Themes by tag: dead

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.

• children
• dead
• military
• women

A memorial run in honor of Hero of Ukraine and Azov fighter Maksym Kahal will take place in Kyiv on March 29. The event is organized by the NGO “Association of Azovstal Defenders’ Families.”

Maksym Kahal, call sign “Piston,” was a Hero of Ukraine and served as a senior lieutenant in the Azov Regiment (now the 12th Special Forces Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine). He was also a professional athlete and a world champion in ISKA kickboxing among adults.

Maksym Kahal was killed on March 25, 2022, during the defense of Mariupol.

Registration is required to participate.

• dead
• military

Dafna Sosnovska is the co-founder of the “Zavdyaky” project. The idea for the initiative emerged from her frustration with how Ukraine has commemorated those killed since the beginning of the russian-Ukrainian war in 2014. In 2023, she decided to take action, bringing together a team of like-minded people, and the project began to take shape.

“Zavdyaky” aims not only to honor those who died for Ukraine, but also to tell the stories of their lives, dreams, values, and contributions to the fight for freedom. Anyone can contribute to the project, as the team’s main priority is to preserve every memory of the fallen.

The platform combines a database, documentary films, and personal profiles that allow relatives, friends, fellow service members, and acquaintances to share their memories. The team is currently working on an ambitious goal to collect information on everyone who has been killed since 2014 and to create documentary films telling their stories.

Journalists can speak with Dafna Sosnovska and the project team both online and in person in Kyiv, by prior arrangement.

• dead
• military
• women
• Kyiv

Daria Ulman is the wife of soldier Kirill Ulman, who was killed on February 15, 2024. At the start of the full-scale invasion, her husband joined the ranks of the Territorial Community Volunteer Unit in Dnipro, which was formed by veterans of the 12th Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine “Azov.” In December 2022, he joined the Third Separate Assault Brigade as part of an anti-tank battalion. Kirill was killed by a sniper’s bullet.

Daria says her husband was passionate about military affairs. After his death, she regretted not having started training alongside Kirill. Over the course of a year, Daria completed six courses and underwent two full training programs. She later founded her own community dedicated to military training for women. She named it Community Ulman in honor of her fallen loved one.

Over 80 women have already completed the training, and thanks to the project, 115,000 hryvnias were donated to Kirill’s comrades-in-arms.

Journalists will have the opportunity to cover the training on March 22.

Media can arrange interviews with Daria Ulman both online and in person in Kyiv by prior arrangement.

• dead
• military
• women
• Kyiv

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.

• children
• dead
• military
• women

Before the full-scale invasion, brothers Ruslan and Valery Pelekhaty lived ordinary lives. Valery worked at the post office, and Ruslan was a barista. He dreamed of opening his own coffee shop, but the war put all his plans on hold.

From the very first days of the russian full-scale invasion, both brothers were already at the military registration office. Due to the long lines of people eager to enlist, only Valerii was able to join the army; Ruslan was asked to stay with his family.

After a year of service, Valery died from shrapnel wounds. His brother’s death completely devastated Ruslan—they had been the closest of friends their entire lives. Looking through their shared photos, Ruslan decided to open a coffee shop in Valery’s honor, making his photo the centerpiece of the interior. Today, the “Remember” coffee shop in Ternopil has become not only a symbol of remembrance for his brother and a defender of Ukraine, but also a place of support for other soldiers.

Ruslan Pelekhaty is available for interviews online or in person in Ternopil, by prior arrangement.

• dead
• military
• Ternopil

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.

• children
• dead
• russian crimes
• Dnipro
• Kyiv
• Lviv
• Odesa

Marking the 4th anniversary of the russian occupation of the village of Yahidne, the Public Interest Journalism Lab (PIJL) has produced an audio guide titled “Yahidne. A Village in Captivity.”
The presentation took place on March 3 in Yahidne itself, in the Chernihiv region, where 368 local residents became victims of russian war crimes.

It was on March 3, 2022, that russian troops herded almost all residents of the village into the basement of the local school, including dozens of elderly people, children, and infants. They were held there for nearly a month and used as a human shield, forbidden to leave the cramped space while russian soldiers set up a military headquarters inside the school building. Under these horrific conditions, ten people died in the basement.

The audio guide is a documentary tour of the site of a war crime — the school grounds and its basement.
The English-language version is narrated by American historian Timothy Snyder, while the voices of Yahidne residents in English are read by American writer and journalist Anne Applebaum, Canadian politician Khrystya Freeland, British journalist and propaganda researcher Peter Pomerantsev, American journalist Sabra Ayres, American-French writer Jonathan Littell, and American historian Marcy Shore.

The audio guide is available in Ukrainian and English on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.
A QR code with the link is displayed on banners next to the school, which continues to be visited by tourists and foreign delegations.

By prior arrangement, journalists can speak with representatives of the Public Interest Journalism Lab online or in person in Kyiv.

Background: The PIJL team has a unique connection to the village community, as its journalists were among the first to visit the liberated Chernihiv region in April 2022.

Based on testimonies documented from Yahidne residents, the team produced a documentary film, which—together with a written report from the village—was published in TIME magazine in an issue dedicated to the publication’s centennial. In addition to English, the film has been translated into eight other languages: Spanish, Italian, Chinese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Turkish, and French.The story of Yahidne was also included in the reportage book “The Scariest Days of My Life”, which became a historical record of the first year of russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine.

• casualties
• dead
• occupation
• russian crimes
• Kyiv

Serhiy Petrenko, a soldier with the pseudonym “Bashnya” — Natalia Petrenko’s son — died on the night of July 29, 2022. The soldier encountered a full-scale invasion in Mariupol, defended the city, then Azovstal, and before being taken prisoner on orders, he called his parents and told them to prepare his ammunition so that he could rejoin the army upon his return.

Serhiy Petrenko’s name was on one of the first lists of those killed during the russian terrorist attack in Olenivka. His mother, Natalia, decided not to shut herself away in her grief and to support Serhiy’s comrades. In memory of her son, she created the online platform “Basht,” which helps military personnel find their place in civilian life.

Natalia and her like-minded friends gathered useful information for veterans in one place: from medical, psychological, and legal assistance to courses and training.

Journalists can speak with Natalia Petrenko both online and in person in Kyiv, by prior arrangement.

• dead
• military
• russian crimes
• women
• Kyiv

On March 12, the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in World War II will host an event to commemorate Benjamin Asher, a volunteer of Hungarian and Jewish descent who fought and died for Ukraine.

Benjamin was born on May 10, 2004, in Budapest, Hungary. In 2019, he moved with his father to Toronto, Canada, and became a permanent resident of that country.

In 2021, he signed a contract with the Hungarian Armed Forces, where he rose to the rank of sergeant. In March 2023, despite being diagnosed with “high-functioning autism” and serving in the military in another country, he went to Ukraine, where he joined one of the units of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine. In January 2025, he transferred to the Third Army Corps, where he joined the logistics unit of the 2nd Mechanized Battalion of the 3rd OSBr, while also serving as a combat medic and rifleman.

Benjamin quickly made friends and brothers-in-arms in both units where he served. For his silence and concentration, he was given the nickname “Nemo.” He took part in battles in the Donetsk and Kharkiv directions.

He was killed on May 24, 2025, in the Kharkiv direction as a result of an enemy drone attack while helping another wounded foreign volunteer.

Benjamin was buried on November 27, 2025, at the National Military Memorial Cemetery (village of Markhalivka) with full military honors in the presence of representatives of the Hungarian and Jewish communities of Ukraine. The Chief Rabbi of Ukraine, Moshe Reuven Asman, led a prayer over his coffin together with the military chaplain.

Benjamin Asher was posthumously awarded the Iron Cross by the Minister of Defense of Ukraine and the Order of Courage, 3rd degree. On February 25, 2026, in the hall of the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (Toronto), Benjamin was also awarded the “For Self-Sacrifice” medal.

Benjamin’s father, Nathan Asher, will be present at the memorial event.

• dead
• military
• Kyiv