Themes by tag: casualties

People who lost their homes due to the russian invasion can find temporary shelter in a modular camp in Bucha, Kyiv Oblast. The houses are being installed now and will provide shelter for 350 people soon. Every unit has a kitchen and a canteen, toilets and shower rooms. In rooms, there are beds for 4 people and the necessary furniture. Poland provided these housing units under the #PolandFirstToHelp program.

By way of background information: On April 2, Kyiv Oblast was liberated from russian forces. Numerous killings of civilians were recorded in the liberated towns and villages. It is especially valid for Bucha, where at least 400 people were killed. According to Bucha’s mayor Anatolii Fedoruk, 22 apartment blocks in the city were damaged, two of them beyond repair. Also, 243 private homes suffered so much damage that they had to be demolished.

• casualties
• occupation
• russian crimes
• Kyiv

Daria and Stanislav’s family lived near Donetsk airport before 2014. When russia invaded Donbas, they moved to Mariupol; however, they lost almost everything there this year—their apartment near Azovstal Steel Works was burned down. Their business—an eatery with thousands of loyal customers—could not work either. Nevertheless, the family decided to hold on. They opened a cafe in Lviv together with their friends who also came from Mariupol. Currently, they are open for delivery and takeaway of Japanese food.

• casualties
• reconstruction
• Lviv

In March, 14-year-old Serhii from the village of Yahidne in Chernihiv Oblast was seriously wounded during the occupation of the village. Without parental permission, the russians brought the boy to a hospital in Belarus. The mother did not know where her son was for several weeks. Later, the family saw a Facebook post where Serhii had been looking for his parents. However, a new problem emerged—the boy could have been declared an orphan and placed in an orphanage in Belarus. In this case, he would not have been able to leave the neighboring country until reaching the age of majority. The Ukrainian officials and concerned ordinary people joined their efforts to bring Serhii back home.

• casualties
• children
• occupation
• Chernihiv

More than 1,000 people wounded in active fighting areas are treated in Lviv’s medical institutions. Trains with wounded people arrive in Lviv almost every day. They bring in people with mine-blast injuries who have no arms or legs; they often do not have relatives. City authorities send the wounded people for medical treatment abroad in cooperation with foreign clinics. Also, the city council launches a large-scale Nezlamni (The Unbroken) project aiming to build a National Rehabilitation Center. This work has been going on for over a month now. The goal is to build a center that will be the first of its kind in the world. It will provide prosthetics, rehabilitation, socialization, and psychological support thousands of Ukrainians need now.

• casualties
• doctors
• russian crimes
• Lviv

Almost 44,000 citizens came to Ukraine on May 22. According to the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, the growing trend of people returning to the country persists.

According to Ukraine’s Ministry of Interior, over 6,200,000 Ukrainians had to leave the country because of russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine. Most of them (over 3 million) moved to Poland; at least half of them still remain there.

• casualties

Kharkiv Metro railway, whose stations offered shelter from shelling to hundreds of people after the commencement of fighting, resumes its operation. People living at the stations will have to be resettled to shared hostels. Some people with nowhere to live because their homes were destroyed have already been provided hostel beds. However, some of these people are afraid of leaving the Metro and unwilling to move. 

• casualties
• russian crimes
• Kharkiv

Oleksandra, 82 years old, and her daughter Vira spend nights together with their dog and cat in a shed near their house destroyed by the russian army. The ladies sell potatoes to buy bread. Unfortunately, all their clothes remained under the building debris. When Ukrainian journalists told their story, people from all over Ukraine started sending aid to the old ladies and raising funds for them. Iryna Vereshchuk, Minister for the Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine, also paid interest in their story. However, the ladies still have no home. 

• casualties
• russian crimes
• women
• Kyiv

Volodymyr Brychka, a volunteer from Rivne Oblast and the pastor of a local church, rescued 1,800 people. For instance, he evacuated over 50 children from an orphanage in Vorzel. The children were shelled by invaders for almost a month. Volodymyr also delivers humanitarian aid. People from his village decided to nominate him for the highest national title—Hero of Ukraine.

Volodymyr is 67 years old. He has 12 own children and two adoptive children, and 43 grandchildren.

• casualties
• children
• volunteers

Olena from Hostomel searches for her sister Liudmyla who disappeared together with her husband from Hostomel while the russians occupied it. On March 22, Liudmyla came under fire. She suffered serious leg wounds. russian soldiers took her purportedly to the military hospital. Ihor, her husband, went there together with his wife. However, they never came back from the hospital.

It has become known by now that Ihor is kept in a pre-trial detainment facility in russia, and no information is available as to what happened to Liudmyla. After Hostomel had been liberated from russians, Olena submitted a statement to the World Organization Against Torture. She hopes to find out what happened to her sister and where she is.

• casualties
• women
• Kyiv

A group of friends from Lviv decided to become charity volunteers after the start of the all-out war. Initially, they relied on their own resources; by now, they have set up a charity organization and received funding from the USA and Europe. They are evacuating residents from combat areas and deliver there dozens of tonnes of humanitarian aid. 

The organization also launched a psychological support project that offers gratis psychological support by professionals to people affected by russians’ acts.

• casualties
• volunteers
• Lviv