Themes by tag: casualties

70-year-old Olha is a teacher who takes care of 5 adopted children. Her husband is severely ill.

The village in the Kherson region where the family lived was occupied by Russia since the beginning of its full-scale invasion. The woman was living in fear of enemy military might separate her from her children, as her daughter and sons were adoptees. They managed to flee life under occupation only on the third attempt.

Now the family lives in a rented apartment. However, Olha’s brother helped them buy a plot of land in the Kyiv region. Dobrobat volunteers assisted in constructing new housing for the family. It will be a one-story eco-house made of wood. They will start building it with the onset of warm weather.

For reference: “Dobrobat” is a volunteer building division helping those affected to restore housing and social infrastructure in the de-occupied territories.

• casualties
• children
• occupation
• reconstruction
• volunteers
• Kyiv

Women who have fallen into difficult life circumstances due to the war have almost completed driving courses in Kyiv. These are the first courses like this in Ukraine. They started in September last year. 15 women joined the pilot project. Among the participants are those who were forced to leave their homes due to russia’s full-scale invasion.

The women have already passed the theoretical part of the exam and are completing the practical part. After successful training, they will be able to obtain a category B license and have the opportunity to become mobile and independent. 

• casualties
• women
• Kyiv

Kyiv set up the “Free inclusive transportation for defenders” pilot project delivered by the Doves of Peace charitable foundation. An inclusive minibus as a transportation system supplement is available for soldiers unable to move around easily due to injuries and wounds. In particular, transportation services operate for people wearing prostheses and wheelchairs or crutches users. The vehicle is equipped with an installed lift, comfortable seats, and climate control. The foundation’s employees and volunteers provide the necessary assistance to passengers.

• casualties
• military
• Kyiv

The announcement of the upcoming United States Air Force Trials 2024 team will be held at the Media Center Ukraine – Ukrinform on January 10. The USAF Trials is an adaptive sports competition for wounded members of the United States Air Force and Marine Corps. The competition will take place in March 2024 in Las Vegas (Nevada). Ukraine will be represented by 30 participants in the competition. They were selected by a special commission based on the results of the All-Ukrainian adaptive sports competitions held in mid-December in Kyiv.

Participants:

– Svitlana Kashenets, Deputy Minister for Veteran Affairs;

– Ihor Krytsak, Coordinating Manager at the United States Air Force Trials competition;

– Olena Yanovska, Head Coach of the team that will compete in the United States Air Force Trials;

– Ivan Naumenko, Director of Strategic Initiatives Department of “Come Back Alive”;

– Anna Bielorusova, Chief Operating Officer at the Centre for Strategic Communications StratCom Ukraine;

– Oleksandra Lokhvytska, Head of the Program Department at the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation.

• casualties
• military
• Kyiv

The Family Art Retreat Project will be held in Lviv from January 6 to 12. Its development process was influenced by the input of experienced professionals from Ukraine and the UK in order to allow children and adults to try their hand at different types of creativity and generate healing through art. 

The project involved 20 IDP children aged 9 to 16 and their families. Participation is free of charge.

The project includes using improv techniques for children, such as acting, music therapy, and dance and movement therapy. Training sessions, self-help lectures, and the use of art practices to support children are available for adults. The program will also include open lectures on psychotherapy and music therapy.

Among the project’s presenters is Nigel Osborne, a British composer, art therapist, and specialist in music and art therapies that positively benefit children traumatized by military conflicts.

For reference: The project is delivered by the “ART DOT” NGO (Kharkiv, Ukraine) in partnership with the Street Culture NGO with the financial support of the Razom Foundation and the “Culture Helps” program, which is implemented by Insha Osvita in cooperation with zusa with the EU support.

• casualties
• children
• culture
• psychological support
• Lviv

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Eleos-Ukraine NGO has taken up the task to equip shelters for internally displaced persons. In 2023, Eleos-Ukraine team decided to create a Day Support Center in Chernihiv, so that everyone could receive both physical and psychological support. The day center “St. Olga’s Women’s Hub” will open its doors on January 15. Psychological training and physical rehabilitation, in particular yoga, will be organized here for local residents and IDPs. In addition, the Center will offer employment consultations. An educator will also work in the hub, so that mothers attending classes at the Center could leave their children with them.

• casualties
• psychological support
• Chernihiv

Yulia Torbenko is a rescue paramedic with a special-purpose emergency rescue unit in Bila Tserkva, Kyiv Oblast (part of the State Emergency Service). She has been doing this for about 14 years. Earlier, in civilian life, Yulia was a paramedic in the EMC team. 

With the all-out invasion outbreak, she and her colleagues stayed at work. There were many casualties due to enemy missile attacks and air strikes, as the war grinds on. 

Yulia provided first aid to everyone who needed it: under fire, clearing rubble, and responding to road accidents. She also accompanied demining teams while clearing mines in the de-occupied Kyiv region.

Despite all the risks, Yulia also continues to save people who have suffered from enemy attacks.

• casualties
• doctors
• Kyiv

Before the full-blown war came about, Mykola Melnyk and his spouse were developing their own business to run in Kharkiv: they bought a car wash and opened a cafe nearby.

With the onset of the full-scale invasion, Mykola brought his wife to safety, taking her to his relatives in the Poltava region, while he himself went to the military enlistment office. In the Kupiansk direction, during the storming of a village, Mykola hit an anti-personnel mine. His injury was serious. After receiving serious injuries that kept him from joining the military, despite trying to get back to fighting, the man had to readjust to living as a civilian. A grant from the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation helped him in this matter. Mykola started his own car wash again, including purchasing new equipment for it, and also bought a tire changing machine and tools. His business provides free services for veterans. 

• casualties
• military

The Peli Can Live charitable organization has constructed new modular houses for 10 families in Chernihiv Oblast to move into new homes through Project Home Again. The project plan aims to build new housing in place of the destroyed households, more than just to give people a roof over their heads. These efforts are designed to ensure families gain access to housing and employment opportunities in native villages or cities, as well as such an approach having a positive impact on people’s mental health.

The founders of the project did not choose specific families but turned to the Chernihiv Military Administration to provide information about the affected communities that are in need of support. Seniors, young families, and three generations families living together are getting new homes. The Tera M construction company has been part of the CF’s team since April 2022, creating modular houses for those who lost their homes due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 

• casualties
• reconstruction
• Chernihiv

On December 23, the exhibition “Fragility” will open in Kyiv. This exhibition is dedicated to prisoners of war and those who are waiting for their relatives and friends from captivity.

In the first days of russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, defenders and workers of the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant were under the russian occupation.

On March 31, 2022, the russians captured 169 Ukrainian National Guardsmen on the territory of the Chernobyl NPP and took them to Bryansk region of the russian federation. 108 of them still remain in captivity.

In order to draw attention to these prisoners of war and support the families who are waiting for the return of their loved ones, a gallery in the capital will display paintings, sculptures and digital works by more than 20 contemporary foreign and Ukrainian artists.

At the opening, everyone will be able to talk with relatives and friends of the Guardsmen — the defenders of the Chernobyl NPP — and watch a short documentary made by Babylon’13 film collective about the work of combat medics from Hospitallers battalion.

50 of the presented works will be available for purchase at an online auction. Funds will be directed to the Hospitallers battalion to support “Avstriika” hospital on wheels.

The event requires accreditation.

• casualties
• culture
• prisoners
• Kyiv