Themes by tag: dead

Markiian was raised by his father, along with his grandmother and grandfather. His mother left the family when he was one and a half years old and has not been involved in raising him for the past eight years. The family lives near Lviv.

Before the full-scale russian invasion, Markiian’s father, Ihor, worked as a driver. In November 2022, he joined Ukraine’s defense forces. He was killed in the fighting for Bakhmut in the spring of 2023.

Markiian’s grandmother, Halyna, had to become the family’s main source of support: she raised her grandson, supported her husband, and could only grieve when she was alone.

Markiian was six years old when his father was killed. He struggled deeply with the loss: within a week, he began experiencing knee pain and sleep problems. The family sought help from a psychologist.

The family is available for both online and in-person interviews by prior arrangement.

Background: The Children of Heroes Charity Foundation supports children who have lost one or both parents because of the war. The foundation provides immediate, personalized assistance, including humanitarian aid, psychological and medical support, as well as educational and development opportunities until the children reach adulthood.

• children
• dead
• military

The press conference will present new information that should become the subject of thorough investigative work and remain under constant public scrutiny. 

Participants:

– Anna Lobova, wife of a man seriously wounded during the terrorist attack in Olenivka;

– Anastasia Gondyul, wife of a man seriously wounded during the terrorist attack in Olenivka.

The organizers will also raise the following questions:

• Why have seriously wounded defenders still not been returned from captivity?
• Why, despite high-profile promises, has not a single person from this category of prisoners been returned over the past year?
• What are the results of the investigation into the tragedy four years after the attack? Why is there no information about the key witness?

Background: On the night of July 29, 2022, russia carried out a terrorist attack by blowing up a barracks at a penal colony in Olenivka where Ukrainian prisoners of war were held. At least 50 defenders of Azovstal were killed, and more than 100 were wounded.

The Ukrainian servicemen seriously wounded in the attack have remained in russian captivity for four years.

• casualties
• dead
• military
• prisoners
• russian crimes

On July 29, Kyiv will host the event “BASHTA. Memory That Unites,” dedicated to the anniversary of the deaths of Ukrainian defenders in Olenivka.

On the night of July 29, 2022, russia carried out one of the largest terrorist attacks against Ukrainian prisoners of war by blowing up a barracks in Olenivka, where more than 200 Azovstal defenders were held.

The event will commemorate those killed in Olenivka, discuss the challenges veterans face after returning from captivity, and present the online platform Bashta — a space bringing together veterans, military families, civil society organizations and everyone working on issues of memory, recovery and the development of the veteran community.

Speakers:

• Natalia Petrenko — founder of the Bashta platform; 
• Oleksandra Mazur — co-founder of the NGO Olenivka Community;
• Oleh Krisenko — veteran, former prisoner of war and founder of the IT Veterans NGO;
• Anton Kalakutskyi — representative of the IT Veterans NGO and the Veterans Movement of Ukraine;
• Semen Makhlin — veteran, professional adaptation specialist and career consultant at UNIT 6.0;
• Daria Ulman — founder of Community Ulman;
• Oleksandr Batalov — veteran and director of the Ankonkard Foundation;
• Yaryna Chuchman-Myno — founder of the Blast brand and communications manager at the Ankonkard Foundation.

Background: The organizers are the Bashta online platform, the National Museum of the Revolution of Dignity, the National Memorial Complex of the Heavenly Hundred Heroes — Museum of the Revolution of Dignity, and the Olenivka Community.

• dead
• military
• prisoners
• russian crimes
• Kyiv

On July 28, the exhibition “Olenivka: The Quintessence of Cruelty” will reopen in Kyiv for the third time. The event is dedicated to the fourth anniversary of the Olenivka terrorist attack.

The exhibition was created in cooperation with the National Museum of the Revolution of Dignity and the NGO Media Initiative for Human Rights. The exhibition will be open until November 16.

Background: On the night of July 29, 2022, russia carried out a terrorist attack by blowing up a barracks at a penal colony in Olenivka where Ukrainian prisoners of war were held. At least 50 defenders of Azovstal were killed, and more than 100 were injured.

Ukrainian soldiers who were seriously wounded in the attack have remained in russian captivity for four years.

• dead
• military
• prisoners
• russian crimes
• Kyiv

The press conference will present new information that should become the subject of thorough investigative work and remain under constant public scrutiny. The organizers will also raise the following questions:

Why have seriously wounded defenders still not been returned from captivity?

Why, despite high-profile promises, has not a single person from this category of prisoners been returned over the past year?

What are the results of the investigation into the tragedy four years after the attack? Why is there no information about the key witness?

Background: On the night of July 29, 2022, russia carried out a terrorist attack by blowing up a barracks at a penal colony in Olenivka where Ukrainian prisoners of war were held. At least 50 defenders of Azovstal were killed, and more than 100 were wounded.

The Ukrainian servicemen seriously wounded in the attack have remained in russian captivity for four years.

• casualties
• dead
• military
• prisoners
• russian crimes

Before russia’s full-scale invasion, Mariia-Viktoriia and Ivan lived in Hlukhiv, Sumy region, and were raising their five-year-old son, Volodymyr. After February 24, Hlukhiv was under enemy siege for a month and a half. The city lacked medicine and food. Mariia-Viktoriia worried that her son and grandmother might fall ill.

Ivan joined the military in the first days of the war. He initially served at checkpoints in the city. In late May 2022, he was sent to Kyiv and later to Donetsk region as part of the 53rd Mechanized Brigade. Mariia and her son remained in Hlukhiv. She ran a children’s development center and worked a lot. They did not see each other often, but Ivan always tried to get away and come for his son’s birthday or September 1.

In the summer of 2023, while stationed near Avdiivka in Donetsk region, Ivan decided to pursue a second degree and enrolled at Poltava State Agrarian University. In February 2024, the couple spent two weeks together while Ivan was attending a university session. In March 2024, he was killed.

Life in Hlukhiv became unbearable for Mariia and her son because of constant russian shelling. In addition, as the city is located close to the border, enemy FPV drone strikes became a regular occurrence there.

Mariia and her son now live in Kamianets-Podilskyi, Khmelnytskyi region. Little Vova goes to school and attends extracurricular activities, and has made friends.

Vova’s biggest dream is for the war to end. After that, he wants to travel to Japan.

By prior arrangement, the family is available for in-person and online interviews.

Background: The Children of Heroes Foundation supports the family. In the summer of 2025, Vova went to a summer camp for the first time and enjoyed it very much. In December 2024, one of the boy’s biggest dreams came true: he met Ukrainian television host Dmytro Komarov.

• children
• dead
• military
• women

On July 12, Khartiia Hub in Lviv will host a memorial tour dedicated to the life and legacy of combat medic Iryna Tsybukh.

The tour will be led by licensed guide and Iryna’s brother, Yurii Tsybukh, who will share personal stories that offer a deeper understanding of her remarkable life and character.

Participants will:

• visit places that played an important role in Iryna’s civic activism;
• reflect on her values, discuss ways of preserving memory, and explore how remembrance can be transformed into meaningful everyday actions.

The tour will conclude at Iryna’s burial site.

Background: Iryna Tsybukh, a paramedic with the Hospitallers volunteer medical battalion known by the call sign “Cheka,” was killed on May 29, 2024, during a troop rotation in the Kharkiv sector. She was 25 years old.

She joined the volunteer battalion in February 2022. Before the full-scale invasion, she worked as a reform manager at Suspilne, Ukraine’s public broadcaster, and led educational projects in remote villages across the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.

• dead
• military
• Lviv

Memorial services for fallen Ukrainian healthcare workers will be held simultaneously in 20 countries around the world on July 10, 2026.

The organizers are calling on hospitals, healthcare institutions, military medical units, clergy, and media organizations to join the commemorative initiative through the following acts of remembrance:

Joint memorial service in Kyiv. A memorial service for fallen healthcare workers will be held at St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery with the participation of members of the Honorary Council of the Order, government officials, the medical community, and the families of the fallen heroes. A flower-laying ceremony at the memorial alley near the monastery will follow.

Minute of silence and nationwide bell ringing. With the support of the clergy, churches across Ukraine participating in the initiative will ring memorial bells. At the same time, a nationwide minute of silence will be observed, accompanied by a special audio recording of a heartbeat fading into silence.

Flashing lights of honor. Healthcare institutions and ambulance services are invited to briefly switch on the emergency lights of ambulances as a tribute to their fallen colleagues.

“White Coat” installation. Hospitals and healthcare institutions will continue the tradition of placing an empty chair draped with a white medical coat or military camouflage uniform, accompanied by photographs of healthcare workers from the institution who lost their lives.

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion in 2022, it has become clear that not only soldiers defending Ukraine on the front line are being killed in the war. russian forces have deliberately targeted Ukrainian healthcare workers.

The Order of Saint Panteleimon has joined efforts with its Regional Councils and the National Scientific Medical Library of Ukraine to collect, verify, and document information about healthcare professionals who have given their lives for Ukraine’s freedom since 2014.

Together with the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, July 10 has been designated as the All-Ukrainian Day of Remembrance for Fallen Healthcare Workers. The date was chosen symbolically, two weeks before Ukraine’s Medical Workers’ Day, observed on July 27.

Journalists can request additional information and media materials about the event.

Background: The Order of Saint Panteleimon, awarded for professionalism and compassion, is Ukraine’s highest and most prestigious public award in healthcare, often referred to as the country’s “Medical Oscar.” Established in 2009, it has operated as a large-scale civic initiative since 2017. The Order has a unique structure that includes an Honorary Council composed of senior state officials, church leaders, prominent scientists, and leading medical professors, as well as regional branches throughout Ukraine and 20 international councils. Today, the Order brings together the country’s leading healthcare professionals and includes around 270 recipients whose dedication has embodied the principles of compassion. As the coordinator of the Memory Light initiative, the Order fulfills its highest moral mission by preserving the memory of those who protected the lives of others until their last breath.

Today, the Memory Light initiative is much more than a commemorative date. It is a large-scale project dedicated to supporting the families of fallen healthcare workers and preserving the memory of their lives and service.

• dead
• doctors
• Kyiv

The program of this year’s festival includes discussions and public conversations, excursions and musical performances, theatrical and music-poetic performances. The festival participants and speakers are Oksana Zabuzhko, Serhiy Zhadan, Yuliia “Taira” Paievska, Pavlo Kazarin, Vakhtang Kipiani, Kateryna Kalytko, Mariana Sadovska, Svitlana Povaliayeva, Sasha Koltsova, Valeriy Puzik, Anton Slepakov, The Harmyder Theater, and the band Zhadan i Sobaky.

On the opening day of the festival, July 3, a press briefing for the media will take place on the lawn of Protasiv Yar with the participation of organizers and guests. Immediately after the briefing, the official opening will take place with an introductory speech by Oksana Zabuzhko.

Media accreditation is required.

Reference: The Protasiv Yar festival was founded in memory of public activist and scout of the 93rd Kholodnyi Yar Brigade, Roman Ratushnyi (call sign Seneka).

• culture
• dead
• military
• Kyiv

On July 5, a tournament in memory of Maksym Kahal — Hero of Ukraine and platoon commander in the “Azov” Regiment (now the 12th Special Purpose Brigade of the NGU “Azov”) — will take place in Kyiv. Maksym was a world kickboxing champion. The soldier died during the defense of Mariupol and “Azovstal” as a result of a russian aerial bomb. Maksym lived for sports and the Ukrainian military — the soldier joined “Azov” in 2015. He taught his fellow soldiers kickboxing and CrossFit. 

The tournament is timed to the soldier’s birthday. Everyone interested can join the event. 

The mother of the fallen serviceman will be present at the tournament.

• dead
• military
• Kyiv