Themes by tag: evacuation

Before the full-scale invasion began, Liudmyla Porfilenko lived in Kurakhove, Donetsk oblast, worked as a nurse at a local school, and in her spare time made toys and jewelry in a small workshop she set up in her apartment. Liudmyla’s husband was a doctor, and together they raised three children.

On February 24, 2022, Liudmyla could not believe that a great war had begun. But by the third week of the invasion, her family decided to evacuate. They packed their children, two dogs, and canisters of gasoline into the car. They took only a change of clothes and some of Liudmyla’s craft supplies. The family made their way to the Volyn oblast, choosing it on the advice of acquaintances who had evacuated from Donetsk oblast in 2014.

Later her parents were also evacuated to Volyn. Liudmyla’s husband found a job in a local hospital, and she revived her small studio. She starts working early in the morning, sewing toys and making jewelry from precious stones. She sells her creations on social media or through acquaintances. Some of her handmade dolls have traveled the world, with orders from France, Germany and England. Liudmyla also holds wool felting workshops for children.

You can speak with Liudmyla either online or in person by appointment.

Background: Kurakhove is currently under heavy fighting, and most of the population has fled the city.

• culture
• women
• Lutsk
• evacuation

The White Angels police unit operates in hot spots, evacuating civilians, providing emergency medical care, delivering humanitarian aid and transporting the bodies of the deceased. Currently, the team is working in Kurakhove, Donetsk oblast.

In one trip, the officers managed to evacuate 13 people and 7 animals. The White Angels loaded 10 residents with their belongings, along with six cats and a dog, into an armored vehicle. They also towed a car damaged by an enemy drone, carrying a woman and her son, while the father of the family followed in his own vehicle.

During one operation, while the crew was evacuating two children with their parents, the occupiers attacked with aerial bombs. The law enforcement officers waited out the attack and took the people to a safe place.

Interviews with the officers can be arranged both online and offline by prior arrangement, with the possibility of covering the crew’s work.

• casualties
• evacuation

The volunteer organization Helping to Leave has successfully evacuated more than 45,000 Ukrainians from occupied regions and russian territory. Currently, the initiative boasts over 200 dedicated volunteers who assist Ukrainians living under occupation or those who have been deported to russia in their return to government-controlled areas.

Most individuals under occupation discover the opportunity to leave through word of mouth, with preparations for each evacuation often taking several months. This timeline is contingent upon the documents that evacuees possess, the situation at the front lines, and the chosen route. Volunteers frequently encounter individuals with expired or completely lost documents.

Following the shutdown of the humanitarian border in the Sumy region, requests for assistance surged, prompting Helping to Leave to operate around the clock to aid those in need. Journalists may cover the work of Helping to Leave’s volunteers by prior arrangement.

For context: The humanitarian corridor at the Kolotilovka-Pokrovka checkpoint on the border area of russian belgorod oblast and Ukraine’s Sumy Oblast was temporarily closed in early August. This checkpoint was the only functioning route between Ukraine and russia, utilized by those escaping occupied territories. The closure was attributed to an escalation of hostilities in the area.

• occupation
• volunteers
• evacuation

Iryna and Viktor, from Kryvyi Rih, met at paramedic courses after the start of the full-scale invasion. The couple has not been apart since.

Together, Viktor and Iryna began evacuating wounded soldiers and civilians from the front lines. For two years, the volunteers traveled from one hotspot to another. Viktor proposed to Iryna during shelling in Avdiivka, when the city was still under Ukrainian control.

Last year, the Mironovs founded the Ukrainian Brotherhood NGO, which raises money for vehicles, drones, and electronic warfare systems for the military. When the couple is in Kryvyi Rih, they assist rescuers at the sites of enemy attacks, helping to clear debris and pull people from the ruins. They say their real day off will come after victory.

Iryna and Viktor Mironov are in Kryvyi Rih. The volunteers are ready to talk to journalists, both online and offline.

• casualties
• volunteers
• evacuation

The NGO “Humanitarian Aid Center Volunteer-68” in Kharkiv has a mission that goes beyond ordinary assistance to people with disabilities. The organization focuses on the most vulnerable: people with disabilities who have no close relatives nearby. Representatives of “Volunteer-68” evacuate them from dangerous areas, transport them to state institutions, banks, administrative service centers, etc.

In the “Without Limits” transit shelter, they provide round-the-clock care for evacuees with limited mobility and people with disabilities. In addition, their case managers address critical issues for elderly and disabled people  staying in other temporary shelters in Kharkiv. This includes restoring documents, paying pensions, and organizing care and treatment.

In June 2024, Volunteer-68 opened an inclusive educational space in Kharkiv, where members of low-mobility groups can receive education, including vocational training, which is especially important given the increasing number of people with disabilities due to the war.

The organization has also created a network of activists called “Ambassadors of Inclusion” in three communities of the Kharkiv oblast. They advocate for the interests of people with disabilities and work to improve accessibility.

Journalists have the opportunity to cover the activities of the Volunteer-68 NGO.

For reference: September 6, 2024 will mark two years since the start of the Slobozhansk counteroffensive of the Ukrainian Defense Forces, which led to the near-total liberation of the Kharkiv oblast from the russian occupiers.

• casualties
• volunteers
• Kharkiv
• evacuation

The Hospitails project is a team of veterinarians and volunteers who have come together to help and evacuate animals in the frontline areas.

A year ago, when the occupiers blew up the Kakhovka dam, the team set out to rescue four-legged friends from the disaster zone, which marked the day when the initiative started working systematically. Hospitals equipped a full-fledged mobile operating room, which allows treating and vaccinating animals as well as performing surgeries in field conditions.

Within the year of operation, the team evacuated and found homes for about 200 animals. During their trips, 243 animals were vaccinated and treated. 168 “tails” were operated on and sterilized. They also distributed 10 tons of humanitarian aid.

For reference: The Hospitails project is a joint initiative of the Hospitallers medical volunteer battalion and Hvostati Charitable Foundation, which helps and finds homes for animals.

• animals
• casualties
• volunteers
• evacuation

Dmytro Mazurov joined the ranks of the National Police in 2018. Currently, the policeman serves in the “White Angels” group, which evacuates people from hot spots on the frontline. Dmytro mostly works in six settlements near the front line: Torske, Zarichne, Yampolivka, Terny, Kolodiazi, and Ivanivka.

When most of these villages and towns were occupied in April 2022, and there was one kilometer of land between the enemy and Zarichne, more than fifty people gathered in one spot waiting for evacuation. It took Dmitry 8 trips to take everyone to a safe place. Then he learned that two more women managed to get out of occupied Torske (Dmytro’s native village), and they were on their way to Zarichne. The policeman went to pick them up and evacuated the women under artillery fire.

Dmytro returned to service immediately after the liberation of the district in 2022. The “White Angels” deliver necessities including food and medicine to the de-occupied villages and towns. Also, the police work together with the rescuers, dismantle the rubble after enemy strikes, rescue the wounded and dead, and take care of those who refuse to leave. According to Dmytro, over the past year, the “White Angels” managed to evacuate all the children who lived near the line of fire in the policeman’s area of responsibility. He saved a total of 32 children.

For reference: Dmytro Mazurov is in the Donetsk sector. The policeman is ready to communicate with journalists, both online and offline, by prior arrangement.

• casualties
• evacuation

Before the start of russia’s full-scale invasion, Maksym Shevchenko worked in car repairs. On February 24, 2022, he was in Irpin. Despite the shelling, he evacuated residents from Bucha, Vorzel, the outskirts of Hostomel and Irpin. Later, the situation got more complicated and hostilities intensified, so he could only evacuate Irpin residents. (He took them to the Romanivka Bridge, which sustained so much damage to the structure that people could only cross it on foot).

Maksym evacuated people with reduced mobility, the elderly and the wounded. Sometimes he had to carry people on his shoulders. During the evacuations, the volunteer saw corpses of the residents who died due to russian shelling. And the volunteer himself came under enemy fire several times.

Maksym filmed what was happening around him on his phone. On March 21, 2022, his own house was destroyed by an enemy strike. Before that, one of his cars had been damaged by an enemy shell. In order to take people out, he had to use the cars of his relatives, friends and ordinary residents.

Maksym continues to volunteer even now. He delivers humanitarian aid to the frontline regions.

Journalists have the opportunity to learn more and communicate with the volunteer in Kyiv region (either in person or online).

For reference: on April 2, 2022, Kyiv region was completely liberated from russian occupation. By April 6, 2022, the Defense Forces fully liberated Chernihiv region. On April 11, 2022, the then Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi announced that full control over the state border in Sumy region was restored.

• casualties
• occupation
• volunteers
• Kyiv
• evacuation

Oleksii Yukov leads the search squad for the “Platsdarm” Association of Military and Historical Heritage Researchers. Since 2014, Yukov and his team have been dedicated to locating and recovering the remains of fallen Ukrainians, whether they be military personnel or civilians. Yukov’s commitment to this mission is unwavering, as evidenced by his near-death encounter with occupiers in 2014 while carrying out his duties.

Operating amidst gunfire and facing the danger of the enemy frequently booby-traping the corpses of fallen, Yukov and his team encounter grim scenes, often discovering bodies that have been subjected to torture or mangled by passing vehicles and enemy tanks. 

Notably, the team undertook a search for bodies underneath rubble at the Kramatorsk tragedy site, where a Russian Tochka-U missile struck the city’s railway station on April 8, 2022. This devastating attack claimed the lives of 61 individuals and left 121 others injured.

Currently, the search team remains active in the eastern region of the country.

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, which actually dates back to February 20, 2014, beginning with the annexation of Crimea. Russian forces invaded Ukrainian Crimea without any identifying markings and, after that, seized control of the peninsula back then. Subsequently, these events escalated into war in eastern Ukraine.

• dead
• military
• volunteers
• evacuation

Since February 24, 2022, the White Angels police team has managed to rescue and bring more than 9,000 people from the frontline areas to safety. Law enforcement crews go to the most remote corners that are out of reach for volunteer missions, evacuating those who are ready to leave for a safe zone, and delivering humanitarian aid to those who won’t flee the areas. White Angels employs 81 policemen, particularly in the Kherson, Donetsk, Kharkiv, and Luhansk regions. The officers are truly selfless when it comes to saving people despite risking their own lives. Getting out civilians from Avdiivka in Donetsk region, a site of fierce fighting, is among the most recent operations of the White Angels. 

For reference: the White Angels crew in the Donetsk region is willing to give both online and offline interviews, by prior arrangement with the press service of the Main Directorate of the National Police in Donetsk Oblast.

• casualties
• evacuation