Themes by tag: children
Before the full-scale war, Olha Leus worked at an administrative service center in Mariupol. She was raising two sons: They are 10-year-old Hera and 16-year-old Mykhailo. Olha’s husband Volodymyr worked at the Azov Shipyard, and shortly before February 24, 2022, at the port.
Despite the escalating concerns about wider war, the family initially chose to remain in Mariupol, hoping for a swift expulsion of the invaders. However, as the situation worsened and the city became blockaded, evacuation became impossible.
Olha experienced relentless russian shelling and bombing for 11 consecutive days, culminating in tragedy on March 20, 2022, when her younger son sustained injuries from an enemy shell hitting their home, leaving him with leg wounds. A week later, her husband tragically passed away after leaving the house and never returning. His body was discovered by his mother-in-law and laid to rest in a local green space that once served as a sports ground.
It wasn’t until April 15, 2022, that Olha and her family were able to escape Mariupol. Following their displacement, the Children of Heroes Charitable Foundation stepped in to provide support, with Olha eventually joining as a specialist in aiding affected families. Meanwhile, her eldest son aspires to become a psychotherapist, aiming to assist those scarred by the horrors of war.
Journalists seeking to speak with Olha can arrange interviews in the Kyiv region.
For reference: After enduring 86 days of fierce defense, Mariupol fell under russian occupation on May 20, 2022. Human Rights Watch reports a staggering civilian death toll of at least 8,000 due to russian shelling, with thousands more suffering life-altering injuries, including amputations, blindness, deafness, and memory loss, often stemming from traumatic brain injuries caused by explosions. By mid-May 2022, approximately 400,000 residents had fled Mariupol, significantly reducing the pre-war population of 540,000.
In the wake of this devastation, the Children of Heroes organization steps in to aid children who have lost one or both parents in the war. The foundation offers financial assistance, psychological and legal support, and advocates for the education and development of these children as they transition into adulthood.
Hailing from Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast in western Ukraine, the 11th grader delved into directing at the tender age of 10. His journey began when his grandmother sent him an old camera from overseas, and his older brother imparted basic shooting skills. Establishing his presence on YouTube, Oleksandr launched his own channel to showcase his creations, including his debut short film, “The Adventures of St. Nicholas,” a collaborative effort with fellow villagers
Driven by a desire to spotlight Ukrainian defenders, Oleksandr, and his team sought financial backing from city officials to produce their latest venture, “Decision Day.” The film chronicles the story of a volunteer confronting a foreign invasion, only to return home to defend his homeland. With funding secured, the teenage filmmaker and his crew embarked on an intensive month-long shooting schedule.
Following relentless dedication, Oleksandr orchestrated a successful screening of “Decision Day.” Despite the demands of school, the young filmmaker persists in balancing his academic pursuits with his cinematic endeavors.
Five child-friendly spaces recently sprouted in Kryvyi Rih, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, bringing the total count to 27 scattered across Zaporizhia, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, and Donetsk regions. It’s a tag-team effort between the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in Ukraine and the NGO Responsible Citizens.
These sanctuaries offer a snug and secure setting where families with kids can team up with psychologists, art therapists, and speech therapists. Social workers and legal eagles also swoop in to aid families in tackling sticky situations. And for those kiddos hungry for knowledge, select spaces dish out classes designed to jazz up their understanding of core subjects, all while having a blast.
Covering every corner, mobile psychosocial support units are on the move throughout all four regions. Psychologists, social workers, art therapists, and a backup crew of lawyers and speech therapists trek to far-flung communities, extending a hand to those lacking local resources.
IDP families and locals alike are cordially welcome to swing by these spaces.
Journalists have the opportunity to delve deeper into the spaces and cover their functionality, with prior arrangement.
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 their 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 the Kyiv region so they can 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, and 970 are children from large families. Every week, about 80 children are included in the list of recipients of the fund’s help. Among the fund’s children, 88% are kids of military personnel, while the remaining 12% are civilians.
After the beginning of the full-scale invasion, about 8,500 Ukrainian children were left without parental care, more than 1,500 became orphans, tens of thousands lost their homes or were forced to relocate. Children’s homes and orphanages in Ukraine are under great pressure today, their resources are exhausted, and access to quality medical care is limited.
As part of the “Little Hearts” project, FRIDA takes care of Children’s homes and orphanages in different parts of Ukraine. Teams consisting of volunteer doctors of different specializations travel to these institutions to examine children and determine if they need medicines, vaccinations, rehabilitation and surgical interventions.
Pediatricians will visit a children’s home in Kyiv region in April.
Media representatives are invited to cover the missions under this project.
12-year-old Yana Stepanenko, who lost both legs in a rocket attack on the railway station in Kramatorsk, will take part in the Boston Marathon. On April 13, the girl will run a 5-kilometer distance on prosthetics to show the whole world the indomitability of the Ukrainian people. Another of Yana’s goals in Boston is charity. She will be raising funds for a sports prosthesis for Andrii Kropyvnytskyi, seriously wounded defender and a patient of the Unbroken Center, who lost a limb in the war.
For the past two months, the girl has been training hard to participate in the Boston Marathon. Yana was invited to participate in it by the American foundation One World Strong, which helps veterans and civilians who suffered as a result of terrorist attacks and hostilities.
On April 4, Yana Stepanenko will hold an open training session for the media in Lviv.
The event in Lviv requires registration.
For reference: on April 8, 2022, as a result of a russian terrorist attack on the railway station in Kramatorsk, Yana Stepanenko lost both legs. The photo of her being carried by the surgeon of the St. Nicholas Children’s Hospital of Lviv’s First Medical Association went viral around the world. Yana received her first prostheses for walking and running in the USA. Last summer, after a year of recovery abroad, she returned to Ukraine. Yana continued her rehabilitation here and already managed to get new artificial limbs for walking from the Unbroken Center’s prosthetic workshops.
The Boston Marathon is one of the largest and most prestigious events in the world. About 30,000 people from all over the world take part in it every year.
In Kharkiv’s Industrial District, a state-of-the-art underground school catering to 900 students is nearing completion. With the capacity to accommodate 450 pupils per shift, taking time to study in two sessions. Installation of desks and blackboards is already underway, heralding the imminent start of classes.
This innovative educational initiative will afford students the opportunity to engage in offline learning, marking a significant advancement in academic accessibility.
Media outlets are granted access to document the final stages of construction and conduct interviews as necessary.
For reference: Since September 2023, the Kharkiv subway has hosted classrooms for schoolchildren, with over a thousand students currently enrolled.
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.
