Themes by tag: casualties

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

On October 10, 2022, fragments of a russian rocket hit the body of the waiter Valerii when he was on his way to work in Kyiv. The victim remembers how people were running and shouting nearby, pieces of iron were flying, cars were honking.

Medics removed fragments of the rocket from Valerii’s eye and leg. As a result, parts of his two ulna bones were torn out. At first, the doctors talked about amputating the limb, but still managed to save it. The leading expert of the national project “Save the Limb” took on the task of saving the crippled hand. So far, Valerii has undergone several surgeries and joint replacement.

For reference: The national project “Save the Limb” initiated by the International Charitable Foundation “Health of the Ukrainian People” started at the end of last year. Its mission is to stop the Ukrainian people from becoming disabled by holding 15,000 surgeries to save the limbs of both military and civilians.

• casualties
• doctors
• russian crimes

The ShchukaRyba band, DJ Chocollab, and children will host a charity concert featuring Ukrainian traditional songs and Christmas Carols in Kyiv on December 14. 

All funds raised will be used to provide psychological assistance to children affected by the war. The concert will showcase compositions created by teenagers in collaboration with the musicians.

This charitable event will serve as the culmination of the “Sound Lab” course conducted by the “Voices of Children” Foundation for teenagers. For several months, 15 teenagers from different regions, each with different war experiences, participated in a course covering traditional singing and electronic music, led by the folk group “ShchukaRyba” and DJ Chocollab. Together with the foundation’s psychologist, the children used music to live through their war experiences, traumatic memories, emotions, and feelings. Music can have a powerful therapeutic effect during times of war. 

• casualties
• children
• psychological support
• Kyiv

Serhii Sidorov was 22 years old when he got into a terrible car wreck. Due to injuries, the man was paralyzed, and he also lost his sight: he could only tell the difference between night and day. Professional massage helped Serhii to recover: the man began to move again and learn to walk again. Later, he himself became interested in massage, which brought him back to life. Serhii graduated and started helping patients in the capital 8 years ago.

With the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Serhii looked for an opportunity to help the military, because due to the injury he had suffered, he could not join the army himself. The man posted on social media calling on the military to contact him for free massage and rehabilitation. Since then, Serhii has helped more than 30 defenders.

• casualties
• military
• volunteers

Mykhailo Puryshev is an entrepreneur from Mariupol. At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Mykhailo brought humanitarian aid to besieged Mariupol and evacuated Mariupol residents from the russian-blocked city. After the de-occupation of Kharkiv region, Mykhailo was one of the first volunteers to bring humanitarian aid to Izyum, Kupyansk, and Kivsharivka.

After months of providing aid in hot spots, Mykhailo and his team decided that the support should be comprehensive: people living under constant shelling, in dark basements, without communication, without healthcare and shops, without electricity and water, need a place where they can get everything they need. Therefore, Invincibility Centers were set up in seven settlements near the front line. The first three centers were built in Bakhmut until the city was razed to the ground and occupied by the russians. Then such centers were built in Orikhiv, Huliaipole, Kherson, Avdiivka and Vuhledar. In the Invincibility Centers, people can use electricity for the first time in many months, eat hot food, receive humanitarian and medical aid, wash clothes and take a shower. In addition, they can watch Ukrainian television, instead of listening to russian radio in the basements. And thanks to Starlink, they have an Internet connection to call their relatives. In some places, a team of volunteers even drilled wells, so that local residents could have access to water.

In addition, the volunteers noticed that the defenders coming from advanced frontline positions have nowhere to wash their dirty clothes and repair them for free. Hence, the idea of setting up laundry facilities for the military emerged. The first such facility has already started working in Kostyantynivka, the second one opened in Kurakhove in Donetsk region. Ukrainian defenders can bring clothes to the center, and they will be washed, dried and even repaired free of charge.

The team plans to equip such laundry centers along the entire front line. So that defenders don’t have to look for a place to wash clothes and can rest while the volunteers do it.

Mykhailo recently experienced a second heart attack and artery stenting, but despite this he returned to volunteering.

Journalists are welcome to communicate with Mykhailo and his Unbroken team both offline and online, as well as cover the work of volunteers.

• casualties
• reconstruction
• volunteers