Themes by tag: children

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.

• children
• occupation

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.

• casualties
• children
• dead
• military
• women
• Kyiv

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.

• children
• Kyiv

“Generation U” NGO in partnership with the Kharkiv Puppet Theater named after V. Afanasieva and Bray Area Partnership (Ireland) started a large-scale project titled “My Doll Stories” for children and teenagers whose families were forced to escape the war zone.

In Kyiv, Kharkiv and Bray (Ireland), the project team conducts classes in puppetry and music therapy. Through these practices, organizers aim to help children, particularly teenagers, to overcome trauma and stress caused by a change in environment. And later, the organizers want to use the achievements of their project to create a full-fledged puppet therapy course that can be scaled and developed further.

The project is initiated by Kristina Liulchenko, Creative Director at Generation U NGO, and Olha Pinaieva, teacher of puppet therapy, Founder of the “Bag of Dolls” project.

The project will work until March 24.

For reference: Generation U is an NGO established by a group of cultural representatives to solve various pressing social issues. The NGO’s activities include setting up an art residency, running social projects and holding master classes. 

• children
• psychological support
• Kharkiv
• Kyiv

14-year-old Matvii Hlazunov fled the war twice. When russia first attacked Ukraine in 2014 his family had to flee from Avdiivka, Donetsk region to Izium, Kharkiv region. And with the start of the full-scale invasion his family moved again, this time to Odesa.

The boy reflects on his experiences in his animated films. He makes each character and designs each stage himself. Then he captures all the movements on camera and edits the animated footage. In 2021, his film “Melissa” won the Grand Prix at the Children Kinofest International Festival. The following year, Matvii won the festival’s “Best animated film” prize for his film “Black February.” The teenager already has an idea for his next movie and is preparing to start writing the script soon. In the future, the teenager dreams of becoming a director.

For reference: Ukrainian troops withdrew from Avdiivka on February 17, 2024. The defense of the city lasted for 10 years. Now it is completely destroyed as a result of russian shelling.

• children
• culture
• Odesa

Svitlana Oleksandrenko, a senior inspector on duty at Police Station No. 1 in Korop village within the Novhorod-Siverskyi district police department in Chernihiv region, has taken on the responsibility of caring for five orphaned children amidst the ongoing conflict. Balancing her duty in daily patrols with the care of her own seven children, Oleksandrenko and her husband Serhii became foster parents to three orphans—two brothers and a sister—a year before the outbreak of full-scale war.

As the Ukrainian Defense Forces pushed back the Russian invasion from the northern regions of the country, two more girls, Katrusia and Sofiika from the Liubech community bordering Belarus, were welcomed into the Oleksandrenko family. Tragically, these girls lost their mother, who had been raising them alone, in June 2022. Upon learning of their situation from social workers, Svitlana and Serhiy wasted no time in extending their care to the sisters.

For reference: Ukraine’s troops retook the Kyiv and Chernihiv regions from Russian occupation on April 2, 2022, though the Russians had previously held approximately two-thirds of the Chernihiv region.

• children
• women

Once a globetrotting business coach who traversed 42 countries, Kostiantyn Malomuzh’s life took a creative turn following a harrowing car accident in 2019. Inspired to delve into the world of children’s comic book scripts, he embarked on his artistic journey. 

He brought his idea to fruition following the onset of the full-scale Russian invasion and his voluntary mobilization to the Defense Forces. Kostiantyn, now tasked with ammunition delivery in the South, dedicates his spare moments to comic creation. Teaming up with a fellow artist, they birthed “Superhero in Each of Us,” tailored for youngsters aged 10-12. Shouldering the financial burden, Kostiantyn printed and distributed over 40,000 copies to eager young readers. Additionally, he endeavors on a Ukrainian-language cartoon promoting unity. 

For reference: as February 24, 2024, marks the grim two-year anniversary of Russia’s criminal incursion into Ukraine, it stands as the apex of a decade-long war of aggression that began with the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and escalated into war in eastern Ukraine

• children
• military

The “Bagira” kids and youth sports school, once a prominent Ukrainian women’s futsal and soccer club, faced glory in pre-war times, clinching championships and accolades in nationwide tournaments while competing in the Ukrainian Futsal Premier League. Now, those who stayed in the team now find themselves grappling with the aftermath of infrastructure destruction, compelling its members to train outdoors amidst the absence of basic amenities such as heating and electricity. 

Despite these adversities, with the youngest member being just 13 years old, the youth’s passion for soccer remains unwavering. Oleksandr Reznikov, a seasoned head coach in women’s soccer and futsal in Donetsk Oblast manages the team. 

Nevertheless, financial constraints pose a significant obstacle, hindering their ability to partake in competitions as they did before.

For reference: the town of Lyman in Donetsk Oblast, situated perilously close to the front line, endured occupation from late May to early October 2022, leaving 85% of its housing stock either destroyed or damaged. Once home to over 20 thousand residents, the town’s population now stands at approximately 5 thousand inhabitants remaining.

• children
• women

Iryna Kulbach has been the chair of the University Hospital Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in Dnipro for 23 years. At the beginning of the all-out invasion, the doctors there had to deliver babies in a shelter.

On December 29, 2023, a Russian missile struck the maternity ward. A fire broke out there, and the blast wave smashed about 900 windows in the hospital. That day, Iryna and other doctors were on duty. The team responded quickly to the situation: women in labor with newborns, pregnant women, and the patients’ families were moved to shelters in advance. As a result of the attack, the maternity hospital building caught fire producing smoke, so Iryna and other specialists evacuated all the people to save their lives.

Recently, the President of Ukraine awarded Iryna Kulbach with the Honored Doctor of Ukraine award. In addition, she received the medal “For Merit to the City”.

For reference: The damage caused by the enemy shelling is still being assessed. 30 employees of the maternity ward were transferred to other departments of the hospital, and 20 are currently unemployed.

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.

• children
• doctors
• russian crimes
• women
• Dnipro

A press conference on “Future School for Ukraine” – a Lithuanian-Ukrainian project to boost donor acquisition and support school building will be held at the Media Center Ukraine – Ukrinform on January 24. 

“Future School for Ukraine” is a Lithuanian Government initiative to recover educational infrastructure, which aims to save time and money on school project design. In partnership with the Restoration Agency, the ready-for-localization and implementation adaptive design for building schools will be provided to Ukrainian communities and donors free of charge. With close coordination with the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, the project aims to build back modern, inclusive, and resilient educational institutions.

Participants: 

– Oksen Lisovyi, Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine;

– Mustafa Nayem, Head of the Recovery Agency, Ukraine;

– Arturas Žarnovskis, Program Manager of “Co-create Future of Ukraine”, Central ProjectManagement Agency (CPVA) Lithuania;

– Anna Novosad, educational activist, SavED, Ukraine. 

Event registration is required. 

• children
• reconstruction
• Kyiv