Themes by tag: casualties

The artist Serhii Petrov, known professionally as Bob Basset, produces accessories in the style of techno-romanticism. Serhii first created the masks for himself: the man has a strabismus and says that the mask simplifies interpersonal communication. In January 2023, the artist created his first mask for a soldier, Masi Nayyem, who lost his eye at the front. According to Nayyem, the leather mask by Bob Basset is more comfortable than standard bandages because it has a triple fastening system and is made of soft leather. Serhii was asked to make a second mask by the daughter of an Azov soldier who was wounded in Mariupol.

The Mask for a Hero is a charity project the artist managed to get a grant for to cover the cost of materials and rent of a room to work on the masks for the military.

For reference: Bob Basset started his workshop back in 1989. He has collaborated with Metallica, Korn, Avril Lavigne, Zayn Malik, Ghost, Givenchy, Yiapanis, Riccardo Tisci, Beissoul & Einius.

• casualties
• culture
• military

The charity initiative “Save Beauty” is already working with civilians and military personnel who suffered from the russian aggression both in the rear and at the front. The project fully covers the costs of doctor’s consultations, examinations, surgeries and post-surgery procedures. After the plastic surgery, the team, together with doctors and psychologists, supports the patient over the course of their rehabilitation.

Journalists are invited to talk with doctors and, if possible, with patients who came for help.

• casualties
• russian crimes

Mykhailo Konik lived most of his life in Mariupol, where he founded 40 hives apiary. On February 24, 2022, when Russia began to destroy the city, Mykhailo and his family hid in the basement for several days from powerful shelling, and the man was injured. Eventually, they managed to leave for the Ternopil region and later for Mykhailo’s small homeland, Khmelnytskyi. The man knew that there was an apiary in the forestry, so he turned to its director and offered his help. The apiary was in poor condition, Mykhailo says, and the conditions for bees in Khmelnytskyi are worse than in Mariupol. Nevertheless, Mykhailo managed to get the apiary up and running and last year produced about two tons of honey.

Forty of Mykhailo’s hives remained in Mariupol, and he was unable to take them out. The man dreams of getting back to his hometown Mariupol to start rebuilding the apiary in the city that was ruined by the Russians.

• casualties
• Khmelnytskyi

Before the full-scale war, Maksym worked as a mechanic at the Antonov plant: he serviced the world’s largest airplane, the Antonov AN-225 Mriya, which the occupiers later destroyed. On the eve of the occupation of Hostomel, he managed to take his daughter and mother out of the city while he himself returned. The man saw civilians being shot. He hid in the basement for several weeks. After all, he has been through, he volunteered to go to the front. He fought in the Donetsk region, was hit by a mine in Soledar, and lost his leg. Now the 29-year-old veteran is preparing for prosthetics at the UNBROKEN National Rehabilitation Center. 

• casualties
• military
• occupation

Mykola Polezhayev is a pyrotechnic engineer from the Mykolaiv region who has been working in this field for over 7 years. In April this year, a newly developed cluster munition detonated near Mykola in the garage cooperative where he came to work. An EOD 9 special protective suit saved him from death. However, his injuries could not be avoided: his left hand had burns, fractures, and shrapnel wounds, and his right finger was broken.

Now the pyrotechnician has undergone rehabilitation and is back working side by side with his colleagues to defuse ammunition.

For reference: Currently, 30% of Ukraine’s territory is contaminated with mines. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion, 221 people have been killed by landmines or unexploded ordnance, and 450 others have been injured.

• casualties
• Mykolaiv
• demining

The Military Sewing Company is a voluntary association of people who volunteer to sew adaptive clothing for wounded soldiers: pants, shorts, underpants, T-shirts, etc. The adaptive clothing with Velcro, ties, or buttons is designed so injured defenders can put it on comfortably and painlessly. 

The Military Sewing Company has already produced over 30,000 pieces of such clothing. They are sent to more than 50 medical institutions across Ukraine, as well as to soldiers in need of such garments.

The Military Sewing Company was founded in Dnipro. People who have joined the initiative and sew clothes (in workshops, sewing shops, or home-based ones) are located in Kyiv, Dnipro, Rivne, Poltava, Zhytomyr, and Lviv. Some seamstresses are actively involved in sewing while residing in Norway, Germany, and Canada.

• casualties
• military
• volunteers
• Dnipro
• Kyiv
• Lviv
• Poltava
• Zhytomyr
• Rivne

Joe is 61 years old. Twenty years ago, he served at New York City Police Department and later trained police paramedics. But Joe has been in Ukraine for almost a year now: he joined the Ukrainian-Israeli medical volunteer mission FRIDA.  As a paramedic (sometimes as an ECG technician), he travels with specialists to the de-occupied and frontline regions to help people. For example, the man had to help patients in bomb shelters. And also in settlements where no doctors were left due to the full-scale invasion of Russia.

For reference: FRIDA Ukraine, the Ukrainian-Israeli medical volunteer charitable mission, has been helping civilians since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In particular, they counsel people, operate, evacuate and distribute medicines. Volunteer doctors (of various medical specialties) travel to the regions (for example, Kharkiv, Kherson, or Donetsk) to help local residents with health issues. 

• casualties
• doctors
• volunteers

The preparation of Ukraine’s national team for the Invictus Games continues. This year the competition will be held in the German city of Düsseldorf (September 9-16).

Ukraine will be represented by a team of 24 athletes. These are servicemen and veterans of the russo-Ukrainian war, who were injured during or as a result of performing official duties in the combat zone.

They will participate in archery, athletics, cycling, powerlifting, indoor rowing competitions, etc.

For reference: the Invictus Games is an international Paralympic sports competition. It was founded by British Prince Harry in 2014.

• casualties
• military

Canine specialists of Base 4.5.0. the Center for Innovative Military Rehabilitation will hold canine therapy sessions in the capital. Several trained dogs were chosen for therapy: Welsh corgi Foksi and Laisve, German boxer Linda, and Yorkshire terrier Shusha. The center experts say that during their first sessions they worked with the children who had stopped speaking after the beginning of russia’s invasion. However, after working with animals, the children started talking again. Canine therapists say that working with dogs normalizes the work of the nervous system, reduces stress, conflict and anxiety.

For reference: Canine therapy is a method of positive psychosocial and physical rehabilitation influence on people with the help of specially trained dogs. It is one of the methods of zootherapy.

• animals
• casualties
• children
• psychological support
• Kyiv

One of Save Ukraine’s centers, the Good Samaritan House of Mercy, operates in the Lviv region. It takes care of people with limited mobility who suffered due to Russian aggression. Most of them are older adults unable to take care of themselves.

The Save Ukraine team evacuated these people from the dangerous area in time, and now they are safe and well-housed. 

• casualties
• russian crimes
• Lviv