Themes by tag: children
Oleksii Naidenko joined Ukraine’s defense in 2014, serving in the 28th Separate Mechanized Brigade. Prior to that, he had worked for more than 15 years as a boatswain on gas carriers. After the start of the full-scale invasion, he returned from abroad to defend the country again, this time serving in the 67th Separate Mechanized Brigade (DUK PS).
In 2023, he was discharged from military service due to health reasons. On November 25, 2024, he died in hospital as a result of complications from his injuries.
His wife, Olena, has been involved in volunteer work since 2016. She founded the initiative group “Cherkasy Charivnytsi,” which prepares dry rations and ready-to-eat meals in retort pouches for soldiers on the frontline and visits wounded defenders in hospitals.
The couple has a 13-year-old son, Matvii Naidenko. He is an eighth-grade student and actively participates in sports, including competitions under the “Side by Side” initiative (rugby, football, handball). Since 2020, the family has also taken part in charity runs and marathons in support of the military.
According to his mother, Matvii was very close to his father. While his father worked at sea, the boy helped at home, and after his loss, he became a strong support for his mother and actively participates in volunteer work.
The family has remained in Cherkasy. Matvii is a beneficiary of the “Children of Heroes” Charitable Foundation.
In 2025, one of Matvii’s dreams was to receive an autograph from Ukrainian footballer Artem Dovbyk. This wish was fulfilled with the support of Daniel Salem and Lida Lee. He is now focused on football and preparing to enter a football academy.
Journalists can arrange interviews with the family online by prior arrangement.
Participants:
– Tetiana Skrypka, Member of the Ukrainian Parliament;
– Sofia Yudina, Mentorship Development Manager and active mentor;
– Alina Lepska, Program Coordinator at the Coordination Center for the Development of Family Upbringing and Child Care;
– Kyrylo Nevdokha, Head of the DIiMO Office at the Ministry of Social Policy, Family, and Unity of Ukraine;
– Lina Deshvar, expert in the field of support for children and youth with disabilities.
Topics for discussion:
– Key changes in the law on mentoring;
– How can you get involved in mentoring or support its development?
– What are the specific features of mentoring for children and youth with disabilities?
The charitable foundation savED, with support from Education Cannot Wait, has opened “Vulyk” (Beehive), a multifunctional educational hub in the village of Morozivka, Baryshivka community, Kyiv region, as part of the Multi-Year Resilience Programme 2024–2026 (MYRP).
The center hosts school lessons, creative workshops, STEM activities, reading and film clubs, as well as social-emotional learning sessions, and offers an open space for social interaction.
More than 250 students now have access to educational activities in a comfortable environment. Among them are six internally displaced children and five children with special educational needs. The center is also temporarily hosting preschool children, as the local kindergarten currently lacks heating, allowing younger children in the community to join activities at “Vulyk.”
Within the framework of the MYRP, supported by Education Cannot Wait, savED and the Kyiv School of Economics Foundation (KSE Foundation) are systematically supporting education in communities. In particular, savED renovated and equipped the “Vulyk” space at Morozivka Lyceum named after Denys Popovych, providing furniture, books, games, and supplies, and engaging tutors to coordinate activities.
In Morozivka, KSE Foundation also ensured student safety by equipping a shelter at the lyceum, allowing children to remain safe within the school during air raid alerts.
In total, 24 “Vulyk” education centers have been established across eight regions — Mykolaiv, Chernihiv, Kherson, Kharkiv, Kyiv, Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk, and Zaporizhzhia regions. These centers have created additional learning and recreational opportunities for more than 40,000 children and 12,000 teachers. They operate in de-occupied communities and regions where access to full-time education remains limited due to security risks, damaged infrastructure, and power outages.
Background: According to savED research, in 2025 only 41% of surveyed students in Ukraine regularly participated in extracurricular activities — a rate below average. Among the main barriers identified by educators are the lack of human and financial resources at the community level, as well as insufficient infrastructure. The study found that only 63% of schools have adequate space for clubs or sports activities. This is below the desired minimum, particularly in communities hosting internally displaced persons or facing infrastructure constraints. In the survey, 67% of children attending “Vulyk” centers said they had made new friends there, while more than 35% reported an improvement in their leisure time.
Since the beginning of last school year, schoolchildren in the village of Bohdanivka, Kyiv oblast, have been able to study in a modular Temporary Educational Space (TES). The space is accessible, with a generator for uninterrupted power supply, comfortable furniture, modern tablets and multimedia panels. The TES has six classrooms and now serves more than 200 schoolchildren who previously had to travel to a neighboring village.
Bohdanivka was occupied in 2022. russian soldiers set up camp in the local school and burned it down when they withdrew. They also blew up the kindergarten, where they had stored ammunition, leaving the village without any educational facilities.
By prior arrangement, journalists can cover the work of the modular temporary educational space in Bohdanivka.
Background: This project is being implemented by IREX in partnership with the SavED Charitable Foundation and the GoGlobal NGO. They work in close cooperation with local communities who have lost their educational institutions due to russian aggression.
Hanna is the mother of two sons and the wife of a soldier who died in the war. Their family first lost their home back in 2014. Before that, the family lived in Olenivka in the Donetsk region. After hostilities began, the family left with their four-year-old child, leaving their home and all their belongings behind in the occupied territory. After several moves, they settled in the town of Bilozerske in the Ukraine-controlled part of Donetsk Oblast. They bought a home, her husband won a grant and started his own business, and the couple had a second son.
In 2022, due to the full-scale russian invasion, they were forced to leave everything behind once again. The family donated their home to the Ukrainian Armed Forces—Ukrainian soldiers lived there for a time.
In the summer of 2024, the husband joined the ranks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. He completed training and served as an operator of a multiple launch rocket system. He was listed as missing in action as of October 23, 2024. Four months later, the family was informed that the DNA of a body repatriated during an exchange matched his samples. He was buried in March 2025.
After her husband’s death, the woman was left with her children in a new city without the support of relatives. The hardest part, she said, was telling her sons about their father’s death.
The family received psychological support from the “Children of Heroes” charitable foundation. The support of specialists became a crucial part of helping the children and their mother adapt to their new reality.
The family currently lives in Kyiv, renting an apartment. The older son spent almost his entire childhood moving from place to place, while the younger one was born during the war.
By prior arrangement, journalists can speak with the family online.
On the fourth anniversary of the terrible tragedy that occurred at the Mariupol Drama Theater, journalists are invited to attend memorial events and honor the memory of the civilian and military victims.
In particular, a prayer service will be held in Kyiv on March 15. On March 16, memorial events honoring those killed at the Mariupol Drama Theater will take place in various cities across Ukraine: Kyiv, Vinnytsia, Dnipro, Zhytomyr, Zaporizhzhia, Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Kalush, Kamensk, Kremenchuk, Kropyvnytskyi, Poltava, Kryvyi Rih, Odesa, Rivne, Ternopil, Uzhhorod, Khmelnytskyi, Cherkasy, and Chernivtsi.
For reference: On March 16, 2022, russian occupiers dropped aerial bombs on the Mariupol Drama Theater. The word “CHILDREN,” written in large letters and clearly visible from the sky, did not stop them. Hundreds of Mariupol families were taking shelter in the theater. Hundreds of innocent people were killed that day, including children.
The russian occupation authorities restored the building, permanently destroying any possibility of conducting a fair investigation into the deaths at the Drama Theater.
This year’s initiative, timed to coincide with the anniversary of the foundation’s establishment, focuses on how the children under the care of “Children of Heroes” formulate their dreams and imagine their own future.
Some dreams are familiar to all of us: Kira wants animals to be warm. And she dreams of becoming a star. Victoria sees herself as a financier. Sasha feels that her calling is psychology. And some no longer seem childish: Vanessa would like to bring back all those who have died. And for the war to end. Max thanks everyone who supports children and wants people to return from abroad. Vika talks about Ukraine’s victory and the need to study better. Yegor recalls spending time at the seaside with his dad and thanks his military mom for her care and support.
Children who have lost a parent during the war often grow up in prolonged instability: without a sense of support, with limited access to quality education, psychological support, and long-term opportunities. They grow up too quickly and take on responsibility, often not only for themselves but also for their loved ones.
By prior arrangement, journalists can receive comments on the results of four years of the foundation’s work and the challenges faced by children in Ukraine during the war.
For reference: The Children of Heroes Charitable Foundation provides long-term support to more than 15,600 children and 10,700 families. The foundation has delivered nearly 714 tons of humanitarian aid, implemented more than 1.2 million hours of educational programs, and conducted 35,000 hours of individual psychological counseling. Each program undergoes quality and impact assessment.
The foundation was established in March 2022 as a long-term organization to support children who have lost one or both parents due to the war. The Children of Heroes Charitable Foundation works systematically: psychological assistance and socialization, education and development, humanitarian and medical support, case management.
The Academy of Care, in partnership with Daria Gerasymchuk, the President of Ukraine’s Advisor on Children’s Rights and Rehabilitation, presents the fifth interactive Care Lesson for elementary school and preschool students. The theme for February is “I am NOT perfect!” — dedicated to accepting mistakes as superpowers and forming a healthy self-esteem in children. (Journalists are invited to an open Lesson of Care with the artist, which will take place on March 5 in Kyiv).
In wartime, children often experience excessive pressure and fear of failure, which increases anxiety. The lesson aims to shift the focus: to teach children to separate their value from the result and to perceive mistakes not as a reason for shame, but as an important cue for growth.
The plot centers on children’s favorite character Pascal the Cat and a new heroine, Milka-Pomilka from the city of Khalepyansk. Together, they will prove that even the most resounding failure can be the beginning of an amazing experience.
What awaits participants:
- Watching the cartoon “Pascal and Milka-Pomilka”: a story about how the main character was ashamed of his mistake until he realized that it came to his aid.
- Crossword presentation “The Benefits of Mistakes”: an exercise that transforms negative associations (fear, shame) into positive assets: experience, knowledge, and creativity.
- Exercise “Normal or Weird”: a quick game where children learn to distinguish between a healthy reaction to a mistake and self-flagellation.
- Game “Harmful Poems”: practical training in “the ability to make mistakes,” where children and the teacher deliberately make funny mistakes in rhymes to relieve tension and fear of failure.
- Failure celebration: a final exercise where students and the teacher share their mistakes, and the whole class supports them with the exclamation “That’s cool!”.
For reference: The initiative is implemented by the NGO “Opportunities. Motivation. Media.” (Academy of Care) in cooperation with MaPanda and in partnership with Daria Gerasymchuk, Advisor to the President of Ukraine on Children’s Rights and Rehabilitation, as part of the project “Gender Sensitive Approaches to Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Ukraine,” which is being implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH with funding from the German government.
Participants:
– Kyrylo Nevdokha, Head of the DIiMO Office at the Ministry of Social Policy, Family, and Unity of Ukraine;
– Iryna Yeremenko, National Consultant, UNICEF Ukraine;
– Olena Shulyak, Member of Parliament of Ukraine;
– Vitaliy Bodnya, Leading Specialist, Youth Center Development Department, State Institution “All-Ukrainian Youth Center”
Key topics:
– Presentation of the guidebook “How to involve children and young people with life experience in decisions that affect them”;
– Changes at the state policy level to enable young people to influence decision-making;
– Practical examples of real youth involvement in decision-making.
On May 8, 2022, Maryna Aleksiuk, a repair workshop technician of an anti-aircraft missile division, was killed at Azovstal. She had been defending Ukraine since 2015. Her daughters — 14-year-old Olena and 11-year-old Oleksandra — were left without their mother.
Mykola Ivanchenko has been fighting since 2014, when russia first launched its aggression against Ukraine, serving in the “Azov” regiment.
He met Maryna in December 2018. Both were divorced at the time. When they began living together, Maryna’s daughters did not immediately accept him. Over time, however, he earned their trust.
The family initially lived in Mariupol and moved to Berdiansk in the Zaporizhzhia region in 2021. That is where the full-scale war found them.
On February 24, 2022, Maryna left for Azovstal with her unit as part of the “Azov” regiment. Mykola arranged with his command to remain in Berdiansk with the children, waiting for his wife’s return. When russian forces occupied the city, he and the girls spent a month under occupation. Only by a miracle were they able to safely evacuate to Ukrainian-controlled territory.
After receiving news of Maryna’s death, Mykola took Olena and Oleksandra under his guardianship. They now live together in the Kyiv region. The girls are in the 9th and 6th grades. Olena is interested in Korean culture and music, while Oleksandra enjoys painting by numbers.
Journalists can access Mykola’s full story and schedule an interview with him.
