Themes by tag: casualties

Under the banner of the “City Healing” initiative, Ukrainian servicemembers undergoing treatment or rehabilitation in Lviv’s medical facilities are being offered complimentary tours of the historic city. These tours, available both individually and in groups, serve as a rejuvenating respite for those in need.

Covering a diverse array of topics, the tours showcase the city’s myriad attractions, from its iconic landmarks and bustling downtown to its serene parks. Knowledgeable guides provide insights into Lviv’s rich history spanning princely and medieval eras, its architectural marvels, artistic heritage, and cherished traditions.

Since its inception, the “City Healing” program has extended its healing touch to 552 military personnel and their families. 

• casualties
• culture
• military
• Lviv

Volodymyr Mamalyha is a psychologist by profession. In 2014, when russia attacked Ukraine for the first time, he volunteered to join the army. Volodymyr served as a sniper in the East. After returning to civilian life, the veteran began to help the military by providing psychological support to the defenders and creating veteran communities in Cherkasy.

The day after the big war started, the man was already in the ranks of the Armed Forces. Volodymyr fought near Popasna and Lysychansk in Luhansk region, later he was hospitalized and discharged from active duty by the decision of the military medical commission.

The veteran says that it was not easy to return to normal life, so he decided to create a hub of psychological support for servicemen and veterans of the Armed Forces. Volodymyr applied for a grant from the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation, won and received funding. And then he started a hub in Cherkasy. Besides psychologists, lawyers work there too. In addition, various training events for veterans are held in the hub. Currently, Volodymyr has applied for another grant to purchase a special car to transport servicemen with disabilities to the hub.

• casualties
• military
• psychological support

Before the full-scale invasion, Tetiana Khomenko was a fourth-year university student majoring in tourism. On February 24, 2022, Tetiana was in the capital. With the first explosions, the girl moved to her native village of Nebelytsia in Kyiv region. On February 28, the girl came out of the basement of her house when she heard an explosion. Fragments of an enemy shell flew straight into her face.

Ukrainian defenders arrived at the site and evacuated Tetiana to the hospital. There, the woman was given first aid, and later transferred to a plastic surgery department. For the first time after the injury, Tetiana saw her face in a photo that she took by herself, because doctors and relatives wouldn’t let Tetiana look in the mirror.

Even though the surgeons managed to almost completely remove the consequences of the explosion, Tetiana took a long time to recover psychologically. Later, she decided to change her profession and began to study psychology instead of tourism. In the future, Tetiana plans to work with those who have also received mine and explosive injuries, in particular, with military personnel.

• casualties
• women

Scientists of the V. V. Tarnovskyi Chernihiv Regional Historical Museum continue to make records of historical artifacts in the village of Yahidne in Chernihiv oblast. (In the spring of 2022, the occupiers kept more than 300 local residents in inhumane conditions for almost a month in the basement of the school).

Specialists have been making trips to the school in Yahidne since September of last year. During this time, they examined and described more than 1,000 artifacts, which include: clothes, shoes, personal belongings, backpacks, books, boxes from enemy dry rations, tubes of antiseptics, russian newspapers, wooden pallets that the prisoners had to sit and sleep on and even plastic water bottles, which people had to use as a toilet. Experts have already finished describing all the rooms in the basement. And now they are still documenting (photographing and making records) artifacts on the territory of the settlement, including: remnants of enemy equipment, uniforms and ammunition boxes. They are also in communication with local residents.

All items studied by the scientists will remain in place. The authorities plan to create a memorial complex in Yahidne, and the school basement, where the prisoners were kept, will be a part of it.

Journalists have the opportunity to learn more and join the trip of the museum’s scientific staff to cover their work.

For reference: The village of Yahidne is located near Chernihiv. At the start of the full-scale invasion, the russians set up a command point in a local school. In its basement, they kept local residents — 299 adults and 67 children — for almost a month. (Almost the entire population of the village). The area of the basement is 197 square meters. Due to the lack of space, people had to sleep sitting up, and they also had trouble breathing. Ten people died then.

In February, the famous American TIME magazine released a cover with the Yahidne village basement.

• casualties
• occupation
• russian crimes
• Chernihiv

In March 2024, the Seeds of Victory project by World Central Kitchen will resume its work. The organization provides seed kits to those who have land to grow vegetables but cannot purchase seeds. This program aims to help communities reach food self-sufficiency, especially in the regions most affected by the war.

This year, the project operates in Donetsk, Zaporizhia, Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Sumy regions. Seed kits include peas, corn, cucumbers, beets, cabbage, radishes, parsley, sorrel, squash and carrots.

For reference: In 2023, more than 165,000 seed kits were distributed throughout Ukraine as part of the Seeds of Victory project. World Central Kitchen (WCK) is a non-profit, non-governmental organization that provides food to victims of natural disasters. WCK was founded in 2010 by celebrity chef José Andres, who along with his team cooked food in Haiti after the devastating earthquake. World Central Kitchen works by responding and collaborating with local chefs to address the food crisis caused by disasters.

• casualties

Before the start of russia’s full-scale invasion, Maksym Shevchenko worked in car repairs. On February 24, 2022, he was in Irpin. Despite the shelling, he evacuated residents from Bucha, Vorzel, the outskirts of Hostomel and Irpin. Later, the situation got more complicated and hostilities intensified, so he could only evacuate Irpin residents. (He took them to the Romanivka Bridge, which sustained so much damage to the structure that people could only cross it on foot).

Maksym evacuated people with reduced mobility, the elderly and the wounded. Sometimes he had to carry people on his shoulders. During the evacuations, the volunteer saw corpses of the residents who died due to russian shelling. And the volunteer himself came under enemy fire several times.

Maksym filmed what was happening around him on his phone. On March 21, 2022, his own house was destroyed by an enemy strike. Before that, one of his cars had been damaged by an enemy shell. In order to take people out, he had to use the cars of his relatives, friends and ordinary residents.

Maksym continues to volunteer even now. He delivers humanitarian aid to the frontline regions.

Journalists have the opportunity to learn more and communicate with the volunteer in Kyiv region (either in person or online).

For reference: on April 2, 2022, Kyiv region was completely liberated from russian occupation. By April 6, 2022, the Defense Forces fully liberated Chernihiv region. On April 11, 2022, the then Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi announced that full control over the state border in Sumy region was restored.

• casualties
• occupation
• volunteers
• Kyiv
• evacuation

Olena Yuzvak found herself under the occupation immediately after the beginning of the big war. Hostomel, a town in Kyiv region, where a doctor was staying, was captured by the russians. Olena stayed there to continue working and helping people who could not leave. Olena distributed medicine and cared for the wounded until the occupiers captured her. The doctor was released a day later, and 10 days later, the Ukrainian military liberated Hostomel. Olena immediately returned to work and began working to restore the medical institutions she managed. One of these facilities is located in Moshchun village, Kyiv region, which was destroyed by a direct hit in the shelling. With the support of international funds, Olena managed to build a new Health Center and turn it into an energy-independent Invincibility Center. The Health Center in Moshchun has been successfully operating since its opening. Currently, the doctor continues to work on the restoration and opening of modern medical facilities.

For reference: on April 2, 2022, Kyiv region was completely liberated from russian occupation. By April 6, 2022, the Defense Forces fully liberated Chernihiv region. On April 11, 2022, the then Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi announced that full control over the state border in Sumy region was restored.

• casualties
• doctors
• occupation
• prisoners
• reconstruction
• russian crimes
• women
• Kyiv

The proximity to the front line does not matter for FRIDA medical volunteer mission, especially when the residents of the communities themselves are asking for doctors to come.

In the near future, a team of 9 doctors will consult patients in Donetsk region (journalists can learn more details about the settlements in question).

The team of doctors was formed in response to the requests of local residents: people need consultations by a cardiologist, a surgeon, an ultrasound technician, a gastroenterologist, a neurologist, an otolaryngologist and an ophthalmologist.

Journalists are invited to join the mission to see and film the work of doctors in difficult conditions, talk to local residents and cover the life in frontline communities

It is also possible to receive photo and video materials after the mission’s return as well as to interview doctors.

For reference: For the second year in a row, FRIDA Ukraine, the largest medical volunteer mission in Ukraine, continues with its trips to the frontline and de-occupied regions to deploy field clinics and provide specialized medical assistance on sites.

• casualties
• doctors

“HAB | Lviv Habilitation Center” will open in Lviv on March 7. This is an initiative of the Alliance for Public Health in cooperation with the UNBROKEN National Rehabilitation Center.

“HAB | Lviv Habilitation Center” is a transitional barrier-free space that provides an opportunity to safely relive the experience of war in order to move on. Veterans and civilians who have already undergone physical rehabilitation at the UNBROKEN Center and need to adapt to new living conditions will acquire new skills here.

The area of the habilitation center is 660 square meters. It has 9 rooms and 27 beds. 300 patients are to undergo habilitation there per year.

The first patients of the center were:

• Yana Kovaliova, a librarian from Avdiivka, received an injury in the hostilities, which led to the amputation of her right leg. She underwent treatment and rehabilitation at the UNBROKEN center. She is adapting to everyday life in the Lviv Habilitation Center.
• Illia Dmytryshyn, a soldier of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, was wounded while defending Ukraine. He underwent treatment and rehabilitation at the UNBROKEN center. He is focusing on adapting to the status of a veteran and a person with a disability. At Lviv Habilitation Center, Illia is working on his psycho-emotional state and on planning for the future.

During the opening, there will be an opportunity to chat with patients and specialists, as well as join a kintsugi master class to learn the art of imperfection. Patients and guests will glue broken dishes, which is a symbol that after setbacks and trials, one can become even stronger with the right support. 

• casualties
• doctors
• Lviv

The Fedorchenko family from Kherson region stayed in the occupation for over a year and a half.

While still at home, Tetiana and her husband Raj (he is of Romani origin) did everything possible to avoid russian citizenship and not to send their daughter and grandchildren to a russian school. The family managed to survive hunger, rocket attacks, from which they hid in the basement, and the tyranny of the russian regime. Every day, the military went to the streets with surprise raids.

Once, a unit of russian soldiers broke into a neighbor’s place. Then a policeman approached Tetiana, who was on the street, and told her to be a “witness in the case.” And when Raj wanted to take his wife back to their yard, a machine gun was pointed at him. They shot in the air twice and again pointed the gun at him. The woman persuaded the man to go into the house and let her go to testify.

The family left the occupation in September 2023. For 4 months, they lived and received comprehensive support in the “Hope and Recovery” center of the “Save Ukraine” charitable organization. Among other things, specialists provided psychological assistance to adults and children.

Now the family lives in Poltava region. They are open to communication both in person and online.

• casualties
• children
• occupation
• Poltava