Themes by tag: children
April 4th, showcasing the experiences of teenagers living through war. Produced by the savED Charitable Foundation in collaboration with the kinotonly filmmaking team, the documentary delves into the stories of teens from Kharkiv, Zaporizhia, Mykolaiv, Kakhovka, and Lviv, along with their mentors. In the film, these resilient teenagers share firsthand accounts of surviving a full-scale war and offer insights into their efforts toward Ukraine’s development and reconstruction. (Watch the trailer here).
The documentary has already premiered in venues like London, Oxford, and Cambridge, with Kyiv being the next stop on April 4th.
Ukrainian artist and illustrator Nikita Titov has been enlisted by the savED Foundation to craft posters for the film, adding a visually captivating element to its promotion.
Attendees of the screening will have the unique opportunity to engage with the film’s protagonists and mentors, with Ukrainian actor, screenwriter, and host of the YouTube show ’20:23′ Yevhen Yanovych moderating a discussion after the screening.
Beyond its educational aims, ‘We. The Future’ also serves a charitable purpose. As it travels the globe, the film’s creators and subjects raise funds to support the revival of the Mariupol Lyceum, which was forced to relocate from the occupied city to Kyiv. Today, the Lyceum provides education to hundreds of children from the occupied territories.
Event registration is required.
From March 29 to 30, doctors from Okhmatdyt will be visiting Ladyzhyn, Vinnytsia Oblast, as part of the Health Moneybox project. Over 20 specialized doctors from the Kyiv medical institution will be examining children of military personnel.
Since the early days of the all-out invasion, with over 800 thousand Ukrainians rallying to defend the country, military families have faced the unique challenge of ensuring high-quality and timely medical care for their children while their loved ones serve on the front lines. In response, philanthropists have joined forces with medical professionals to offer comprehensive health examinations for children, as well as assistance with treatment or prevention as needed.
During the press tour, interviews will be available with:
- Olena Dovhal, the spouse of serviceman Volodymyr and mother to four children (two sons and 13-year-old twin daughters Marta and Varvara), is facing a crucial moment. Her eldest son, Illia, is currently on the front lines defending the nation in the AFU, while the youngest, Zakhar, is pursuing military affairs. A large family needs thorough medical evaluation;
- Olha Medvedieva, head of the pediatric department of the Okhmatdyt National Children’s Hospital;
- Okhmatdyt’s specialized doctors;
- Petro Andriyets, Head of Social Projects at the MHP-Gromadi Charitable Foundation;
- Oleksandr Kolomiets, acting mayor of Ladyzhyn.
The event requires accreditation for journalist coverage. The accreditation period extends until 9:00 a.m. on March 28.
For reference: This initiative is a collaboration with the National Children’s Specialized Hospital of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine “Okhmatdyt,” supported by the MHP-Gromadi Charitable Foundation, with assistance from the Ladyzhyn City Council and support from the Children of Heroes Charity Fund.
A press briefing titled “Stolen Childhood: russia’s Preparation of Ukrainian Children for War Amid Occupation and Deportation” is set to take place on March 26 at the Media Center Ukraine – Ukrinform.
Participants:
– Iryna Suslova, Representative of the Ombudsperson for Children’s Rights in the Office of the Ombudsperson of Ukraine;
– Representative of the Prosecutor General’s Office;
– Olha Skrypnyk, Head of the Board of the Crimean Human Rights Group;
– Mariia Sulialina, Head of the Center for Civil Education “Almenda”;
– Khrystyna Shkudor, “Where Are Our People?” campaign advocacy manager, PR Army NGO.
– Vladyslav Havrylov, research historian at the ‘Where Are Our People?’ PR Army NGO project;
For context: russia is accused of systematically perpetrating war crimes in Ukraine’s temporarily occupied regions. Notably, occupiers are allegedly intentionally militarizing children residing in these areas or forcibly relocating them to russia and belarus territories. Such actions are purportedly part of a calculated strategy by the aggressor nation. Critics argue that russian occupiers are eroding Ukrainian identity among children and assimilating them to address russia’s demographic challenges. This purportedly serves to groom a future “mobilization reserve” for the russian military’s potential involvement in the war against Ukraine.
Nazar Skakodub is a 14-year-old teenager from Vinnytsia. The young man started sculpting from plasticine five years ago, and recently learned how to make stop motion videos. Nazar dedicates them to the Ukrainian military, who are fighting on the front lines. The boy called one of his works “Battle for Kherson.” Nazar turned his room into a studio where he works on characters, shoots and edits videos himself. Nazar mostly finds ideas and ways to implement them in social networks: he watches video lessons and reads the news. The boy presents his work on TikTok, where the first fans and critics of Nazar’s art have already gathered up. In the future, the schoolboy plans to participate in competitions and create a stop motion film.
Prior to the all-out invasion, Viktoriia Bobrynok used to be a school principal in Tokmak, Zaporizhia. When her hometown fell under Russian occupation during the onset of the war, she relocated to Ukraine-controlled territory. Initially employed as a secretary at a school in Lviv, Viktoriia later shifted her focus to aiding fellow displaced individuals.
She reached out to the Alliance for Public Health, an international charitable foundation, and together they established a shelter for internally displaced persons (IDPs). Initially hosting teachers from Zaporizhia, the shelter soon welcomed IDPs from various regions. However, as the influx dwindled, Viktoriia transformed the shelter into a “Safe Camp” catering to children from frontline areas. She devised a specialized program to keep them engaged, offering instruction in essential skills across various professions, including programming, alongside organized excursions. Each camp session spans several weeks, with the upcoming one slated to commence on March 11.
In between working camp shifts, Viktoriia continues to support the IDPs by coordinating diverse activities for both children and adults, including photo sessions, workshops, and city tours, aiming to facilitate their integration into urban life and hasten their adjustment to their new circumstances.
Before facing the brunt of Russia’s invasion, The Jin Roh Circus Studio & Entertainment has been running in Kherson for 15 years. The war caught its members in their hometown. In the chaos, they sought basic necessities like food and medicine, often taking refuge in makeshift shelters. Remarkably, one of the studio’s halls transformed into a bomb shelter, providing safety to around 40 individuals during the tumultuous early weeks. As Russian forces tightened their grip on Kherson, civilians faced escalating repression, prompting many, including Jin Roh’s students, to flee. Even the studio’s founder and director, Roman Vashchenko, was compelled to leave to evade capture.
Since the city’s liberation in November 2022, Vashchenko has returned, dedicating himself to rebuilding the studio’s activities. However, the journey back to normalcy is fraught with challenges. Once bustling with 300 students, Jin Roh now sees a fraction of that number attending classes to 2-8, with safety concerns looming large amidst continued shelling by occupying forces.
For reference: Kherson fell under Russian occupation at the onset of the full-scale invasion on March 1, 2022. It wasn’t until November 11, 2022, that the Ukrainian Armed Forces liberated the city from Russian control. Despite this liberation, the occupiers persist in regularly shelling the city.
The Fedorchenko family from Kherson region stayed in the occupation for over a year and a half.
While still at home, Tetiana and her husband Raj (he is of Romani origin) did everything possible to avoid russian citizenship and not to send their daughter and grandchildren to a russian school. The family managed to survive hunger, rocket attacks, from which they hid in the basement, and the tyranny of the russian regime. Every day, the military went to the streets with surprise raids.
Once, a unit of russian soldiers broke into a neighbor’s place. Then a policeman approached Tetiana, who was on the street, and told her to be a “witness in the case.” And when Raj wanted to take his wife back to their yard, a machine gun was pointed at him. They shot in the air twice and again pointed the gun at him. The woman persuaded the man to go into the house and let her go to testify.
The family left the occupation in September 2023. For 4 months, they lived and received comprehensive support in the “Hope and Recovery” center of the “Save Ukraine” charitable organization. Among other things, specialists provided psychological assistance to adults and children.
Now the family lives in Poltava region. They are open to communication both in person and online.
Veronika Sheldahaieva, Chair of the Children’s Creative Council of the “Voices of Children” Charitable Foundation, recently spoke in the Churchill Hall of the British Parliament as part of the event “Echoes of Tragedy: Testimonies on russia’s War in Ukraine.” The young woman told members of parliament, diplomats and human rights defenders of Great Britain about the horrors of life under the russian occupation.
The girl, who lived in occupied Kherson for 7 months, said that the russian military came to her school and threatened the school management to make them side with the occupiers. Parents were blackmailed with deprivation of parental rights if their children did not go to occupier-controlled schools and study under the russian curriculum. Veronika did not go to school while living under the occupation. Therefore, she was very afraid that she would be taken away from her family. She even hid when someone knocked on the door. Full story is available here.
Oleh Afanasiev, whose story was featured in the documentary film “The Distant Barking of Dogs” also gave a speech in the British Parliament. The boy talked about 40 days of life in Mariupol under russian shelling in the spring of 2022.
In particular, he mentioned that he and his brothers, aunt and grandmother lived in the basement for two months. They had almost no food and water. In the middle of the night, the boy would wake up from hunger. He saw dead bodies. In order to escape, he had to go through the russian infiltration camps. Full story is available here.
Journalists have the opportunity to talk with Oleh in Kyiv region, and Veronika – in Odesa.
Maryna and Mykola are both military, they met in 2019 in the army. The woman had two daughters from a previous marriage — Olena and Oleksandra. Mykola also has a daughter named Milana. At first, the family lived in Mariupol, Donetsk region (now the city is occupied), then they moved to Berdiansk, Zaporizhia region (now the city is occupied).
The couple served in the Azov brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine. In 2020, Mykola resigned from the Azov and joined the marines. Maryna’s contract ended in November 2021, but she did not want to leave her brothers in arms.
When the full-scale invasion began, Maryna, along with other Azov defenders of Mariupol ended up at the Azovstal plant (i.e. Iron and Steel Works where fierce battles with the enemy took place in the spring of 2022). Mykola wanted to switch with Marina and go to Azovstal instead of her. The woman persuaded him not to do this, because at the checkpoint the russians shot three guys who were on the way to meet their girlfriends, and many others who broke through to the plant went missing. Even then Maryna understood that she and other military personnel were unlikely to get out of the Azovstal alive. And she asked her husband to take care of her daughters. On May 8, 2022, the woman died in a fire at the Azovstal.
Now Mykola is fighting for the right to adopt his deceased wife’s daughters and give them a happy future. He is purchasing a three-room apartment for the girls in Kyiv region so they could live together as a family.
With the help of the Children of Heroes Fund, Maryna’s daughters received gifts and visited a rehabilitation camp, which helped them to distract themselves from terrible memories and disturbing thoughts.
For reference: the defense of Mariupol lasted 86 days. Following the order of the command, the Ukrainian defenders stopped putting up the defense, left Azovstal and surrendered to the enemy. On May 20, 2022, Mariupol was occupied by russia.
The Children of Heroes Charity Fund supports children who have lost one or both parents due to russia’s full-scale invasion. The fund offers financial aid as well as psychological and legal support. The organization helps these children with education and development until they reach adulthood.
As of the beginning of February, 7,889 wards are under the care of the Fund. Of them, 1,062 are IDPs, 151 children have lost their mother and father, 177 are children with disabilities, 970 are children from large families. Every week about 80 children are included into the list of the recipients of the fund’s help. Among the fund’s children, 88% are kids of military personnel, while the remaining 12% are civilians.
In Ozera village, Hostomel community, Gurtum Charity Foundation created a unique “space shelter.” Children from the local kindergarten and two neighboring schools can hide there during rocket alerts. In general, the bomb shelter can accommodate 160 people. What makes it special is that its walls are painted in a space theme.
The benefactors involved a professional artist in the creative process, and the work lasted almost 2 weeks. Paintings cover about 70 square meters of walls. In addition, a special paint that is safe for babies was used for the paintings.
Today, some of the things you can see on the walls of the shelter include planets, an astronaut and even a raccoon in a spaceship. There are also RGB lights in the shelter to enhance the feeling of immersion into space.
The Ukrainian diaspora in Japan (NPO “Krayany”) helped to create the shelter.
As reported, Gurtum Charity Foundation earlier built a shelter in the form of a Hobbit house for schoolchildren in Hostomel. The photos are available here.