Media Center Ukraine Producer Department

At 18, she has already endured what many adults never face. When russian forces seized Oleshky in Ukraine’s Kherson region in 2022, she was just fourteen. Her family survived the first months of the occupation in the basement of their home – without electricity, gas, or heat.

This week, Liza boarded a plane for the first time and traveled to the Netherlands to address the 24th session of the Assembly of States Parties (ASP) to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC). She spoke about what it means to grow up under russian control and the toll the war continues to take on children in occupied areas.

“I am not standing here today to elicit sympathy,” she said in her remarks. “I am here to be heard, so that people know what is happening to children in the occupied territories right now.”

Liza now lives in Kyiv, where she is studying psychology and working to help support her mother and younger sister. Still, her thoughts often drift back to Oleshky. She dreams of her neighborhood almost every night. Specialists from the Voices of Children Foundation are working with her to help her process those memories and begin to heal.

Journalists can arrange interviews with Liza in Kyiv by prior request.

• children
• occupation
• russian crimes
• Kyiv

If you are interested in this topic, you can obtain the subjects’ contacts from the Producer Department of Media Center Ukraine.

Vadym Fedorov once cut the figure of a 192-centimeter-tall bodybuilder, training on his own and following routines inspired by Arnold Schwarzenegger. He entered the military at 18, completing his mandatory service before signing on as a contract soldier. When russia launched its first assault on Ukraine in 2014, he deployed to the east, serving as a medic, grenadier, and machine gunner in some of the conflict’s most volatile areas – Stanytsia Luhanska, Pisky, Zaitseve, Hranitne, and Bohdanivka.

A year before russia’s full-scale invasion, Fedorov transferred to the 109th Mountain Assault Battalion. While holding defensive positions near Horlivka in Donetsk Oblast, he survived a sniper round that grazed his spine and exited through his shoulder. After recovering, he returned to the battlefield.

In June 2022, he was severely wounded near Bakhmut, an injury that led to the loss of both legs. With help from volunteers, he later traveled to the United States for rehabilitation and prosthetic treatment.

Fedorov now lives in the Kirovohrad region and works at a rehabilitation center supporting wounded service members. He continues treatment for an arm injury that has slowed his progress with prosthetics, but he remains deeply involved in helping other veterans rebuild their strength and mobility.

Conversations with Fedorov,  either online or in person in the Kirovohrad region, are available by prior arrangement.

• casualties
• military

If you are interested in this topic, you can obtain the subjects’ contacts from the Producer Department of Media Center Ukraine.

Three teams of volunteer doctors with FRIDA Ukraine are scheduled to deploy on December 13-14 to deliver medical care to civilians living near the front lines. The groups will travel to communities in the Sumy, Kherson, and Chernihiv regions.

Journalists, by prior arrangement, will be able to document the work of the medical teams and speak with both patients and staff during the missions.

For reference: FRIDA Ukraine Medical Mission dispatches regular medical teams to the frontline and hard-to-reach communities, sending more than 20 health professionals, including neurologists, surgeons, gynecologists, internists, dermatologists, and others. During each deployment, residents receive free consultations, examinations, and diagnostic tests. In recent months, the teams have also broadened their services to include early cancer screening to detect the disease at its most treatable stage.

• volunteers
• Chernihiv
• Kherson
• Sumy

If you are interested in this topic, you can obtain the subjects’ contacts from the Producer Department of Media Center Ukraine.