Media Center Ukraine Producer Department

Johan, a former Danish service member with experience in international missions, aviation, and medical work, first arrived in Ukraine five years ago and launched an ambulance initiative aimed at raising care standards and strengthening community response, a project put on hold when russia’s full-scale invasion broke out. He soon joined the Hospitallers medical battalion, where he continues to assist on the front line. 

A documentary following Johan’s work in Ukraine is set to premiere next spring on a Danish TV channel. 

Interviews with Johan in Kyiv are available by prior appointment. 

For reference: The Hospitallers’ medical battalion has been operating on the front lines since 2014. Its teams conduct dozens of evacuations each day across wide stretches of the battlefield. Since 2015, the organization has trained volunteers in tactical medicine and later expanded into pre-medical care courses in 2018. Its instructors hold certifications from the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians, the Ukrainian Military Medical Academy, and other recognized institutions.

• doctors
• Kyiv

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

Vadym Shevchenko was living with his parents in Polohy, a city in the Zaporizhia region, when russian forces seized it in early March 2022. As explosions shook their neighborhood, the family sheltered in the basement of their home, hoping the fighting would pass.

Just two weeks later, on March 15, 2022, the 25-year-old and a neighbor attempted to flee the occupied city. According to the woman who was with him, armed men in uniforms of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic stopped their car at the final checkpoint and pulled Vadym out. His mother, Olena, believes his lifelong burn scars on his hands led the occupiers to mistakenly suspect he was a soldier.

He was first detained in Melitopol and later transferred to facilities in Donetsk and Olenivka. Today, he is being held in a penal colony in Mordovia, russia. Olena sends letters through the International Committee of the Red Cross and has received two replies from her son. 

She has also learned that he has lost about 30 kilograms during his imprisonment.

Determined to help others facing hardship, Olena now volunteers with the charity “World. Ukraine. Polohy,” supporting families in frontline communities with food assistance.

Interviews with Olena can be arranged in Zaporizhia, in Kyiv, or remotely.

• occupation
• prisoners
• russian crimes
• Kyiv
• Zaporizhzhia

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

Before russia’s full-scale invasion, Andrii Haliuha worked as an electrical engineer in Chernihiv. When russian forces pushed into the region, he rushed to repair damaged power lines and soon found himself assisting neighbors who could not access food or medicine on their own. What began as individual acts of support quickly grew into a full-fledged volunteer effort.

After the liberation of Chernihiv, Haliuha rallied a team of volunteers to help rebuild destroyed homes, and in some cases, construct new ones from the ground up. Their work expanded as new needs emerged. They started weaving camouflage nets and later shifted to a more technical mission: assembling first-person-view drones for Ukrainian troops.

Galyuga went on to establish a nonprofit organization called “Because We Can”, which now focuses on producing FPV drones, 3D-printing parts and components for military equipment, and assembling power banks for soldiers at the front.

Interviews with Andrii Haliuha can be arranged in Chernihiv or remotely.

• volunteers
• Chernihiv

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