Themes by tag: casualties

Before the full-scale invasion, 29-year-old Mykola Petrovskyi lived with his father and grandmother in Kherson. Mykola is disabled — after a car accident, part of his left foot was amputated and he now wears a prosthesis.

When Kherson was occupied by russian forces, Mykola became a volunteer, helping people in the city. One day, russian security forces abducted him from his home.

In September 2023, the so-called “Supreme Court of Crimea” sentenced Mykola Petrovskyi to 16 years in a maximum-security penal colony, falsely accusing him of “espionage”.

Letters from Mykola reveal that he was tortured in captivity, beaten, denied proper medical care, which is crucial for a person with a disability, and starved. According to the Center for Civil Liberties, Mykola’s health condition has deteriorated.

Read his full story here.

Journalists can arrange interviews with Mykola’s mother (online) and with his lawyer and human rights experts in Kyiv (in person).

• casualties
• occupation
• prisoners
• russian crimes
• Kyiv

Halyna Hlobchasta is the head of the villages of Makiivka and Hrekivka in the Luhansk region. For more than 30 years, she worked as a teacher of mathematics and physics in her hometown of Makiivka. She later became the village head.

On March 3, 2022, russian forces occupied her village. Halyna categorically refused to cooperate with the occupiers. In mid-April of the same year, russian forces abducted her. She was interrogated and brutally tortured. In her yard, the occupiers found a hiding place with Ukrainian flags and blue-and-yellow ribbons. During one of the interrogations, they brought in her husband and ordered them to say goodbye.

Eventually, the couple was released, and they decided to flee the occupation. They managed to reach the Kharkiv region, where they met Ukrainian soldiers.

Journalists can arrange to speak with Halyna Hlobchasta both online and offline in Lviv, by prior arrangement.

• casualties
• occupation
• prisoners
• russian crimes
• women
• Lviv

Oleksii Botsula is originally from the village of Marianivka in Kyiv region. From 2015 to 2018, he fought in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, including at the Svitlodarsk salient. After completing his contract, he returned to civilian life.

Following the start of russia’s full-scale invasion, Oleksii joined one of the brigades and took part in battles in Kyiv region. He later served in various directions. In September 2023, he was wounded during a combat mission in Kharkiv region.

His rehabilitation and treatment lasted about a year. During this time, he applied for a grant from the Ukrainian Veterans Fund, and his project “Farmer Shepherd” (Ferma Pastukha) was selected as a winner. The project involves the reconstruction and modernization of a pig farm, including the renovation of facilities, process automation, and expansion of production capacity.

Currently, the farm houses around 200 pigs. Oleksii is developing the production of canned and smoked products, and provides part of his output free of charge to fellow soldiers on the front line.

Journalists can arrange interviews with Oleksii Botsula both online and offline in Kyiv region by prior arrangement.

• casualties
• culture
• military
• Kyiv

On April 5, journalists are invited to attend the Ukrainian premiere of “SANCTUS VERITAS” performed by the National Academic Symphonic Band of Ukraine. The concert will be conducted by Honored Artist of Ukraine Olha Rukavishnikova and conductor Ivan Stetskyi, featuring works by European composers.

For Olha Rukavishnikova, this performance marks a return to civilian life after four years of service in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. She joined Ukraine’s Defense Forces on February 24, 2022. Her primary weapon was an RPG-7 anti-tank grenade launcher, and she is also trained to operate a sniper rifle, automatic grenade launcher, machine gun, and mortar.

During one of the combat missions, she was thrown several meters by a blast wave, and a fragment fractured her cervical spine. As a result of the same injury, she lost her left eye.

Background: The first part of “SANCTUS VERITAS” will feature the dramatic biblical work Adam and Eve by Hugo Chinesta and the large-scale symphonic piece Noah’s Ark by Óscar Navarro. The second part will include the deeply emotional symphonic poem Abraham by Ferrer Ferran and Byzantine Mosaics by Franco Cesarini — a musical symbol of spiritual grandeur and the light associated with the birth of Christ.
Journalists can review the full program in advance. Accreditation is required.
Interviews with Olha Rukavishnikova are available upon request.

• casualties
• culture
• military
• women
• Kyiv

Oleh Bykov is a volunteer and activist from Kremenchuk in Ukraine’s Poltava region. Since the start of russia’s full-scale invasion, he and his team have been working to find ways  to make it easier for medics to deal with shell fragments left in the bodies of wounded soldiers.

The team has developed a series of magnetic devices named “Edelweiss,” “White Angel,” “Prometheus,” “Hydra,” and “Bucephalus.” These devices help doctors detect metal fragments in wounded patients and safely extract them.

A new device, “Sherlock,” is expected to join this lineup soon, once volunteers receive final feedback from medical professionals who are already awaiting its deployment. In particular, surgeons at the Shalimov National Institute of Surgery and Transplantology and the Amosov National Institute of Cardiovascular Surgery are preparing to use the device. Doctors at these institutions already rely on earlier inventions created by the team.

Over the past four years, Oleh Bykov and his team have produced and delivered more than 4,000 devices to medical professionals free of charge. The team is also developing another type of magnetic extractor called “Lilith.”

Journalists can arrange interviews with Oleh Bykov both online and offline in Kyiv by prior arrangement.

• casualties
• doctors
• volunteers
• Kyiv

In 2023, the UNBROKEN Centre, together with the UNBROKEN Charitable Foundation and L’Oréal Ukraine, launched the joint social project “(Not) Up For Beauty.” Its goal is to help women affected by russian aggression overcome the physical effects of war, restore their appearance, and regain self-confidence.

What support do participants receive within the project?

– Consultations with qualified specialists in plastic surgery, aesthetic medicine, and other medical professionals if needed;

– Individual treatment plans depending on the consequences of injuries, including surgeries, cosmetic procedures, and CO₂ laser scar resurfacing;

– Sessions of body-oriented psychotherapy and counseling.

Over more than two years since its launch, 61 women have received assistance. All services within the project are provided free of charge.

By prior arrangement, journalists can speak with the project’s specialists and, where appropriate, with participants.

• casualties
• doctors
• women

The international humanitarian organization World Central Kitchen invites journalists to attend seed kit distributions as part of its “Seeds of Hope” program. In 2026, the initiative will cover frontline and war-affected communities, including those in the Mykolaiv, Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy, Chernihiv, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Kharkiv, and Khmelnytskyi regions. In total, around 45,000 seed kits are expected to be distributed to households, alongside the development of community greenhouses and shared farming plots.

Each kit is tailored to local conditions and includes seeds for vegetables and herbs commonly used in Ukrainian cuisine, such as cabbage, zucchini, dill, radish, tomatoes, beetroot, parsley, sweet peppers, cucumbers, and carrots.

Journalists are welcome to attend field distributions, visit community fields or greenhouses in the regions, and speak with program participants and local teams. Available formats include on-site visits, as well as online and in-person interviews, and photo and video coverage of distribution and planting.

• casualties
• food

From March 22 to 28, Ukraine will host the sixth Face to Face humanitarian mission. A team of American reconstructive facial surgeons will work in Lviv for a week.

Doctors will provide assistance to patients with facial nerve palsy, bone loss in the face, eyelid and orbital injuries, and soft tissue deformities. Both military personnel and civilians injured as a result of the war can apply, and all surgeries will be provided free of charge.

Journalists can arrange interviews with the medical team both online and in person in Lviv, by prior arrangement.

• casualties
• doctors
• Lviv

Media representatives are invited to cover the Final Four of the Ukrainian Amputee Football Cup. Journalists will have the opportunity to speak with representatives of the “League of the Mighty” project, players from the four finalist teams, their coaches, as well as match officials. The event will take place in Kyiv.

The teams reaching the final stage are Bartka, Vinnytsia AMP, Pokrova AMP, and Shakhtar Stalevi.

Media accreditation is required to attend the event.

Background: The “League of the Mighty” project was launched by the Ukrainian Association of Football in 2024 to engage people with limb amputations and limb impairments in the world’s most popular sport.

• casualties
• culture
• Kyiv

Oleksandr Darmoros’s life changed in March 2016, when he was serving as a scout in the ATO zone (Anti-Terrorist Operation—the fight against russian aggression in eastern Ukraine, which lasted from 2014 to 2018). During one of his combat missions, the soldier stepped on an anti-personnel mine; shrapnel mangled nearly his entire body. Thanks to his comrades, Oleksandr was evacuated in time, though his vision and leg could not be saved. What followed was a series of surgeries, years of treatment and rehabilitation—both in Ukraine and abroad. He had to learn to use a prosthetic limb, relearn how to walk, and take care of himself—all in complete darkness.

In the USA, Oleksandr received a running prosthesis and participated in the Marine Corps Marathon. Afterward, the veteran took up a new profession—military psychologist—and worked with soldiers who needed psychological support.

Today, Oleksandr is setting up his own farm—raising quails and tending a garden. Together with his family, the veteran built a greenhouse and collects various plant varieties. He also runs a blog where he writes about his life.

You can connect with Oleksandr Darmoros both online and in person in the Khmelnytskyi region, by prior arrangement.

• casualties
• military
• Khmelnytskyi