Themes by tag: Khmelnytskyi

Kateryna Hidzula is a mother of three and an entrepreneur from Khmelnytskyi. Three years ago, Kateryna started a hub for women. The main mission of the hub is to provide women with the opportunity for self-realization. Kateryna and her team deliver training sessions for the hub’s visitors. In particular, she gives the essential knowledge to run your own business.

When the full-scale war broke out, Kateryna started supporting displaced women with children. In April 2022, the Free Mom children’s space, launched with funding from the Ukrainian Women’s Fund, opened its doors in Khmelnytskyi. In the kid’s space, children can play and engage in development activities while their displaced mothers are busy with their work.

Currently, there are five free spaces for kiddos in Khmelnytskyi. Kateryna plans to scale up the project and increase the number of areas. And besides, she wants to continue conducting training for women.

• children
• women
• Khmelnytskyi

Vitalii Kucherenko is a Ukrainian military man with almost 30 years of experience. He has been defending Ukraine since 2014 (he took part in the battles for Ilovaisk, Maryinka, and Avdiivka in particular). He was discharged from military service in 2017. During his service, he faced the major issue of the occupiers’ mining of Ukrainian land and in 2020, founded a private humanitarian company in mine action and later a training center for those wishing to learn the explosive ordnance survey and clearance experts profession. The center operates in the Khmelnytskyi region. There are already 174 people who have taken the course, including about 30 veterans of the Russia-Ukraine war, who are now qualified as demining experts. Currently, Vitalii’s company employs three veterans, and they are preparing to take part in land release operations.

For reference: According to preliminary forecasts, every 10th worker in Ukraine will be a veteran after the war is over. According to a recent study on ex-military employment, over 60% of employers had no experience working with veterans and, accordingly, had no experience recruiting veterans. 

• demining
• russian crimes
• Khmelnytskyi

Mykhailo Konik lived most of his life in Mariupol, where he founded 40 hives apiary. On February 24, 2022, when Russia began to destroy the city, Mykhailo and his family hid in the basement for several days from powerful shelling, and the man was injured. Eventually, they managed to leave for the Ternopil region and later for Mykhailo’s small homeland, Khmelnytskyi. The man knew that there was an apiary in the forestry, so he turned to its director and offered his help. The apiary was in poor condition, Mykhailo says, and the conditions for bees in Khmelnytskyi are worse than in Mariupol. Nevertheless, Mykhailo managed to get the apiary up and running and last year produced about two tons of honey.

Forty of Mykhailo’s hives remained in Mariupol, and he was unable to take them out. The man dreams of getting back to his hometown Mariupol to start rebuilding the apiary in the city that was ruined by the Russians.

• casualties
• Khmelnytskyi

The country’s only First Military Veterinary Clinic is operating in Khmelnytskyi. The clinic’s veterinarians treat both service animals and pets of internally displaced persons. Often, their patients are animals that got concussions or were wounded by shell fragments.  

Vets also travel to the frontline and de-occupied territories to rescue animals. For example, the veterinary center now shelters a fox from Bucha, which was found by local children and handed over to doctors. Despite burns covering 80% of the animal’s body, medical professionals managed to save it.

Overall, since February last year, the clinic’s specialists have helped several thousand animals.

• animals
• doctors
• Khmelnytskyi

Before the all-out war, Yurii Davydenko lived in Mariupol, doing everything to make sure that local young people had opportunities for development and self-actualization. For instance, he organized the 1991 Startup Development Center hub, visited by 50,000 people during the time of its operation.

After the start of russia’s full-scale invasion, Yurii managed to leave Mariupol for Mukachevo. There, he decided to resume doing what he does best – establishing youth hubs. Together with friends, he launched two spaces for IT specialists and IDPs in Mukachevo and Khmelnytskyi, and they are not going to stop.

• Khmelnytskyi
• Uzhhorod

Mykhailo Ivonin, an entrepreneur from Sievierodonetsk in Luhansk Oblast occupied by russians, designed a modular home for IDPs that can be erected without a crane. Also, it needs no finish inside and outside. In Luhansk Oblast, Mykhailo Ivonin owned a research and design institute. Due to hostilities, he had to leave his home for Kamianets-Podilskyi in Khmelnytskyi Oblast.

Now, Mykhailo Ivonin’s factory employs six IDPs from Sievierodonetsk. They produced the first modular home to accommodate their company’s office.

• occupation
• reconstruction
• Khmelnytskyi

The State Military Veterinary Hospital opened its doors in Khmelnytskyi Oblast after russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine. It treats service dogs and dogs owned by IDPs affected by missile and artillery attacks. Specialists of the hospital have already helped hundreds of animals after the onset of the war. The military veterinarians work not only in their region but also go on missions to cities and villages of Kyiv Oblast liberated from russian invaders.

• animals
• doctors
• Khmelnytskyi