Themes by tag: casualties

Since the beginning of russia’s full-scale invasion into Ukraine, Fight For Right NGO has gone on more than 1,500 evacuation trips (including medical evacuations by ambulances). They transported people with disabilities and their family members away from hostilities.

Evacuation is carried out mostly from areas near the front line. One of the biggest difficulties is that sometimes it is very hard for people to find courage to leave their homes, even when it is dangerous to stay there.

The organization also provides psychological assistance, particularly, individual consultations for people with disabilities and for mothers of children with disabilities.

In addition, psychological support groups for IDP women with disabilities are currently operating in Dnipro. The organization plans to create such groups in other cities as well. First of all, in Kyiv.

By prior agreement, journalists are welcome to cover the evacuation process or the work of the organization on psychological support for people.  

• casualties
• psychological support
• evacuation

On November 3, Odesa will launch to deliver tour guide training courses for internally displaced persons. The classes will last 4 months and are completely free of charge. Residents of Mariupol, Mykolaiv, and Kherson Oblast have already signed up to attend the guide courses.

According to the organizers, the training provides people not only with new knowledge but also with psychological support.

Journalists can attend the classes and cover the learning process.

The courses are being implemented by the Hospitable Hut humanitarian center, supported by the Department of Culture, International Cooperation, and European Integration of the Odesa City Council.

• casualties
• Odesa

A two-day press tour, during which scientists and environmental activists will conduct the third sampling of water and sediments from the Dnipro River, the areas flooded by the Kakhovka dam disaster, the Dnipro-Buh estuary, and the Black Sea will take place on November 1 and 2. 

The Ukrainian Scientific Center for Marine Ecology specialists together with environmental volunteers from the country’s largest environmental movement, Let`s Do It Ukraine, will conduct a study to analyze the condition of water bodies affected by the Kakhovka HPP breach. In particular, they will analyze the toxic pollution that got into the Black Sea as a result of the dam’s destruction.

The water samples will be promptly delivered to the laboratory on the same day, where journalists will have the opportunity to see how the analysis is carried out and talk to the specialists.

The press tour participants will also have the opportunity to attend the hot lunches in eco-friendly packaging distribution as a part of the Good Kitchen humanitarian project in Kherson Oblast.

Important! Journalists are to be provided with a transfer from and to Kyiv and an opportunity to stay in Mykolaiv overnight. The organizers ask for bulletproof vests and helmets to carry with you. 

Prior accreditation is required.

• casualties
• ecology

On October 27, the final event to mark the completion of the SportAmbassadors project will take place in Kyiv. Journalists are invited to join the event and meet the sports ambassadors, learn firsthand about the motivation of the participants and the results achieved during the project.

In addition, the event will feature a demonstration of adaptive training equipment, including wheelchairs for basketball and concepts for rowing that will be used for training. The importance of adaptive sports and the involvement of veterans will be discussed as well. 

Press registration is required to attend the event.

SportsAmbassadors are veterans from different regions of Ukraine who underwent a personal recovery journey following an injury sustained on the front line. They are united by a common feature and mission—recovery through sports and motivation to share their experience with their brothers and sisters-in-arms, to engage them in adaptive sports, and to create such opportunities for other veterans in their local communities to go through this path.

For reference: The SportsAmbassadors project is implemented by the Come Back Alive Foundation supported by the US Embassy in Ukraine in partnership with the NGO “Invictus Games Ukraine”.

• casualties
• military
• psychological support
• Kyiv

21-year-old Daniil Melnyk studied at the Lviv Military Academy. He used to be a deputy platoon leader and defended the Kyiv region from the enemy at the beginning of the all-out invasion. In the Borodiansky district, he was ambushed but took the fights with other combatants. Getting his hands wounded, he couldn’t even bandage them. He gave his ammunition to a comrade. Then he lost consciousness. Two days later, the Russians found him and took him prisoner. He was first held in Ukraine, then in Belarus, Russia, and the occupied Crimea. On April 21, 2022, Daniel was released from captivity.

He lost both his feet, his left palm, and 4 fingers on his right hand. Now the defender wants to go back to active duty service. He recently took part in the Sculpture series photo project.

For reference: Last December, Ukrainian photographer Marta Syrko founded the Sculpture series photo project. The protagonists of her photographs are Ukrainian defenders who suffered as a result of Russia’s full-blown invasion of Ukraine. (These are soldiers who were injured, got burned, or had their limbs amputated.) Civilians affected by the war can also join the project.

• casualties
• culture
• military
• prisoners

On October 21, Dobrobat volunteers will clean up a kindergarten damaged in a helicopter crash in Brovary in Kyiv Oblast from rubbles. 

January 18, 2023 helicopter crash killed 14 people: the aircraft crew and all passengers, as well as a child and adult civilians at the crash site. The leadership of the Ministry of Internal Affairs who were on board: Minister Denys Monastyrskyi, State Secretary of the Ministry Yurii Lubkovych, and First Deputy Minister Yevhen Yenin were among the onboard victims. 25 people were injured (including 11 children).

For reference: Dobrobat is a volunteer building division assisting victims in the urgent restoration of housing and social infrastructure in the de-occupied territories.

• casualties
• dead
• reconstruction
• volunteers
• Kyiv

Before the full-blown war, Oleksandr Budko worked as a barista in a coffee shop. When the enemy invasion began, the man did not hesitate to volunteer for the Carpathian Sich battalion. In May of the same year, the soldier lost both his legs during fighting in the Kharkiv region. Oleksandr says that he was inspired to engage in rehabilitation activities by soldiers like himself. Those who started boxing or running after being wounded. Over time, the guy got prostheses and started writing an autobiographical novel. And recently he starred as one of the main characters in a documentary. The film to tell the story of the dancers who evacuated after Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine and created the United Ukrainian Ballet, will be produced by actress Sarah Jessica Parker.

For reference: Oleksandr Budko is currently in Ukraine, ready to talk to journalists, both online and offline.

• casualties
• culture
• military

On October 23, a sports ground and a rehabilitation ward will be opened at the Kyiv Regional Mental Health Center. The occupiers seized the center at the beginning of the full-blown war. Russian soldiers stole valuable equipment and severely damaged the Center while living in the facility. In particular, the windows and doors were smashed. After the de-occupation, the medical center reconstruction began. 

The philanthropists who contributed to the restoration of the Center, as well as the first captain of the Ukrainian national team at the Invictus Games, champion of the Games, commander Oleksandr Pysarenko (to train patients exercises on the playground) will attend the new sports ground opening. 

Journalists will also be able to interview the institution’s management and talk to doctors and patients as far as possible. 

For reference: The Kyiv Regional Mental Health Center is a healthcare institution providing qualified inpatient physical health assessment, treatment, and social and labor rehabilitation for patients with mental disorders.

• casualties
• doctors
• reconstruction
• volunteers
• Kyiv

On October 18, the “LOOK CLOSER” installation will be unveiled in Kyiv. On the occasion of EU Anti-Trafficking Day, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) Ukraine is launching a new information campaign “LOOK CLOSER” with the aim of preventing human trafficking and raising awareness of safety rules during migration. It encourages people to think about the risks of exploitation and to see possible outcomes of offers of work or housing, which seem attractive at first glance.

In addition to Kyiv, “LOOK CLOSER” exhibition created as part of the campaign will be set up inside railway and bus stations and shopping malls as well as in the central squares of cities, etc. in 20 regions of Ukraine.

Participants:

• Iryna Postolovska, Deputy Minister of Social Policy of Ukraine for European Integration
• Marco Chimenton, IOM Ukraine Deputy Chief of Mission
• Theodora Dell, Deputy Mission Director at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Ukraine (confirmation pending)
• Nils Dahlqvist, Second Secretary of the Embassy of Sweden in Ukraine
• Oleksandra Khamulenko, Head of the Department for Quality Standards at the National Social Service of Ukraine
• Roman Delimbovskyi, Deputy Head of the Migration Police Department at the National Police of Ukraine

Accreditation is required.

• casualties
• culture
• Kyiv

Kyiv-based rehabilitation center “Spirit” features a special “Spirit warrior” psycho-emotional recovery program for the military. Defenders are rehabilitated with the help of equine-assisted therapy. Psychologists of the center take part in the rehabilitation sessions. The techniques used during equine-assisted therapy for the military are aimed at teaching them to sense reality “here and now” and to be able to fully concentrate on the process. This therapy helps to relieve stress, improve sleep and get rid of obsessive thoughts. More than 600 defenders have already undergone this rehabilitation program.

For reference: rehabilitation center “Spirit” specializes in working with children with disabilities. And since the beginning of the full-scale war, it has been helping internally displaced persons to recover.

• casualties
• military
• psychological support
• Kyiv