Themes by tag: Kharkiv

Recently, five combatants, including veterans who lost limbs, joined the Ukrainian program of The HALO Trust, the world’s largest non-governmental, non-profit humanitarian demining organization. The soldiers, who defended their country on the front lines, will now work on a remote sensing team, analyzing drone imagery to identify potentially dangerous areas and explosive hazards.

By prior arrangement, journalists can cover the veterans’ work in the Kharkiv and Kyiv regions. 

Background: The HALO Trust is the world’s largest international nonprofit organization specializing in mine clearance and ammunition disposal, with 35 years of experience in 30 countries and territories worldwide.

• military
• Kharkiv
• Kyiv
• demining

When the full-scale invasion began, Valentyna Nechvolod was working as a seamstress in Kupiansk, Kharkiv oblast. She wanted to evacuate immediately, but she couldn’t leave her mother, who lived near the town. However, she did not want to leave her 14-year-old son, who lived with her in Kupiansk, under the occupation. Faced with a difficult decision, she finally allowed him to leave with volunteers for Ukrainian-controlled territory.

Valentyna spent seven months in the occupation without work, refusing to work for the occupiers. When Kupiansk was liberated in September 2022, she and her mother moved to Kharkiv, where she began looking for a job. However, finding steady work in a city that was constantly shelled by the russians and left without electricity proved challenging. So Valentina enrolled in a course to learn how to start a business and soon received a grant to open a women’s space in Kharkiv called “Nezalezhna” (Independent).

The women’s space offers three types of services: beauty care, clothing repair in a textile workshop, and organizing various events for children. Valentyna employs displaced women who, like her, are struggling to find work in their new environment.

• occupation
• women
• Kharkiv

Biologist Yurii Benhus and his wife are on a mission to restore Kharkiv’s Zhuravlivka neighborhood forest, which was severely damaged by a russian attack. The forest, 70% of which was destroyed by fire, is slowly being revived as the couple plant acorns that will eventually grow into oak trees.

The fire erupted on September 16, consuming around four hectares. Just a day later, while emergency crews were still on the scene, the area was hit again—this time by a russian guided aerial bomb, injuring four firefighters.

Undeterred by the threat of further shelling, Yurii and his wife return to the forest several times each week, steadfastly working to bring new life to the charred landscape. 

The couple, based in Kharkiv, is open to sharing their story both online and in person by prior arrangement.

• ecology
• Kharkiv

Oleksandr Pivniev enlisted in the military at the age of 19. Before joining the Ukrainian Armed Forces, he studied at the Ivan Kozhedub Kharkiv University of Air Force but left before graduation to serve with the 203rd Training Aviation Brigade in Chuhuiv, Kharkiv region. Later, he transferred to the 53rd Separate Mechanized Brigade. In 2016, while stationed near Toretsk, he came under a mortar attack and sustained life-threatening injuries. Oleksandr survived four cardiac arrests, a shattered left leg, and the amputation of his right leg.

What followed was a two-year journey of rehabilitation and prosthetic fitting in the United States. 

Yet, in 2018, Oleksandr made the remarkable decision to return to active duty. At the onset of russia’s full-scale invasion, he took command of the anti-aircraft artillery unit of the 126th Separate Territorial Defense Brigade in Odesa. He attributes his comeback to his desire to reunite with his comrades. Sports, especially adaptive training under the “Games of Heroes” program and competing in various athletic events, played a crucial role in his recovery. Today, Oleksandr remains active in both sports and military service. 
Currently, Oleksandr Pivniev is abroad and available for online interviews. In November 2024, he plans to be in Lviv or Kharkiv and will be open to in-person meetings with journalists.

• military
• Kharkiv
• Lviv

Anna Hin is a journalist and writer from Kharkiv. Lately she has been creating unique jewelry from Kharkiv flowers and tiny fragments of rockets and bombs. 

Anna became the creator of the “Flowers from the Unbreakable” initiative by chance. This spring, she once again brought foreign journalists to North Saltivka (the district of Kharkiv that suffered the most during the full-scale russian invasion). Despite the destroyed buildings around her, the sounds of sirens and explosions, she could not take her eyes off the incredible beauty of the poppies growing there. In the evening, despite the danger, Anna returned to pick the flowers and later decided that such beauty should be preserved. She found information online about working with epoxy resin and soon began collecting other flowers from the frontline town. First she made them into coasters, then into jewelry. 

One day, while walking her dog near the Epicentre construction hypermarket destroyed by the occupiers, Anna picked up small fragments of enemy rockets to prevent her dog from injuring its paws. She filled two bags with fragments and decided to incorporate them into her floral creations.

Anna has already held seven charity auctions of her jewelry, with all proceeds going to support a hospital.

Journalists can talk to Anna Gin in Kharkiv or online.

• culture
• women
• Kharkiv

The Children’s Voices Charitable Foundation launched the “Children Dream” campaign and asked children from different regions about their dreams. The aim is to show that despite difficult circumstances, children continue to dream and need the support of adults. Moreover, children’s dreams are a source of strength for adults as well.

“I hope that when the war is over, we will have a very beautiful sea that will be very popular with tourists. (…) Let our music flourish all over the world…”

This is an excerpt from a letter written by 12-year-old Eva, who shares her dreams. Three months after the outbreak of the full-scale war, she was forced to leave her native village in the Zaporizhia region (now occupied) and moved to the city of Zaporizhia, where she participates in the activities of the Center of the Children’s Voices Charitable Foundation.

Among the dreams shared by other children is the desire to attend school in person instead of studying online. And, of course, the children dream of Ukraine’s victory and the liberation of the occupied territories.

Journalists can learn more about the “Children Dream” campaign and, with prior agreement, speak with the children (whose parents consent), particularly in the Zaporizhia, Kharkiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions, and in Kyiv.

• children
• Dnipro
• Kharkiv
• Kyiv
• Zaporizhzhia

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

Efforts are underway to rebuild the National Literary and Memorial Museum of Hryhorii Skovoroda in Ukraine’s Kharkiv Oblast, after it was devastated by a russian missile strike. Recently, the “301 Skovoroda’s True Friend” campaign succeeded in raising 1.4 million Ukrainian hryvnias to support the museum’s restoration.

On May 6, 2022, a russian missile obliterated the Skovoroda Museum’s main building in Kharkiv Oblast. The explosion also caused significant damage to the 19th-century barn and the Manager’s House, both key elements of the museum complex. A large-scale fire erupted in the wake of the blast, scorching 280 square meters of the structure. Remarkably, a statue of Hryhorii Skovoroda survived the attack.

Journalists have documented the extensive damage left in the aftermath of the strike.

For reference: The museum is situated within the Memorial Complex dedicated to the renowned philosopher and poet Hryhorii Skovoroda, a site recognized as a national historical monument. The grounds also include Skovoroda’s gravesite, further cementing its cultural significance.

It’s worth noting that September 6, 2024, will mark two years since the start of the Slobozhanske counteroffensive by Ukrainian Defense Forces, a campaign that nearly liberated the entire Kharkiv region from russian occupation.

• reconstruction
• russian crimes
• Kharkiv

Ofeliia Yershova was 2 years old when her family left Azerbaijan due to the outbreak of the war in Nagorno-Karabakh. The family moved to Kharkiv, where Ofeliia lived ever since. As an adult, the woman started her own sewing business in the city.

When russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Ofeliia persuaded her mother to leave their apartment in Saltivka (the area most affected by the russian shelling). Two days after that, the occupiers destroyed the high-rise building in which Ofeliia’s parents lived. All the sewing equipment that the woman kept in the apartment burned down.

Ofeliia could no longer get back to sewing, so she took up cooking. She made jams and canned meat according to the family recipe. Eventually, the hobby turned into a business. Together with her beloved, she wrote a business plan, applied for a grant from the state, received funds and set up production workshops. Canned meat and jams under the brand “Pani Chef” (lady chef) are produced in Kharkiv. And Ofeliia plans to open a branded store in her hometown soon.

Ofeliia Yershova is ready to communicate with journalists, both online and in person, by prior arrangement.

• casualties
• women
• Kharkiv

EOD specialist Anastasiia Kuzminych, who works for the international organization the Halo Trust, met her future husband right on a minefield. Anastasiia and Illia worked on neighboring lines, and during the breaks, Illia helped her to carry heavy objects. Later, they kept in touch and finally got married.

Today, Anastasiia’s husband, Illia Khomiak, is the Head of the Non-Technical Examination Groups, and recently he brought his 22-year-old brother Andrii to the Halo Trust. Andrii works as a paramedic in an EOD unit and is glad that demining has become a family business.

Journalists are welcome to learn more and talk with Anastasiia and Illia in Kharkiv region.

For reference: the Halo Trust is the largest international non-profit organization that has been clearing mines and explosive ordnance in 30 countries and territories around the world for 35 years.

• Kharkiv
• demining