Themes by tag: casualties

On December 6, the Neopolis amusement park, located in the Respublika Park shopping mall, will host a heartwarming charity event for 200 children impacted by the war. These children, rescued through the efforts of the Save Ukraine charity organization, will experience a day filled with joy, care, and festive cheer.  

The event’s program offers:  

– Interactive entertainment with animators dedicated to creating a joyful and supportive atmosphere;

– Gift distribution near the mall’s grand Christmas tree, marking the celebration’s bright conclusion.

Each child will receive a personalized gift, made possible by the NGO “Ukraine is a Mother” through its “Bridge of Support” project.  

This gathering is more than a festive celebration—it’s an opportunity for children who have endured unimaginable hardships to feel embraced by a community of support and hope, empowering them to dream again.  

Journalists wishing to cover the event must obtain accreditation.

• casualties
• children
• Kyiv

For over two decades, Anna Yaroshenko has been exploring the depths as a diver, firmly believing that diving is an experience everyone can enjoy. She’s guided children, seniors, and individuals with hearing and visual impairments, mental health challenges, and physical injuries into the underwater world. Beneath the surface, gravity fades, and the sensation of weightlessness becomes universal.  

When russia’s full-scale invasion began, Anna realized that diving could offer more than adventure—it could be a path to physical and psychological rehabilitation for wounded soldiers. Her first participants, veterans with injuries and amputations, were introduced by her mother, a rehabilitation therapist.  

Anna launched her initiative with a bold name: “Gravity? WTF?” The goal is to provide veterans with a challenging and rewarding new hobby—one that demands mastering the full range of skills needed to become independent divers.  

Training begins in a shallow, wheelchair-accessible pool free from barriers. Once comfortable, participants advance to a 3.8-meter-deep pool. For those who feel confident after several sessions, the final challenge is open water.  

So far, around 40 veterans, including three women, have taken part in the program.  

Journalists are invited to witness this unique rehabilitation effort firsthand at a Kyiv pool where the diving lessons take place.

• casualties
• military
• women
• Kyiv

On December 2, Kyiv will host the presentation of the book “Prykhystok: A Startup That Saved a Million Lives” by MP Halyna Yanchenko.

The book details the eponymous initiative launched on the first day of the full-scale invasion, which helped over a million Ukrainian refugees find free temporary shelter. It is a poignant collection of the project team’s memories of the resilience, solidarity and innovation that Ukrainians demonstrated during the darkest days of the invasion.

The event will feature real-life heroes from the book – Ukrainians who endured the occupation and managed to relocate and start new lives in other cities, thanks in part to the Prykhystok (Shelter) initiative. They will tell their personal stories.

Program highlights:

– A conversation with the author about the creation of the initiative and the book.

– Stories from the book’s protagonists who were forced to find a new home and found shelter.

– A discussion about the power of social innovation and the ability of Ukrainians to unite for mutual aid.

– A book signing with the author.

Registration is required for this event.

• casualties
• culture
• occupation
• Kyiv

On December 2, during the fourth training camp of the Ukrainian national team for the 2025 Invictus Games, a friendly wheelchair basketball match will take place between this year’s team members and participants from previous years’ teams.

In addition to the basketball game, players from different years will connect, share their experiences, and reflect on their participation in the project. Former team members will once again experience the Invictus spirit and share their stories about being part of the initiative. The day will also feature an informal networking session between the national team members and project partners.

Speeches will be delivered by Ukraine’s Minister for Veterans Affairs, Nataliia Kalmykova, representatives from the Embassy of Canada, and NATO officials.

Media representatives will have the opportunity to interview current and former national team members, as well as guests, partners, and project organizers.

Registration is required for media attendance.

Background Information: The 2025 Invictus Games will be held in Canada from February 8-16, 2025 and will feature winter sports for the first time. The event is expected to attract over 500 participants from more than 20 countries.

• casualties
• military
• Kyiv

In Kyiv, a unique rehabilitation project is helping military personnel recover through archery, including those who have lost limbs. The initiative welcomes veterans, active-duty soldiers, and their families, offering free daily training sessions.  

Leading the effort is Dmytro Lvovskyi, an international master of sports and founder and Board Chair of the “Ukrainian Archery Space” NGO. Since 2014, he has funded archery training for wounded soldiers, including veterans of the ATO service, using his own resources. His work expanded with support from the Kyiv City Center for Physical Culture and Sports for Persons with Disabilities “Invasport” and the All-Ukrainian Center for Physical Health “Sport for All,” as part of the Ministry of Youth and Sports’ “Active Parks — Unstoppable” program.  

Archery is accessible to all, even those with severe injuries. Participants missing legs train from wheelchairs, while those without arms can draw the bowstring with their teeth. Even individuals who are completely blind can take part, using specialized techniques tailored for visually impaired archers.  

Journalists can arrange to visit and cover the training sessions in Kyiv by appointment.

• casualties
• military
• Kyiv

Before joining the Azov Brigade, Svitlana Vorova worked as a senior engineer at Ukrzaliznytsia and raised three children. One of her sons, Oleksandr Kutuzakii, was in the Azov Brigade from the very beginning. On 15 February 2015, the vehicle carrying Svitlana’s son was ambushed by enemy forces. His body was taken by kadyrov’s troops and returned mutilated, but Svitlana chose to bury him in an open coffin to expose the brutality of the enemy.

The loss of Oleksandr was devastating for Svitlana, especially after the deaths of her father and father-in-law and a divorce. Her two younger children helped her to cope with the loss and find the strength to move on.

In 2020, she decided to honour the legacy of her fallen son by joining the Azov Brigade herself.

When the full-scale invasion began, Svitlana was in Mariupol with her comrades and soon found herself in Azovstal. Although her commander offered women the chance to leave through a green corridor, Svitlana stayed. She spent 86 days in the steelworks, was taken prisoner with her comrades and spent 11 months in a russian prison camp. According to Svitlana, the women were not physically tortured, but they were subjected to constant psychological abuse. On her return, Svitlana spent eight months in rehabilitation centres, hospitals and sanatoriums. She then re-joined the army.

Svitlana Vorova is currently serving in the East. Interviews with her can be arranged online or in person by prior arrangement with the Azov Brigade press service.

• casualties
• dead
• military
• prisoners
• russian crimes
• women

Ilias Sheikhisliamov, a Crimean Tatar and volunteer from the Odesa oblast, was born and raised in Crimea. After the russian occupation of the peninsula in 2014, he stayed there for another four years. Since 2019, he only visited Crimea in the summer to see his family.  Ilias met the beginning of the full-scale invasion abroad: he was studying at a university in Turkey. However, he soon decided to return to Ukraine to volunteer and support the Ukrainian army.

His professors discouraged him from returning, but he insisted and later came to Odesa. He immediately started working there and joined the NGO “Crimean Tatars of Odesa Oblast”. On March 5, 2024, Ilias learned that his father, Ali Mamutov, who was living with his family in occupied Crimea, had been arrested by the russian authorities. He learned the news from his younger brother. The occupiers falsely accused Ali Mamutov of participating in or creating a terrorist organization.

While his father was being held in a detention center in Simferopol, Ilias managed to communicate with him through the russian app Zonatelecom. However, Ali Mamutov was transferred to the russian city of Rostov, and communication with him was cut off. After his father’s arrest, Ilias decided to pursue his teenage dream of becoming a lawyer. He enrolled at the Tavrida National University, which had relocated to Kyiv after Crimea’s occupation. Ilias sees this as one of the ways to keep in touch with Crimea.

Ilias Sheikhisliamov is available for interviews, both online and offline, by prior arrangement.

Background: As of May this year, the Crimean Tatar Resource Center recorded 331 cases of political imprisonment and criminal persecution since the annexation of Crimea. Of these, 217 were against members of the Crimean Tatar community.

• casualties
• occupation
• prisoners
• russian crimes
• volunteers
• Kyiv
• Odesa

Peaceful rallies will take place in 26 cities across Ukraine on November 23-24 to raise awareness about the plight of Azovstal defenders and other military personnel still held in enemy captivity. The events aim to remind the nation and the world of the ongoing struggle faced by prisoners of war and the missing.

On November 23, rallies will be held in Okhtyrka, Pivdennoukrainsk, Pavlohrad, Chernihiv, Vinnytsia, Irpin, Dnipro, Zhytomyr, Obukhiv, and Zaporizhia. The following day, November 24, similar actions are planned in Kyiv, Pivdennoukrainsk, Mykolaiv, Uman, Cherkasy, Poltava, Uzhhorod, Korosten, Obukhiv, Brovary, Krolevets, Ovruch, Korostyshiv, Kovel, Kryvyi Rih, Ternopil, Kremenchuk, Odesa, Ostroh, and Chernivtsi.

These events are spearheaded by the families of prisoners of war from the Mariupol garrison, with participation from Ukrainians who have been released from captivity. Their collective message seeks to emphasize the urgent need to secure the freedom of those still detained and highlight the resilience of Ukraine’s defenders.

• casualties
• prisoners
• russian crimes
• Kyiv

Ivan Lavreniuk, a native of Ukraine’s Vinnytsia region, answered the call to defend his country when russia launched its full-scale invasion. Volunteering for service, he joined the airborne assault troops and became part of the 71st Separate Jaeger Brigade. Stationed near Avdiivka, Ivan faced relentless combat. In March 2024, while returning from an assault, he was caught in a mortar strike. The blast left him permanently blind. Ivan recalls knowing instantly what had happened. He checked his arms and legs, confirmed they were intact, and began crawling back to safety.  

The road to recovery was far from easy. Psychological rehabilitation posed significant challenges, but the unwavering support of family and friends helped Ivan rebuild his life. His physical recovery progressed quickly, thanks to a lifelong passion for sports. It was this passion that led Ivan to try out for Ukraine’s national team at the Invictus Games. He is now preparing to compete in powerlifting, athletics, and swimming.

For those interested in meeting Ivan Lavreniuk, he is available for conversations in Vinnytsia, with prior arrangements possible either online or in person.

• casualties
• military
• Vinnytsia

The White Angels police unit operates in hot spots, evacuating civilians, providing emergency medical care, delivering humanitarian aid and transporting the bodies of the deceased. Currently, the team is working in Kurakhove, Donetsk oblast.

In one trip, the officers managed to evacuate 13 people and 7 animals. The White Angels loaded 10 residents with their belongings, along with six cats and a dog, into an armored vehicle. They also towed a car damaged by an enemy drone, carrying a woman and her son, while the father of the family followed in his own vehicle.

During one operation, while the crew was evacuating two children with their parents, the occupiers attacked with aerial bombs. The law enforcement officers waited out the attack and took the people to a safe place.

Interviews with the officers can be arranged both online and offline by prior arrangement, with the possibility of covering the crew’s work.

• casualties
• evacuation