Themes by tag: casualties
In less than two and a half years, Yulia Dudysheva, herself displaced from Crimea, has rebuilt and renovated 11 homes free of charge for families uprooted by war.
Before russia’s full-scale invasion, Dudysheva lived and worked in the Chernihiv region, building a career in advertising while occasionally helping friends with home repairs. But after Ukrainian forces liberated the region in the spring of 2022, she left her job, determined to find a new purpose in the wake of destruction.
By June 2023, she had launched a volunteer initiative called “Cozy Homes for IDPs”, focusing on restoring, repairing, and decorating homes for internally displaced people. Her first projects were for friends who offered their houses for renovation. Soon, her efforts expanded to other families who had lost their homes in the war.
Her most recent project took her to Ternopil, where she renovated a house for a family from Enerhodar, a city still under russian occupation.
Dudysheva also shares her work online, documenting every stage of the repairs and attracting a growing community of followers who help fund materials for her projects. Now back in the Chernihiv region, she continues her mission to bring warmth and stability to those rebuilding their lives after displacement.
Interviews with Yulia Dudysheva can be arranged both online and in person by prior appointment.
A Ukrainian Armed Forces veteran who lost three limbs in combat has set a national record for climbing the country’s highest peak. The official announcement will take place in the Lviv region on November 17, recognizing Zakhar Biriukov for the first ascent to the summit of Hoverla by a person with three amputated limbs.
Biriukov, 35, sustained devastating injuries in 2022 while serving on the front lines – losing both arms, one leg, an eye, and part of his hearing, along with severe facial wounds. Despite the trauma, he has dedicated his recovery to helping other service members find purpose after injury.
With his mission focused on supporting fellow service members to rebuild their lives, this climb up Hoverla, Ukraine’s 6,762-foot mountain, became a testament that physical loss is no match for inner strength and determination. “Life is not over, it’s just beginning,” Biriukov said, reflecting on his achievement and his determination to inspire others facing similar challenges.
Journalists are invited to attend the record announcement. Media accreditation is required.
On November 15, the human right action ‘Empty Chairs’ will take place in Kyiv in support of journalists, writers, cultural artists and human rights defenders who have gone missing, been imprisoned or are in captivity due to the russia’s war against Ukraine. The event is organized by PEN Ukraine and Center for Civil Liberties.
The event aims to unite the efforts of all those who support Ukraine and fight for the release of civilians and prisoners of war illegally detained as a result of russia’s war against Ukraine.
During the event, stories will be told about missing, illegally detained, and imprisoned Ukrainian authors, artists, and human rights defenders. Former prisoners will also join the event:
- Maksym Butkevych, Ukrainian human rights activist, journalist, public figure, and military officer who was held captive from June 2022 to October 2024;
- Dmytro Khilyuk, a UNIAN journalist who was held captive in russia from March 2022 to August 2025;
- Leniie Umerova, a Crimean Tatar activist who was held captive in russia from December 2022 to September 2024;
- Yulia “Taira” Paievska, a soldier, volunteer, poet, and public figure who was held captive in russia from March 16 to June 17, 2022;
- Vladislav Yesipenko, a freelance citizen journalist and correspondent for Radio Liberty’s Crimean service, who was held in captivity by the russian occupation authorities from March 2021 to June 20, 2025.
The event will be hosted by Maxim Sitnikov, Executive Director of Ukrainian PEN, and Alexandra Romantsova, Executive Director of the Center for Civil Liberties.
During the event, the organizers will set up a symbolic installation of empty chairs bearing the names of illegally imprisoned, captured, and missing authors, media workers, artists, and human rights defenders.
Event organizers: Ukrainian PEN, Center for Civil Liberties.
Imprisoned Writers Day, or Empty Chair Day, is observed on November 15 at the initiative of International PEN. Empty chairs at human rights events on this day symbolize authors who cannot be with us due to imprisonment, persecution, disappearance, or murder.
Since 2018, Ukrainian PEN, together with the Center for Civil Liberties, has been organizing a human rights event on this day to remind Ukrainians and the world about writers, artists, and all Ukrainians who cannot be with us on this day due to russian aggression.
Before russia’s full-scale invasion, Roman Chernenko worked as a bartender in Kharkiv, leading an ordinary civilian life. But in the summer of 2022, he enlisted in Ukraine’s Defense Forces and was later deployed to the embattled Bakhmut area.
Two years later, in 2024, Chernenko’s life changed in an instant when he stepped on an anti-personnel mine and lost his leg. After undergoing extensive treatment, he began rehabilitation at the UNBROKEN National Rehabilitation Center in Lviv, where he learned to walk again using his first prosthesis.
Determined to help others facing the same challenges, Chernenko stayed on at the center – this time as a member of its team. Drawing from his own experience, he now supports fellow veterans on their path to physical and emotional recovery.
Looking ahead, Chernenko plans to introduce golf therapy for wounded soldiers, saying the sport helps alleviate phantom pain and restore confidence.
Those who wish to meet or speak with Roman Chernenko can do so by prior arrangement, either online or in person in Lviv.
Bioengineer and veteran Oleksandr Zozuliak began defending Ukraine in 2014. He served in the artillery unit of the 128th Mountain Assault Brigade of the Ground Forces, then known as the Mountain Infantry. His brigade fought in the Zolote area of Luhansk Oblast and later in Debaltseve, Donetsk Oblast, where Zozuliak commanded a mortar battery platoon.
On January 25, 2015, during fierce fighting near Debaltseve, a russian tank drove directly into Zozuliak’s trench. He tried to dodge the vehicle, hoping to destroy it with a hand-held grenade launcher. His quick reaction caused the tank to get stuck in the trench, allowing his comrades to hit it. The damaged vehicle was later towed away with a cable to free him from underneath.
Zozuliak suffered severe injuries: multiple broken ribs, a fractured pelvis, damaged right arm and left leg, torn muscles, chest and abdominal trauma, head contusions, and burns. His left arm was the most badly injured and had to be amputated. Doctors told him he would never walk again. Yet, within a year, he was back on his feet, and soon after, back at work, this time in the police force.
Refusing to give up an active life, Zozuliak discovered archery. Working with a prosthetist, he designed a custom prosthesis for shooting, later improving it himself. The modified device includes a special clamp that lets him draw the bowstring. In 2023, he became Ukraine’s national archery champion among athletes with disabilities. He also represented Ukraine at the Invictus Games in 2017 and 2018, competing in cycling, swimming, and archery.
Zozuliak was among the first in Ukraine to receive a cutting-edge bionic prosthesis. Today, he works as a prosthetist-orthotist technician, manufacturing and fitting advanced prosthetic limbs for veterans who lost theirs in the war. These modern prostheses feature multi-sensor systems, and Zozuliak personally tests new designs on himself before adapting them for others.
By prior arrangement, journalists can meet with Oleksandr Zozuliak in Kyiv.
From October 27 to 31, the sixth “Face the Future Ukraine” medical mission will take place in Ivano-Frankivsk. This international initiative brought together surgeons from Canada, the United States, and Ukraine to perform reconstructive surgeries on 30 wounded military personnel and civilians.
A team of 15 foreign medical professionals, including surgeons, anesthesiologists, and nurses, has arrived in Ukraine. They are operating in collaboration with Ukrainian doctors. The mission’s patients have severe mine-blast injuries to the face and neck sustained as a result of the war, including damage to the eye orbit, severe nasal injuries, and missing jaw fragments.
During the previous five missions, medical teams have operated on 245 Ukrainians.
By prior arrangement, journalists can speak with the team of doctors and patients in person in Ivano-Frankivsk.
The project “Light of the Unbroken,” created by YARMICH and Azov.Support, was presented in Kyiv. The project launched a special service that adapts classic clothing for military personnel who have lost limbs. This initiative aims to provide veterans with comfort, style, dignity, and confidence — foundational elements for psychological recovery after war.
The classic menswear brand has partnered with the Azov.Support initiative, which helps veterans with their physical and social rehabilitation. Together, they have developed a format combining individual tailoring, deep empathy, and an engineering approach.
Thanks to this service, military personnel can receive a free personal consultation with specialists who consider all physiological particularities, including prosthetics, changes in body shape, and limited mobility. YARMICH designers then create a custom cut to ensure comfort and a natural fit. Suits, shirts, and coats are sewn from elegant yet functional fabrics that are soft yet hold their shape and classic yet practical. The result is clothing that allows you to look in the mirror with pride once again.
The first Light of the Unbroken ambassadors are Pavlo, whose call sign is “Pakhom,” and Stanislav “Morti” Ryzhenkov. Pavlo is a fighter in the 12th “Azov” Brigade, and Stanislav is an “Azov” veteran and the Commissioner for Veterans’ Affairs in Kyiv.
YARMICH and Azov.Support plan to expand the project to reach more veterans in various Ukrainian cities. Future plans include creating an open partnership program for brands that wish to contribute by providing fabrics, supporting adaptation services, or assisting with logistics.
By prior arrangement, journalists have the opportunity to cover the project and speak with brand representatives and veterans.
Yuliia Matvieieva, 32, lived in Mykolaiv with her husband, building an ordinary life until a russian drone attack changed everything. In July this year, a drone struck their home, sending nearly 300 shards of metal into Yuliia’s face and eyes.
Since then, she has undergone seven surgeries – four of them on her eyes. Her treatment continues, and she remains hopeful that one day she will regain her sight.
Together with her husband, Yuliia runs a blog on social media where she shares her journey of treatment and recovery. Despite the trauma, she says she dreams of seeing her husband’s face again and watching the sun set over the river.
Yuliia Matvieieva is available for conversations both online and in person in Mykolaiv, by prior arrangement.
Vira Biriuk, originally from the village of Bakhmutivka in Ukraine’s Luhansk region, endured a year as her village fell under russian occupation, followed by another year in enemy captivity. When russian forces seized her village at the start of the full-scale invasion, she decided to stay in her home despite the growing danger.
A year later, in the middle of the night, occupation forces broke into her house and took her away. The russians accused her of murder, but Vira believes the real reason was her Ukrainian passport, and the fact that her late brother had served in the Ukrainian military defending the Luhansk region.
Under torture, she says, she was forced to sign a confession. For the first month, she was held in a temporary detention facility, then transferred to a pre-trial detention center in Luhansk, where she spent nearly a year in harsh conditions.
In September 2024, Vira was released as part of a prisoner exchange. After a brief rehabilitation period, she settled at a social center’s temporary housing facility. Today, she works with a charitable foundation in Chernihiv that assists families of prisoners of war.
Vira Biriuk is available for interviews both online and in person in Chernihiv, by prior arrangement.
Olena Yahupova, a resident of the occupied town of Kamianka-Dniprovska in the Zaporizhzhia oblast, endured captivity and forced labor at the hands of russian forces due to her pro-Ukrainian stance. Olena worked in civil service for over 20 years and was known for her Ukrainian patriotic views. She was denounced for allegedly having a husband who served in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In October 2022, occupiers seized her from her home.
During her detention, Olena was subjected to torture as the russians sought information on her husband’s whereabouts and details about other individuals with pro-Ukrainian views.
She was also forced into labor slavery, compelled by the occupiers to dig trenches alongside other hostages. Olena performed this grueling work while living in inhumane conditions. She managed to secure her release after more than six months in captivity.
Now that she is safe, Olena has filed a report with law enforcement and undergone forensic medical examinations. She has been diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury, cerebral microangiopathy, deteriorating eyesight, and injuries to her hip and shoulder joints. She has been assigned a second-degree disability. As a result of the torture Olena endured, she is scheduled to have surgery to replace two cervical discs with implants.
Olena has been officially recognized as a person deprived of personal liberty as a result of Russian aggression, a victim of human trafficking, and a victim of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV).
Journalists have the opportunity to speak with Olena in the Kyiv oblast online or in person, by prior arrangement.
