraine and the world that where bombs fell and mines were planted that vines can rise. We want to showcase that through agrivoltaics and land reform that Ukraine’s recovery can be green. We want to stand by the brave men and women who defended European security by providing them with rehabilitation and a sustainable future. But most of all we want to demonstrate through our policy and legislative reforms and the practical success of opening a futuristic vineyard, that prosperity can be built from the commons up, not extracted from it. With your backing we have a project that will provide the living framework for Ukraine’s green recovery, Global Security and Transatlantic Solidarity. 

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A FIRST FOR UKRAINE: 

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An agrivoltaic vineyard is unique in combining solar energy generation with grape cultivation. Our vineyard will generate electricity by installing elevated or semi-transparent panels above the vines, allowing both crops and clean power to be produced on the same land. ​Recent advances in agrivoltaic technologies and AI, will allow us to establish a high-yield producing, low-cost and low maintenance vineyard, that in time would produce decentralised green electricity for local communities.

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In Chernihiv, our model offers a sustainable way to restore war-damaged and contaminated farmland without the need for deep ploughing, while providing local energy and income. The region’s sunlight levels suit both viticulture and solar production, creating a resilient, symbolic model of recovery that turns land once scarred by conflict into a source of growth, employment, and renewal.

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he Vines of Victory Vineyard will make history and stand as a world first. Not only will our vineyard be Ukraine’s inaugural agrivoltaic vineyard, but we will be the first in the world to integrate artificial intelligence at every level of our operation.

 

At our site of pioneering agri-tech we will bring in AI experts from the US and UK, and pair them with Chernihiv’s experts in microbiology to create a living innovation laboratory where AI optimises the relationship between grape cultivation and solar energy generation.​

 

Our vineyard will use real-time data from drones, ground sensors, and weather models to intelligently and automatically adjust solar panel angles to balance light, temperature, and shade. This will maximise both energy yield and grape quality.

 

Through monitored machine learning we will drive predictive irrigation, pest management, and soil health monitoring, ensuring precision agriculture with minimal waste and water use.​ Through data-driven insights and adaptive automation, the Vines of Victory Vineyard will demonstrate how AI can transform agrivoltaic technologies into a sustainable blueprint for post-war recovery by powering homes, restoring livelihoods, and redefining the future of viticulture and renewable energy worldwide.

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This site will become a beacon for agritech excellence and a vital part of Ukraine’s story of recovery.​ We believe that AI is critical to the success of our vineyard, for not only will it make our practices fit for the future and more efficient, it will attract young people back into the tradition of agriculture and allow young veterans to utilise the skills that they have developed in the war-setting for civilian, commercial purposes.

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HOW WE PLAN TO SUPPORT AND ENABLE UKRAINE'S BRAVE VETERANS:

 

What makes our project unique is that we are a veteran-operated vineyard whose mission is to provide meaningful recovery, training and employment for the brave men and women who have given their all in the defence of freedom. Through agriculture, specialist rehibition, training and mentorship we will give veterans of Ukraine’s war the opportunity through their own recovery to help Ukraine strive for a sustainable future.

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At Vines of Victory we want to create a circular micro-community within the vineyard, where veterans who are employed to cultivate the vines, make the wine, deal with sales etc, will also have the opportunity to live, learn, and heal on the land they help restore. This concept is not new, in fact it is well tried and tested. After the First and Second World Wars, Britain faced the dual challenge of reintegrating its soldiers with injuries and mental trauma back into civilian life and rebuilding a nation against the backdrop of serve food shortages. Across the English countryside, thousands of returning servicemen were offered smallholdings and “Land Settlement Association” plots which offered them opportunities to reconnect with their native soil, to find new and meaningful purposes, and to contribute to national renewal through agriculture. These modest parcels of land became places of healing and productivity, where veterans could grow food, raise families, and rebuild communities. Some of these communities and their associated arms housing still exist in the UK, demonstrating the value that they have brought to these communities.

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Today, in the Chernihiv region of northern Ukraine, Vines of Victory is seeking to revive and reimagine that same principle but for a new generation of veterans who face significant challenges. Through a network of agrivoltaic vineyards, it is our eventual aim to see that veterans of Ukraine’s ongoing defence are given not only employment but a meaningful stake in the land, the energy it produces, and the community it will hopefully sustain.

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Rural depopulation is one of Ukraine’s most pressing post-war challenges. With less people in Ukraine’s rural areas, food production will slow, which will gravely impact the food supply and security of the world. According to Ukraine’s Ministry for Communities, Territories and Infrastructure Development, Chernihiv Oblast has lost more than 20% of its pre-war population since 2022. This is largely driven by displacement, destruction of homes, and the outflow of younger workers. Many villages, once thriving, are now underpopulated and at risk of permanent decline.

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We want these people to return and be proud to return to the villages of their birth. By creating livelihoods tied to clean energy, technology-driven viticulture, and veteran reintegration, our project helps repopulate rural Chernihiv, revitalise abandoned previously contaminated farmland, and anchor families back into the rural way of life in Ukraine.

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So in addition to creating Ukraine’s first ai-driven, agrivoltaic vineyard which generates renewable power, and saves water, we will build modular eco-homes that provide dignified, sustainable housing for those who once protected the nation in war and now cultivate its recovery in peace.

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These homes will be offered to defenders in the hope that they settle on the land that is now theirs to cultivate and that by offering sable local employment, with sustainable secure housing that people will want to start families and help stem the rural depopulation crisis facing Ukraine.

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An impression as to what our specialist veteran's village could look like