Themes by tag: casualties

The InNikos Canine Assisted Therapy Center has recently opened in Kyiv. A team of therapy dogs, dog handlers, psychologists, and a rehabilitation therapist help people improve their emotional well-being and physical health. The military personnel, families of defenders, IDPs, children who survived the occupation, and in general people affected by the war, are center clients. The Center provides free-of-charge sessions, and group and individual therapy is available. 

The center employs 9 therapy dogs: six have been trained and tested, and three more are in training. The oldest mixed-breed therapy dog (Labrador Retriever + German Shepherd) is 10-year-old Nika. The youngest dog in the center is a 5-month-old Belgian Malinois named Barcelona. She is still undergoing a training program, but she is already involved in classes, mostly with the military and children. 

The organizers plan to launch a similar canine therapy project in 4 more cities.

• animals
• casualties
• psychological support
• Kyiv

Since 2020, Vladyslav “Samurai” Yeshchenko has been engaged in humanitarian demining. The man dealt with defusing mines in eastern Ukraine. In the wake of Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine, Vladyslav mobilized and took up the position of sapper. In August 2022, the soldier was blown up when performing a combat mission, Vladyslav survived 84 mine explosions. The man fell into a coma and lost his eyesight and partially his hearing. However, despite his severe injury, Vladyslav did not give up: he underwent a rehabilitation program, got married, and founded the “Let’s See the Victory” charity organization. Vladyslav supports other soldiers who have suffered eye injuries. In addition, the charity launched an educational project for school students called Phoenix Visual Rehabilitation out of the Darkness. Together with his wife, the soldier visits educational institutions to give practical classes on accompanying the blind and visually impaired. Vladyslav has already visited three schools in Kyiv and taught classes for 170 students.

• casualties
• military

On January 23, a virtual reality room will be opened in Lviv region. Its purpose is to assist with the rehabilitation of defenders with the help of the latest technologies. The room was created with the assistance of the charity fund “With an Angel on a Shoulder.”

The facility will conduct rehabilitation sessions utilizing VR helmets, with a particular focus on addressing phantom pains and enhancing the psycho-emotional well-being of individuals.

• casualties
• Lviv

On January 20, Lviv will host a presentation of the Pokrova Lviv AMP club soccer. Its players are Ukrainian war amputees. 

A team of 14 members has an athletic field training twice a week. The players on the pitch are lower-extremity amputees, and the goalkeepers are upper-extremity amputees. The field players use forearm crutches and play without prostheses.

During the event, the team will tell more about the team’s participation in this year’s international championship. The journalists can also talk to the players and coach Bohdan Melnyk.

• casualties
• military
• Lviv

Sviatoslav Nikolaichuk became the founder of “Genesis & System Solutions” center for the rehabilitation of veterans in Vinnytsia. In 2015, the man voluntarily joined the Defense Forces and served as a signalman in the 59th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade. Sviatoslav served for one and a half years, participated in the battles near Popasna, Luhansk region (now the city has been completely destroyed by the russians and is under occupation). He was discharged after the birth of his third child.

With the beginning of the big war, the veteran volunteered, and later began to create a rehabilitation center to help soldiers, who have lost their limbs, manage phantom pains.

One of the servicemen who have already walked this path is the veteran of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Mykyta Makazan, who had lost his leg near Bakhmut, Donetsk region. Virtual reality helped the man to get rid of phantom pain – the same technology will be used in “Genesis & System Solutions.” The assistance to veterans will be provided using modern equipment. For this purpose, they purchased virtual reality glasses, two laptops, suspension systems and special exercise bikes for the rehabilitation of the upper and lower limbs. The center received financial support worth UAH 2.5 million from the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation. In addition to virtual reality, the center will also feature traditional rehabilitation. Currently, the facility is already accepting veterans, and will officially open on January 29. 

• casualties
• doctors
• Vinnytsia

“The Superhumans Center” (a state-of-the-art center specializing in advanced rehabilitation and prosthetic services for war victims and amputees) assists patients with job opportunities. They have developed a program to help people with prosthetic devices find jobs (currently, they offer about 230 positions).

For example, agricultural companies, restaurants, and IT careers are those businesses hiring veterans most of all. 

Recently, one of the Center’s patients (a civilian with an upper limb prosthetic) got employment in catering.

Journalists can learn more about this program and talk to the participants who have been helped to find a job, wherever possible.

• casualties
• military
• Lviv

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