Themes by tag: casualties

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

Stepan Vlasyuk joined the Ukrainian military in 2014, when russia first attacked Ukraine. While carrying out one of his combat missions, Stepan was seriously wounded and lost his leg.

After his injury, treatment, and prosthetics, Stepan found a new calling—a job at the technology company BlueBird Tech, where veterans and specialists are trained to work with modern military technologies, including drones and electronic warfare systems.

Journalists can connect with Stepan Vlasyuk and the BlueBird Tech team both online and offline, by prior arrangement.

• casualties
• military

Marking the 4th anniversary of the russian occupation of the village of Yahidne, the Public Interest Journalism Lab (PIJL) has produced an audio guide titled “Yahidne. A Village in Captivity.”
The presentation took place on March 3 in Yahidne itself, in the Chernihiv region, where 368 local residents became victims of russian war crimes.

It was on March 3, 2022, that russian troops herded almost all residents of the village into the basement of the local school, including dozens of elderly people, children, and infants. They were held there for nearly a month and used as a human shield, forbidden to leave the cramped space while russian soldiers set up a military headquarters inside the school building. Under these horrific conditions, ten people died in the basement.

The audio guide is a documentary tour of the site of a war crime — the school grounds and its basement.
The English-language version is narrated by American historian Timothy Snyder, while the voices of Yahidne residents in English are read by American writer and journalist Anne Applebaum, Canadian politician Khrystya Freeland, British journalist and propaganda researcher Peter Pomerantsev, American journalist Sabra Ayres, American-French writer Jonathan Littell, and American historian Marcy Shore.

The audio guide is available in Ukrainian and English on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.
A QR code with the link is displayed on banners next to the school, which continues to be visited by tourists and foreign delegations.

By prior arrangement, journalists can speak with representatives of the Public Interest Journalism Lab online or in person in Kyiv.

Background: The PIJL team has a unique connection to the village community, as its journalists were among the first to visit the liberated Chernihiv region in April 2022.

Based on testimonies documented from Yahidne residents, the team produced a documentary film, which—together with a written report from the village—was published in TIME magazine in an issue dedicated to the publication’s centennial. In addition to English, the film has been translated into eight other languages: Spanish, Italian, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Turkish, and French.The story of Yahidne was also included in the reportage book “The Scariest Days of My Life”, which became a historical record of the first year of russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine.

• casualties
• dead
• occupation
• russian crimes
• Kyiv

Myroslav Chornomor is a choreographer by profession who danced and toured abroad with a folk ensemble. In 2016, he received his draft notice, and after completing his mandatory military service, he signed a contract. He then mastered the profession of scout.

Myroslav enrolled at Ostroh Academy to study national security, then at the Security Service of Ukraine Academy, and in June 2022, he was to receive two diplomas.

The soldier met the start of the full-scale invasion at his position near Mariupol as commander of the reconnaissance unit of the 36th Separate Marine Brigade. On April 12, Myroslav, along with his comrades who were defending Azovmash, decided to surrender. For the next two years, the soldier’s family did not know where he was or what had happened to him.

The Ukrainian soldier was one of those whom the russian occupiers illegally sentenced to life imprisonment on fabricated charges of alleged crimes against civilians in Mariupol. In the russian colony where he was serving his sentence, his cellmates included a serial killer, and the cell next door held the perpetrator of the Beslan terrorist attack. Myroslav was returned to Ukraine during a prisoner exchange on February 5, 2026. The soldier plans to seek medical treatment, see his father, who is serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and resume his studies to obtain his diplomas.

Journalists can speak with Myroslav Chornomor online or in person near Kyiv from March 20, by prior arrangement.

• casualties
• military
• prisoners
• russian crimes
• Kyiv

The Ukrainian Amputee Football Cup has begun. In total, the tournament will bring together 16 teams from different regions of the country, who will compete for one of the main national trophies.

In recent matches, all quarterfinalists have already been determined and will continue the fight. On March 14-15, the quarterfinal matches of the Ukrainian Amputee Football Cup will take place, and the Final Four will be held in Kyiv on March 21 and 22.

For reference: The Strong League project was launched by the Ukrainian Football Association in 2024 with the aim of involving people with amputated limbs and limb function impairments in the most popular game in the world.

• casualties
• culture
• Kyiv

The sixth Face to Face humanitarian mission will take place in Ukraine from March 22 to 28. A team of American facial reconstructive surgeons will work in Lviv for a week.

The doctors will help those with facial paralysis, facial bone loss, eyelid and eye socket injuries, and facial tissue deformities. Military personnel and civilians who have been wounded in the war can apply — all operations will be free of charge.

You can communicate with the team of doctors both online and offline in Lviv, by prior arrangement.

• casualties
• doctors
• Lviv