As war grinds on, Ukrainian climbers build a new outdoor culture inspired by Yosemite

DENYSHI, Ukraine (AP) — Atop a steep granite cliff overlooking a river about two hours' drive west of Kyiv, hundreds of people pitched tents on a festival camping ground. By day, they climbed the rock face, swam in a nearby reservoir or enjoyed stand-up paddling. As evening fell, live bands and DJs took over the stage as rock and electronic music drifted through the forest.

The Stoned Climbers festival, which took place last week in the Zhytomyr region, is Ukraine’s biggest outdoors event combining climbing and live music. Like many public events in wartime Ukraine, the festival blended ordinary leisure with reminders that the war is never far away.

Visitors received multiple air raid alert notifications on their phones throughout the weekend. Soldiers on leave quietly blended into the crowd, while organizers directed all profits from this year’s festival to a fundraising initiative supporting Ukraine’s Azov Brigade. Unlike last year, however, no Russian drones or missiles crossed the sky above the campsite on their way toward Kyiv.

The volunteer-run festival was launched in 2023 by about 15 friends who had spent more than a year climbing together after becoming fascinated by Yosemite’s climbing culture.

The U.S. national park has long been regarded as one of the birthplaces of modern rock climbing, where climbers built a counterculture around sleeping in tents, living out of vans and spending months on the granite walls of the valley.

“We realized climbing could be much more than just a sport,” said festival co-founder Dmytro Isaienko, 39. “It’s about a specific way of life — in nature, camping, on the rocks.”

Isaienko and his friends wanted to challenge the perception that climbing was reserved for elite athletes. Their first festival attracted about 150 visitors. This summer, attendance grew to more than 500, most of them beginners or amateur climbers.

Organizing the festival during wartime has given it a broader purpose, Isaienko said. He believes creating places where people can gather, learn new skills and spend time together has become a way of sustaining one’s well-being through a prolonged war.

“You need to get away from the war for a while,” he said. “Leave Kyiv and come spend some time here together, a little longer than usual.”

On the rocks below, instructors help complete beginners fasten their harnesses, chalk their hands and search for the next hold on the granite wall. Whenever someone reaches the top of the 25-meter (82-feet) cliff — often for the first time — spectators, instructors and climbers break into applause.

Among the festival’s newcomers was 21-year-old Liliia Karpach, who traveled from Ukraine’s western Lviv region for her first Stoned Climbers festival.

“I decided to come because it had been a very long time since I’d climbed on real rocks,” she said. “I also wanted to meet the community in person and get to know new people.”

She said climbing is mental as well as physical exercise, and hopes others will give it a try.

“If you’re really nervous about coming on your own, invite some friends,” she said. “Even if neither of you knows how to climb, you’ll have a good time together.”

Helping first-time climbers gain that confidence is one of the most rewarding parts of the festival for instructor Andrii Lamei, 24.

While belaying a young woman during her first climb, he calmly talked her through the most difficult part of the ascent. As she climbed higher, her movements became more confident. After reaching the top, Lamei encouraged her to pause before descending.

“Look around,” he shouted. “Enjoy the moment. You made it.”

“Climbing helps you work with stress,” Lamei said. “It helps you manage stressful situations in everyday life.”

He dreams of climbing outside Ukraine one day but, like most Ukrainian men, he cannot leave the country while wartime travel restrictions remain in place.

“I want to go across the border to visit Yosemite, to visit Norway's mountains, but I can’t,” he said. “But maybe this is how I’m forced to enjoy what I have here.”

For Isaienko, that is precisely why festivals like Stoned Climbers matter.

While many Ukrainians have put parts of their lives on hold during the war, he hopes the community taking shape around the cliffs shows that new traditions can still emerge.

“This is a festival for everyone,” he said. “Including people who have never tried climbing before.”

And each time another first-time climber reaches the top, the applause rising from the rocks below suggests that, little by little, that community is growing.

Women rest after climbing during the Stoned Climbers festival near Denyshi, Zhytomyr region, Ukraine, Saturday, June 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

People climb on a cliff during the Stoned Climbers festival near Denyshi, Zhytomyr region, Ukraine, Saturday, June 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

A man installs a tent during the Stoned Climbers festival near Denyshi, Zhytomyr region, Ukraine, Saturday, June 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

A woman plays a dj set during the Stoned Climbers festival near Denyshi, Zhytomyr region, Ukraine, Saturday, June 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

A man climbs on a cliff during the Stoned Climbers festival near Denyshi, Zhytomyr region, Ukraine, Saturday, June 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — A performer at the funeral for Iran's late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei called for the death of U.S. President Donald Trump before a crowd of hundreds of thousands of people Sunday in the capital, Tehran.

The comment represents the first, direct call for Trump's death by an emcee at the funeral, which has seen posters and graffiti calling for the killing of Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. That's been a hard-line demand even as Tehran negotiates with the U.S. over a permanent end to the war that's disrupted global energy supplies.

Mohammad Rasouli, a poet, drew calls of “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”

Speaking to the crowd over loudspeakers at the funeral, Rasouli asked, referring to Trump: “Why is the most bastard man in the world still alive?”

The question drew cheers from the crowd, and again when Rasouli said that “the world is no longer a good place for” Trump.

Ayatollah Jafar Sobhani, a 97-year-old Shiite cleric, later led a prayer Sunday at Tehran’s Grand Mosalla for Khamenei and his late family members.

A far-larger crowd for the funeral than the day before attended the ceremony Sunday. Mourners dressed in black walked to the site, carrying banners and flags honoring Khamenei and also calling for Trump's killing as the American president gave a speech in Washington for the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States.

“We’ve had tremendous success,” Trump said, speaking of the American military. “You look at Venezuela, you look at Iran. We wiped it out, wiped out their military.”

U.S. federal authorities have been tracking Iranian threats against Trump and other administration officials for years. That stems from Trump ordering the 2020 killing of Gen. Qassem Soleimani, who led the expeditionary Quds Force of Iran's paramilitary Revolutionary Guard. Iran repeatedly has denied plotting to kill Trump, though hard-line propaganda footage long has suggested Trump was in Tehran's crosshairs.

Trump meanwhile promised to destroy Iran's very civilization during the war among a variety of other threats.

The funeral for Khamenei, who ruled Iran for decades before he was killed at age 86 in a Feb. 28 airstrike in the opening moments of the Iran war, could provide a boost for the country’s theocracy and its new supreme leader, his son Ayatollah Mojtaba Khamenei.

That is important as Iran tries to leverage its hold on the Strait of Hormuz in negotiations with the U.S. over a permanent end to the war and as concern lingers that Israel could attack again.

The funeral was delayed as the war raged, and talks are on hold until it is over.

Gambrell reported from Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

A man carries a child holding a red Shiite religious flag outside the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Grand Mosque during the funeral ceremonies for slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and members of his family in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Mourners write messages on a wall, including one in English that reads "We will kill Trump," during the funeral ceremonies for slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and members of his family at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Grand Mosque in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Mourners walk through the grounds of the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Grand Mosque during the funeral ceremonies for slain Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and members of his family in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

A mourner holds a portrait of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei as he walks past a wall bearing messages, including one in English that reads "We will kill Trump," during the funeral ceremonies for Khamenei and members of his family at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Grand Mosque in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)

Mourners gather beneath a portrait of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during the funeral ceremonies for Khamenei and members of his family at the Imam Khomeini Mosalla Grand Mosque in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, July 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Altaf Qadri)