Themes by tag: Cherkasy

The Ukrainian women’s national amputee soccer team is set to compete in the inaugural Women’s Amputee Football World Cup, held in Colombia from November 4-11, 2024. Journalists have the chance to engage with team members and report on their final preparations for the journey.

The team, composed of nine players from across Ukraine—including Chernivtsi, Lviv, Vinnytsia, and the Kyiv region—represents diverse backgrounds. The goalkeeper, an internally displaced person, now resides in the Netherlands, while team captain Olha Benda is a military veteran who lost her leg in the war.

Reporters will have access to the team in Ukraine’s Cherkasy region on October 30, with another opportunity on October 31 in Lviv, the day of their departure. Interviews via online platforms will also be available.

This initiative is supported by the Ukrainian Amputees Football Association and the Women’s Department of the Ukrainian Football Association (UAF), in collaboration with NGOs Camp Maximum and Way of the Champion.

• women
• Cherkasy
• Lviv

On October 25, media representatives are invited to visit the birthplace of Taras Shevchenko and report on the completion of the restoration of houses and sites associated with the poet’s childhood in the Cherkasy region. These include the Budyshchanskyi windmill (a more than 150-year-old mill the restoration of which began in 2023), the renovated house of Taras Shevchenko’s grandfather, and the restored house where the poet was born. Departure from Kyiv.

Program of the press tour:

– National Reserve “Taras Shevchenko’s Homeland”: laying flowers at the grave of Taras Shevchenko’s mother; guided tour for guests, journalists and children of servicemen;

– Transfer to Budyshchanskyi windmill;

– Guided tour of the windmill, which is called a witness of Taras Shevchenko’s childhood, with a brief review of the site;

– Transfer to the Moryntsi museum complex of the National Reserve;

– Guided tour of the museum with restored houses and exhibitions related to Taras Shevchenko’s childhood; interaction with interactive displays; signing of a memorandum between representatives of the museum and the MHP-Hromadi charitable foundation.

Invited guests:

– Yurii Melnyk, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of MHP-Hromadi;

– Viktor Yushchenko, Ukrainian politician, 3rd President of Ukraine;

– Nataliia Kryvda, Chairman of the Board of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation (UCF);

– Vadym Loshenko, Chairman of the Ecological Movement of Cherkasy Region NGO;

– Liudmyla Shevchenko, General Director of the National Reserve “Taras Shevchenko’s Homeland”;

– Yurii Pikovskyi, Head of the State Administration of Zvenyhorodka District;

– Oleksandr Saienko, Head of the Zvenyhorodka City Council.

Accreditation is required to attend the event.

• culture
• Cherkasy

Olena Steblina, a displaced person from russian-occupied Mariupol, served in the Ukrainian Armed Forces for nine years before stepping down just prior to the onset of the all-out invasion. When war erupted, her husband, also in the military, stayed behind to defend the besieged city, while sending Olena and their children to safety in Cherkasy.

Even during the height of the pandemic, Olena pursued online training and began planning to open her own business. She made the difficult decision to evacuate, taking with her not only her family but also supplies for a future confectionery venture.

After her husband was captured by russian forces in Mariupol, Olena remained resilient. Defying the odds, she managed to launch her dream confectionery shop in Cherkasy. Today, as she and her two daughters navigate life in their new surroundings, her greatest wish is for her husband’s safe return from captivity.

• prisoners
• women
• Cherkasy

The NGO Camp Maximum together with an American team created the program “Camp of Opportunity” for women with amputations. On September 22, the third shift of the camp began. It was attended by 11 participants, both veterans and civilians who lost limbs during the full-scale war.

The women will participate in soccer training. They will have the opportunity to try out for Ukraine’s first national women’s soccer team for amputees and compete in the 2024 World Cup. The tournament will be held in Barranquilla, Colombia, from November 2 to 11, 2024.

In addition to soccer, camp participants will have the opportunity to engage in other activities. The camp runs until September 28.

Journalists are invited to learn more and cover the camp’s activities.

• casualties
• women
• Cherkasy

Oleksandr Derevianko was killed by enemy tank fire in April 2022. Together with his comrades from the Azov Brigade he was defending occupied Mariupol. Oleksandr’s mother, Anna, says she felt when her son died, and the next day she received the news from the brigade’s patronage service. Anna describes “Adams” as a passionate young man and a warrior at heart. At one point, Anna found the money to allow Oleksandr to start boxing. He also attended football matches in Cherkasy and joined the Ultras fan movement. Anna says that Oleksandr was someone who young people listened to; he encouraged them to take up sports, while he himself won first places in boxing, combat sambo and free fighting competitions.

In 2020, Oleksandr completed basic training, signed a contract with the 12th Brigade “Azov” of the National Guard of Ukraine, and in 2022 he defended Mariupol. After her son’s death, Anna started attending football matches and getting tattoos. She became a contact person for one of Oleksandr’s comrades-in-arms, who is now in captivity and has no relatives. Anna says she promised her son that she would live, and she is keeping her word.

For reference: Anna Derevianko lives in Cherkassy. The mother of the fallen soldier is ready to talk to journalists, both online and offline, by prior arrangement. 

• dead
• military
• women
• Cherkasy

Alina and Vadym Gaburych are soldiers of the Azov Regiment. They had defended Ukraine even before the full-scale invasion. After February 24, 2022, they defended Mariupol. Vadym was seriously injured in April 2022 and died in the bunker of the Azovstal plant. Alina, along with thousands of Mariupol defenders, was captured.

The couple’s son Yehor (now 8 years old) was raised by his grandparents. However, the boy looked at the pictures of his parents above his bed every day and believed that they would return. He even wrote a song for his mother.

In April 2023, Alina was released from captivity, and she and her son finally met. The woman still cannot bury her husband, because the russians did not hand over his body.

Journalists have the opportunity to talk with Alina in Cherkasy region.

For reference: the Children of Heroes Fund helps the family by providing material and humanitarian aid (medicines, food products, hygiene kits). Yehor also received a long-awaited tablet.

• casualties
• prisoners
• women
• Cherkasy

Georgian-born Rusudana Pavlichenko, found herself abroad attending her father’s funeral as the full-scale invasion unfolded. Her history with conflict traces back to childhood when, at the tender age of 10, she fled her first conflict, the war in Abkhazia, seeking refuge in Ukraine. Since then, she has called Ukraine home, living here throughout her adult years.

Rusudana’s husband, Serhii Pavlichenko, a stalwart defender of Ukraine against occupiers since 2014, bravely held the defense of Azovstal during the full-scale invasion before being captured. Tragically, he fell victim to a terrorist attack in Olenivka, a village within the occupied territory of Donetsk region, on the night of July 28-29, 2022. Left behind are their two children, Adelia, 10, and Nazar, 8.

Journalists seeking to delve into Rusudana’s story can arrange interviews with her in Cherkasy or online, by prior arrangement. 

Meanwhile, the Children of Heroes charity foundation has stepped in to support the grieving family. Dedicated to aiding children who have lost parents due to russia’s full-scale invasion, the foundation offers financial aid, psychological counseling, legal assistance, and ongoing educational opportunities until the children reach adulthood.

For reference: In the late hours of July 29, 2022, russia executed a terrorist assault, igniting an explosion within a barracks at the Olenivka penal colony, where Ukrainian prisoners of war were detained. The attack resulted in the tragic loss of at least 50 Azovstal workers amidst the turmoil.

• dead
• military
• occupation
• prisoners
• russian crimes
• women
• Cherkasy
• Mariupol

Camp Maximum NGO together with an American team created the Opportunities Camp Program for Amputee Women. This year, about 20 women will take part in the camp (including veterans and civilians who lost their limbs during the full-scale war). The camp starts on May 5 in Cherkasy.

While women are staying in the camp, international-level rehabilitation coaches will conduct soccer training. Participants will have the opportunity to represent Ukraine at international levels and achieve recognition in sports.

For example, women will be able to participate in the World Championship 2024. (Ukraine’s women’s national team consisting of players with limb amputations will play at the World Championship, which will be held in Barranquilla, Colombia, from November 2 to 11, 2024).

In addition to football lessons, camp participants will have the opportunity to take part in other activities.

• casualties
• women
• Cherkasy

With the beginning of the full-scale war, Mykola Volyka, a resident of Lebedyn village in Cherkasy oblast, was approached by a fellow soldier and asked to make 300 staples for his unit. Mykola, who had never dealt with metal before, set up a forge right in his yard. He studied blacksmithing together with his friends, whom he also invited to join in. Later, he involved his fellow villagers to the forge to produce not only staples, but also potbelly stoves, axes, pickaxes, anti-tank hedgehogs and spades.

Tetiana Chepur, now a craftswoman in the forge, says that women actively took up the new activity. And now they are the main workers as a total of five female blacksmiths volunteer at the forge. They often work in the evenings after finishing their day jobs.

Since the forge was created, volunteers managed to make 156,000 staples, 13,000 pickaxes and 10,000 spades.

• volunteers
• women
• Cherkasy

Yevhen Kompanets ended up in a wheelchair as a result of an industrial injury in 2011. At that time, in the hospital, he met his future wife, who worked as a nurse. And now, together with their daughter, they cook goodies in their kitchen for Ukraine’s defenders. 

The family started volunteering in April 2022. They work every day and have already prepared 150 thousand dishes for the defenders. These include dumplings, pancakes, donuts, pies, and chebureks. (The dumplings are oven-ready meals, so service members only need to defrost them). In addition, the family prepares borscht dressings and cutlets and even manages to send more than 7 tons of pork fat to the defenders. The family invests their own money in the work, and caring people also help with donations.

Journalists can talk to Yevhen by phone, online, or site visit after February 15.

For reference: February 24, 2024, Ukraine marks 2 years since Russia commenced its unprovoked criminal full-scale invasion. This attack was the culmination of the initial war of aggression that Russia has been waging against Ukraine for 10 years. This armed conflict was ignited on February 20, 2014. Back then, Russians invaded the territory of Ukrainian Crimea giving no obvious sign of its covert military operation in the now-occupied peninsula. After that, Russia started a war in Ukraine’s east. 

• food
• volunteers
• Cherkasy