Themes by tag: Dnipro

Max Dorman, a German national, worked as a paramedic in Hamburg. When russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, he and his friends began helping Ukrainian refugees in Germany. Later, he started traveling to Lviv as a volunteer.

Over time, Max became one of the co-founders of Artesans ResQ Ukraine, an organization focused on evacuating the wounded. Its medics have helped more than 3,000 Ukrainians — both military personnel and civilians.

Today, the Artesans ResQ Ukraine team is based in Dnipro and includes both Ukrainians and international members. Each month, the organization carries out around 150 evacuation missions. Its medics operate ambulance-based intensive care units across Ukraine and abroad.

By prior arrangement, journalists can speak with Max Dorman and the Artesans ResQ Ukraine team both online and in person in Dnipro.

• doctors
• volunteers
• Dnipro
• evacuation

The Free Fight Cup of Ukraine and the nationwide memorial tournament “Defender of Ukraine” will take place in Dnipro on April 18–19.

The tournaments are organized on the initiative of the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine, the Physical Training and Sports Directorate of the 1st Corps of the National Guard of Ukraine “Azov,” and the 12th Special Purpose Brigade “Azov.” The event is held in partnership with the Upgrade Sports Club and the Vataga Boxing School.

Background: Free Fight is a Ukrainian combat sport of mixed martial arts created in 1995. It features minimal restrictions on techniques and emphasizes well-rounded, universal training for athletes.

• culture
• military
• Dnipro

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

In February 2022, Olena Kozobrod turned 56. She was a music teacher, but on the first day of the full-scale invasion, she decided to join the army. Olena wanted to support her daughter, who graduated early from a military institute and now serves in the Special Operations Center.

Although she had wanted to, Olena did not end up on the front lines. Instead, she became a clerk in the 93rd Mechanized Brigade Kholodnyi Yar.

Adapting to military life was difficult for her, and Olena often cried during the first year. Over these three years, however, her colleagues’ attitude toward her has changed dramatically, and she is now considered “one of their own”. She occasionally posts videos of herself singing on social media. One day, a follower — who was also a serviceman recently demobilized due to age — contacted her. The two began communicating, and during one of Olena’s leaves, they got married. She will soon turn 60 and therefore plans to leave the army to live with her husband.

Olena Kozobrod is available for interviews online and in person in the Dnipropetrovsk oblast by prior arrangement.

• military
• women
• Dnipro

Before the full-scale invasion, Nataliia Havrylenko was an entrepreneur in Kherson. She was preparing for war and planned to join the Territorial Defense with her beloved. On February 24, 2022, the couple went straight to the military enlistment office. Soon, the Kherson Territorial Defense fighters, of which Nataliia was a member, received weapons. However, they only managed to serve for two days.

Nataliia recalls how a battalion commander entered the office of the newly formed unit, ordered them to lay down their weapons and flee home through the fields, and then left. In that moment, she and her husband, along with the other civilians, realized that they would have to defend their hometown on their own. Thus began the partisan movement in Kherson. Nataliia and her comrades set up a field hospital and established cooperation with the Special Operations Forces.

On July 7, 2022, russians broke into Nataliia’s home, where she was staying with her daughter-in-law, son, and grandson. She was taken to a temporary detention center, where she was held for several months. Although she was not physically tortured, she was interrogated using a polygraph and forced to give an interview to russian propagandists. Nataliia was released on November 1, 2022, without documents, money, or a phone.

Today, she continues her volunteer work supporting Ukrainian military personnel.

Nataliia Havrylenko is currently in Kamianske, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. She is available for interviews, both online and in person, by prior arrangement.

Background: Kherson was occupied by russian forces at the beginning of the full-scale invasion (March 1, 2022). The Armed Forces of Ukraine liberated the city from russian troops on November 11, 2022. The occupiers continue to shell the city regularly.

• occupation
• prisoners
• russian crimes
• volunteers
• women
• Dnipro
• Kherson

In October, the Hospitallers will conduct a series of training courses on pre-medical care and tactical medicine for civilians and volunteer medics. These include “Basic Life Support”, “Hemorrhage Control”, “First Aid for Trauma”, “Combat Lifesaver (CLS) Course”, and “Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) Course”. The courses will be held in Kyiv, Lviv, Dnipro, and the Dnipropetrovsk oblast.

Journalists may cover the training sessions upon prior arrangement.

For reference: The Hospitallers Medical Battalion has operated on the front lines since 2014. Its crews conduct dozens of evacuations daily along almost the entire front line. 

Since 2015, the Hospitallers have provided tactical medicine training, and since 2018, they have provided pre-medical care training. Their instructors are certified by the National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians (NAEMT) in the United States, the Ukrainian Military Medical Academy, and other organizations.

• doctors
• Dnipro
• Kyiv
• Lviv

Alina Kirina spent much of her childhood in her grandmother’s dental office. The early exposure influenced her career path. Despite her family’s warnings about the long, costly road to becoming a doctor, she chose the profession anyway, and earned her degree.

Her path, however, was anything but simple. In 2014, as a dental student, she fled her hometown of Luhansk with nothing but a backpack when russia first launched its assault in eastern Ukraine.

Together with her future husband, now a National Police officer and combat veteran, Kirina started over in Svatove, Luhansk region. For years she worked for others while quietly dreaming of opening her own clinic.

That dream was still out of reach when russia escalated its all-out invasion in February 2022. But this time, the couple knew how to act fast. Within hours of the first strikes, they had packed their car and driven to safety in the Dnipropetrovsk region.

In Dnipro, Kirina resolved to leap forward. With the help of a grant from the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation, she opened her own dental office. The practice is more than a business – it carries a mission of service. Every Thursday, she and her team offer free consultations to service members, their families, and displaced people. Ukrainian defenders also receive discounted care.

Kirina is available for interviews in Dnipro, either in person or online by appointment.

• doctors
• women
• Dnipro

In August and September, the Hospitallers Medical Battalion will hold a series of training courses on pre-medical care and tactical medicine for civilians and volunteer medics. The courses include: Basic Life Support, Bleeding Control, First Aid for Trauma, Combat Lifesaver (CLS) Training, Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC CMC) Training. The courses will take place in Kyiv, Lviv, Dnipro, and Dnipropetrovsk oblast.

Journalists can cover the training sessions by prior agreement.

Background: The Hospitallers Medical Battalion has been operating on the front lines since 2014. Their crews conduct dozens of evacuations daily along nearly the entire frontline.

The battalion has been providing tactical medicine training since 2015 and pre-medical aid courses since 2018. Their instructors are certified by NAEMT (National Association of Emergency Medical Technicians, USA), UMMA (Ukrainian Military Medical Academy), and other recognized organizations.

• doctors
• Dnipro
• Kyiv
• Lviv

Anastasiia and Andrii Ordynskyi shared 12 years of marriage and were raising their daughter Miia together.

Andrii began his military service in 2012, signing a contract in Sevastopol a year later. After russia’s occupation of Crimea, he left the peninsula with his unit and later joined the 36th Marine Brigade in Mykolaiv. When the full-scale invasion began, Andrii was stationed near Mariupol. On April 12, 2022, during their last video call, Andrii told Anastasiia to search for him among the prisoners of war or the fallen – there was no way out of the encirclement.

On May 1 of that year, Anastasiia spotted her husband in a video of captured Ukrainian soldiers. For the next three years, she did everything possible to bring him home: connecting with other POW families, former captives, and organizations dedicated to prisoners’ welfare. She even underwent training to prepare for Andrii’s return. Her perseverance paid off – Andrii was finally freed in a prisoner exchange on May 23, 2025. He is now undergoing treatment and rehabilitation after his ordeal in captivity.

You can speak with Anastasiia Ordynska online or meet her in Dnipropetrovsk oblast by prior arrangement.

• prisoners
• Dnipro

Before russia launched its full-scale invasion, Yuliia Bondarenko and her fiancé lived in the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson. When russian forces seized control of the city in 2022, the couple endured three months of occupation. It wasn’t until May 2022 that Yuliia made the difficult decision to flee.

During the evacuation, she brought along her two cats, two dogs, and an additional animal rescued from a local shelter. The family eventually settled in Kryvyi Rih, where Yuliia began a new chapter, embroidering her first traditional shirt. Her husband was engaged in volunteer work, and that very shirt was offered as a gift in exchange for the largest donation. It ended up in the hands of a German supporter.

In addition to shirts, Yuliia began crafting traditional embroidered belt pouches, popularly known as “little pockets.” Each piece features embroidered images of animals, honoring and reflecting on the struggle of animals from the left bank of the Kherson region, many of whom were injured or killed during the ongoing fighting. All proceeds from the sales go toward supporting a local animal shelter and purchasing food for stray dogs and cats in Kherson.

She named the project Silence of the Steppe. Today, her embroidered shirts and pockets travel far beyond Kryvyi Rih, finding new homes not only across Ukraine but also abroad, particularly among displaced Ukrainians who cannot yet return.

Yuliia Bondarenko is available for interviews by appointment, both online and in person in Kryvyi Rih.

• animals
• culture
• occupation
• women
• Dnipro