Themes by tag: Kyiv
Five Ukrainian veterans will participate in the international open-water swimming competition Oceanman Lago d’Orta (Italy). They will compete in the 2 km and 5.5 km distances.
All members of the team are veterans with amputations and severe injuries. Each has gone through war, prolonged medical treatment, and rehabilitation. They are currently preparing for the international competition and train four times a week.
Team Members:
- Ivan Khalupa — veteran of the 10th Separate Mountain Assault Brigade. He lost a leg in combat. Swimming became part of his systematic rehabilitation. He has experience in international competitions.
- Ihor Oliinyk — veteran of the 67th Separate Mechanized Brigade. He began swimming after being wounded to restore psychological balance.
- Serhii Khrapko — lost an arm and a leg in 2015. Member of the national Invictus Games team and a participant in the national selection for the Warrior Games.
- Volodymyr Shanayda — was wounded in 2023. After a year of treatment, he began swimming. Oceanman will be his first international competition.
- Ihor Bystryi — combat veteran since 2016. He was wounded in 2022 by a cluster munition. After rehabilitation, he continues his sports training.
The project aims to support veterans’ participation in an international sporting event and highlight the role of sport in physical and psychological rehabilitation. It promotes the development of veteran sports and raises awareness of recovery through sport.
By prior arrangement, journalists may cover training sessions in Kyiv.
Background: The project is implemented by the charitable foundation YANKO Fund. Logistical support is provided by the concierge service FlyPoint. The team trains under the supervision of medical specialists, coaches, and rehabilitation professionals. The Oceanman organizing committee has provided the athletes with complimentary entry passes for the competition.
On May 2, FRIDA Ukraine will host a charity event in Kyiv focused on the early detection of skin cancer, as part of Melanoma Awareness Month.
Dermatologists will offer free skin examinations to all attendees. The aim of the event is the early detection of skin cancer, raising public awareness about melanoma, and promoting regular medical check-ups.
Journalists are also welcome to attend the event, speak with dermatologists, and, where possible, with people attending the screening.
Background: FRIDA Ukraine medical volunteer missions are regular deployments of multidisciplinary medical teams to frontline and remote communities across Ukraine. Each mission includes more than 20 specialists, such as neurologists, surgeons, gynecologists, therapists, dermatologists, and others. During these visits, residents receive free consultations, examinations, and tests. Recently, the team has also begun conducting cancer screenings.
On April 24, Kyiv will host the award ceremony for the winners of the 16th All-Ukrainian competition “I Am a Journalist!” A total of 1,355 participants from across the country — children, students and teachers — submitted entries on war, loss, occupation and memory. Some of the winners will travel from frontline and recently liberated areas to receive their awards in person and share their stories.
This year’s theme, “I Will Remember,” focuses on people and events that must not be forgotten. For the first time, not only school and university students but also teachers took part, with every fifth submission coming from educators.
One of the winners is 15-year-old Maksym Kliuchko from Kharkiv. In his piece, “A Letter to My Brother Whom I Am Waiting to Return Home,” he writes:
“Your parents will wait for you until their last breath. They will look for you in every soldier returning from the station. And I… I will be your voice here. I will earn the diploma we dreamed of. I will learn the language you died for. I will carry our surname through the years so that it shines with pride.”
Maksym’s brother was posthumously awarded the Order of Courage. He is officially listed as missing in action while carrying out a combat mission. Maksym will attend the ceremony with his father and his teacher.
Among the participants is also a teacher from Kharkiv region, Iryna Kozyrkova, who recalls: “I was washing a window when a vehicle pulled up and soldiers with rifles got out. They took me outside, put me in the car and placed a bag over my head. Today I understand: I became a target because I am a Ukrainian teacher.”
Tetiana Havaha from Zaporizhzhia region writes about the first months of the war: “The most terrifying moment was saying goodbye — the first dead were buried in plastic bags; later we learned to make coffins ourselves.”
Vira Ustsova from Luhansk region writes: “Our school was destroyed by the enemy, our homes are occupied, and an occupier is now living in my house.”
The youngest participant in the competition is nine years old, the oldest is 75. The contest has become a platform for documenting the experience of war through the eyes of Ukrainians of different ages.
Journalists will have an opportunity to speak with the participants.
A veteran bowling tournament, “Mitsni Shary: Spring Range” (Strong Frames), will take place in Kyiv on April 26 — an event aimed at bringing veterans together through sport, support and in-person interaction.
Thirty participants — including veterans, active service members and their family members from across Ukraine — will take part in the competition. The format includes individual and doubles games adapted to participants’ physical abilities.
Journalists are required to obtain accreditation to attend the event.
Background: The project was launched by the NGO Mitsni 300 as part of efforts to create a national veteran league. The first Mitsni Shary tournament in 2025 brought together dozens of veterans and laid the groundwork for scaling up the initiative.
On April 25, the Urban Park at VDNG in Kyiv will become an open-air sports venue. It will host Urban Flow: Jump 2.0, a large-scale jump rope flash mob bringing together amateurs, athletes, and anyone looking to get moving.
The event demonstrates how a simple jump rope can become part of modern urban culture — dynamic, accessible, and visually engaging.
Program includes:
- an open warm-up session with Kateryna Nikitina;
- showcase performances and jump rope tricks by Anastasiia Kosenko;
- a DJ set by Yampolsky;
- a mass jump rope flash mob for all participants.
Journalists are required to obtain accreditation to attend the event.
Background: Urban Flow: Jump is a format that combines sport with music, rhythm, and the urban environment. No special training is required — participants simply need to show up and join in.
The event is organized by the Mass Sports Agency of Ukraine with the support of the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine.
It is part of a broader movement promoting accessible sport in urban spaces and encouraging simple forms of physical activity that can be easily integrated into everyday life.
Nataliia Ilina, a resident of Bucha in the Kyiv region, has been organizing peaceful rallies in her city since early 2026 to remind society about those who have yet to return home, and to draw attention to the issue of the missing and prisoners of war. A total of eight such actions have already taken place.
One of them, titled “Light of Hope,” saw participants release lanterns into the sky, while an empty chair stood at the center of a circle — a reminder of the place still waiting for its owner.
Nataliia met her future husband, Mykola, on February 6, 1998, at Bucha City Hospital, where they had both come as patients. She says it was love at first sight. Exactly a year later, on February 6, 1999, they got married. On February 6, 2004, they were married in church, and on February 6, 2007, their daughter was born.
The full-scale invasion found the family in Bucha. On the third day, they managed to evacuate to Ivano-Frankivsk. (Bucha was under russian occupation from late February to March 31, 2022).
On March 6, 2022, Mykola volunteered to defend the country. He served in Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces and took part in combat near Bakhmut in the Donetsk region. Later, he continued his service with the 46th Separate Airmobile Brigade of the Air Assault Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. On February 3, 2025, he went missing near the village of Dachne in the Donetsk region.
By prior arrangement, journalists can speak with Nataliia Ilina in Bucha. Another peaceful rally in support of the missing and prisoners of war is scheduled to take place in the city on May 2.
The NGO Care Academy (Akademiia Turboty) is presenting its social and educational initiative “Different Together” and its main character, Pascal the Cat, who has a bionic ear and paw.
The initiative aims to foster a culture of accepting differences and respecting others among primary school children.
Visitors can meet Pascal and learn more about the initiative at the Book Country festival in Kyiv.
Schedule:
- April 23–24 (Thursday–Friday): 12:00–18:00
- April 25–26 (Saturday–Sunday): 10:00–18:00
The Care Academy’s mental health space is an interactive zone at the festival, where children and adults can meet Pascal and discuss care, support, respect, and acceptance of differences. The programme features creative, physical, and educational activities led by ambassadors, influencers, bloggers, authors, and public figures.
Highlights include a fitness session with veteran, psychologist and athlete Oleksandr Chumak, who was part of the Ukrainian team that won a regatta at the Invictus Games in Düsseldorf; a workshop titled “Metal Paw: How Bionic Prosthetics Are Made”; “Talisman of Faith,” a pottery session with veteran and ceramic artist Volodymyr Dovhan (DOVGAN-ART); and a masterclass “Friendship Bracelets” by Oleksandra Paskal.
The full programme is available online.
Background: Pascal the Cat is the central figure of the initiative. The character was created by Care Academy in cooperation with Daria Herasymchuk and named after Ukrainian gymnast Oleksandra Paskal, who, after sustaining a severe injury and losing a leg in a missile strike, continued training and inspiring others.
Care Academy is Ukraine’s first online child development platform focused on mental well-being, operating on its own methodology.
The Irpin territorial community is implementing a course titled “Training of Civilians for National Resistance.” Since the programme’s launch, 240 residents have completed professional training.
The course lasts five months, with sessions held twice a month. The programme combines theoretical instruction with regular field exercises at training grounds. It covers military technologies, UAV operation, firearms and engineering training, mine safety, and pre-medical aid in combat conditions.
Training is delivered by certified instructors with combat experience who defended the Irpin community during the battles for the Kyiv region in February–March 2022.
Journalists can contact the Irpin Volunteer Formation of the Territorial Community (DFTG) both online or in person in Irpin, by prior arrangement.
January 2026 began with high-profile exposures: law enforcement uncovered a 3-billion UAH scheme involving defective mortar shells, while an investigative report revealed thousands of cans of inedible meat approved by official labs for frontline troops. This is only the tip of the iceberg regarding substandard defence supplies in the fifth year of the full-scale war.
Why did the decades-old “Military Representation” system fail to prevent systemic malpractice — from substituting meat with tendons to delivering faulty ammunition? How will the new reform, built on NATO standards and launched in Ukraine this year, put an end to this era of failure?
On April 21, as part of the “Defence Talks” series, the Independent Anti-Corruption Commission (NAKO), in partnership with the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine and the State Operator for Non-Lethal Acquisition (DOT), will analyze a fundamental shift in the rules of the game: the Government Quality Assurance (GQA) system. This event serves as a milestone in the strategic roadmap between the Public Anti-Corruption Council (GARC MoD) and the Main Directorate for GQA, who have joined forces to implement anti-corruption policies and new control standards within the Armed Forces.
SPEAKERS:
- Mstyslav Banik, Deputy Minister of Defence of Ukraine (TBD);
- Viktor Byvalkevych, Colonel of Justice, Department for Prevention and Detection of Corruption, MoD;
- Stanislav Haider, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, State Operator for Non-Lethal Acquisition (DOT);
- Anastasiia Shuba, Representative of the Public Anti-Corruption Council (GARC), MoD;
- Yevhen Krasnikov, Head of the Main Directorate for Government Quality Assurance, MoD;
- Olena Tregub, Executive Director of NAKO.
Accreditation for the event is required by April 20, 9:00 PM (the address will be provided upon confirmation of accreditation).
Background: “Defence Talks” is a high-level discussion platform organized by NAKO for government officials, diplomats, and civil society to address critical challenges in the security and defence sector.
NAKO (The Independent Anti-Corruption Commission) is an NGO dedicated to strengthening Ukraine’s resilience through independent research and advocacy. NAKO provides institutional, legal, and communication support to the MoD’s Main Directorate for Government Quality Assurance in its mission to implement NATO-compliant reforms.
The NGO “Steel Hearts of Relatives of the 32nd Separate Mechanised Brigade” invites families of missing persons, prisoners of war, and all concerned citizens to join a joint car rally in Kyiv on April 25.
This will be more than just a column of vehicles. It is the voice of families who live each day between hope and pain — the voice of those waiting for the return of their loved ones, missing in action or held in captivity by Ukrainian servicemen.
