Themes by tag: casualties

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

Oleh Horbachov, the lawyer of Stanislav Asieiev, a former prisoner of the “Insulation” concentration camp, said that during the court session on December 22, the defendant is to present the closing statement. Then the judges will go to the conference room to agree on the sentence. Stanislav Avsieiev’s defense attorney said that he would ask the court to let the journalists be present in the court when the verdict is announced.

For reference: Denys “Palych” Kulykovskyi is charged with five counts, including human trafficking and violation of the laws and customs of war. The prosecutor’s office demands 15 years behind bars for the accused man.

“Insulation” is the term referring to the territory of the former insulation material factory in Donetsk. In June 2014, it was captured by the occupiers and turned into a military base and a prison for the captives. “Insulation” prison was repeatedly called “Europe’s last concentration camp” in the media.

• casualties
• prisoners
• russian crimes
• Kyiv

In May, the Veteran Hub team presented the Resex project. It involves a study and a platform that helps wounded warriors return to sex life and relationships. The project was inspired by a guide for wounded veterans by Catharine Ellis, an American writer, rehabilitation specialist, and a therapist. Veteran Hub conducted a study to understand the positive experiences and potential barriers to returning to sex and intimacy after injury and trauma for both men and women. The team collected information about how combat experience and physical injuries affect intimate life, what changes in sex can happen to soldiers and how to accept a new self. After that, together with specialists – urologists, psychologists and rehabilitation specialists, the team developed practical recommendations for various injuries and collected them in Liubys (Make Love) manual.

The main goal of the Resex project is to show that the return to sex after injury is different for everyone and each situation is unique. But the main thing to understand is that everyone needs to experience, feel and enjoy sex regardless of the injury.

• casualties
• military

Yuliana is a resident of Bakhmut, Donetsk region. On the day when she decided to leave the city with her family, the enemy began to attack her residential area.

The woman managed to cover her head with her hands during a powerful explosion. Having regained consciousness, she realized that she was under rubble. Yuliana remembers that when she was getting helped with getting out, she noticed that the fingers on her hand had been ripped apart. It felt as if the limb had been completely torn off.

The wound did not heal well, part of the muscles had to be cut out. The doctors did not know what to do with the hand next. Due to the improper growth of bones and muscles, no one wanted to undertake treatment. However, Yuliana later found out about the national program “Save the Limb,” the specialists of which are currently fighting to save her hand.

For reference: The “Save the Limb” national program was launched last year upon the initiative of the International Charitable Foundation “Health of the Ukrainian People.” Its mission is to prevent Ukrainians from becoming disabled via 15,000 surgeries to save the limbs of both the military and the civilians.

Battles for Bakhmut began in August 2022, although the russians had been shelling the city since the spring. By May 2023, russian troops occupied most of Bakhmut. Due to constant russian shelling, the city was razed to the ground. Yuliana’s apartment was also destroyed.

• casualties
• doctors
• women

Chujo Hideto is a 42-year-old businessman from Japan. He came to Ukraine in the spring of 2022 and has been volunteering ever since. In particular, in Dnipro, Chudjo contributed financially to the creation of a shelter for forcibly displaced persons. The Japanese man lives in this facility, and helps adults and children staying there.

The volunteer also took part in rescue operations in Kherson region after the occupiers blew up the Kakhovka HPP dam. And recently he bought power generators, power banks and boats for the local rescuers.

Chujo is the founder of the “Smile” charitable foundation, which supports children traumatized by the war. Wearing a Pikachu outfit, the Japanese man gives positive emotions to children and brings them gifts.

Journalists have the opportunity to talk to the volunteer (online or in person). Chujo Hideto does not speak English, he communicates with the help of translation software.

• casualties
• children
• volunteers
• Dnipro