Themes by tag: Kyiv

The State Agency for Restoration and Infrastructure Development of Ukraine has installed a new-type civil shelter in the country, an underground steel bunker in Borodianka, Kyiv Oblast. Officials say the project offers a fast and modern way to provide communities with protective facilities.

A secure and modular solution designed to accommodate 48 people, meets all physical accessibility requirements. It includes a ramp, an elevator, and an automated access system that opens when an air raid siren is sounded. Construction took less than a month and cost 5.5 million UAH.

Placed below ground level, the prefabricated bunker has both primary and emergency exits and is fully fitted with heating, ventilation, water supply, drainage, and fire alarm systems. According to the agency, the shelter offers protection against debris, shock waves, chemical exposure, and radioactive particles. Plans call for the installation of five additional shelters in Borodianka.

For reference: The bunkers undergo military testing to verify their reliability in real-world conditions. The program is expected to expand to frontline communities, where the risk of shelling is higher and russian missiles reach targets faster.

• Kyiv

On December 3, the National Forum on the rights of persons with disabilities titled “Inclusive Recovery of the Country”, will be held in Kyiv. The public union “League of the Strong” is organizing the event.

During the forum, new inclusive reconstruction standards will be discussed, and the most promising solutions will receive funding for implementation.

The forum aims to establish inclusivity as a mandatory standard for reconstruction and ensure that every hryvnia invested contributes to creating a safe and accessible environment for all.

This year’s event will focus on incorporating the needs of people with disabilities into all state policies and decisions. A separate panel will address the leadership of women with disabilities and their role in shaping state policy.

The speakers will include experts in the inclusive development of communities, as well as representatives from international partners, civil society, the government, and the business sector.

Journalists must register for the event.

Background: The war in Ukraine has increased the number of people with combat-related disabilities. Furthermore, even before the war, thousands of people with disabilities faced inaccessible infrastructure.

• Kyiv

Participants: 

– Darya Kasyanova, Chairperson of the Board of the Ukrainian Child Rights Network, Program Director of SOS Children’s Villages Ukraine;

– Volodymyr Yavorskyy, Program Manager at Center for Civil Liberties;

– Roman Buhaiov, Evacuation Worker and Security Expert at East SOS Charitable Foundation;

– Yevhen Kaplin, Head of the Proliska Humanitarian Mission, Partner NGO of UNHCR. 

Key topics:

– Ensuring local implementation of Resolutions No. 1307 and No. 1420 of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine so that no child remains in combat zones due to lack of transport, information, or distrust of the evacuation system;

– Strategies for establishing effective communication with families still in dangerous areas;

– Assessing the necessity and feasibility of forced evacuation and determining which populations it should cover. 

Journalists are required to register for the event. The event will be held without simultaneous translation.

• Kyiv
• evacuation

Before the full-scale invasion, 18-year-old Dmytro Tereshchenko planned to become a boxer. However, on February 24, 2022, he enlisted in the Territorial Defense in the Chernihiv oblast. He served on the border and later deployed with his unit to the eastern front.

In March 2023, Dmytro sustained multiple injuries in the Luhansk oblast, and doctors had to amputate his leg. The veteran underwent treatment in Ukraine for five months before traveling to the United States for a prosthetic fitting. During this time, his military unit listed him as AWOL (absent without leave), which halted all his payments. He is now engaged in a legal battle to have this status revoked and his payments restored.

A photographer in America suggested that Dmytro try modeling. After returning to Ukraine, the veteran compiled a portfolio and sent it to modeling agencies. He began his career with a presentation of an adaptive clothing collection. He also walked the runway at Ukrainian Fashion Week this year.

Dmytro Tereshchenko is available for interviews online and in person in Kyiv by prior arrangement.

• casualties
• culture
• military
• Kyiv

Kyiv will hold the annual conference “The European Future of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Ukraine” on December 3-4, alongside the Lights for Rights campaign aimed at promoting disability visibility and inclusion while highlighting the challenges faced by disabled individuals. 

The two-day gathering will provide a platform to examine the broader implications of Ukraine’s path toward European integration, with discussions centered on several key issues: integrating disability rights into the EU accession process; moving from planning to implementing deinstitutionalization; and strengthening the role of military veterans with disabilities in the country’s disability rights movement.

The conference is expected to produce the 2026 Agenda of the Community of Persons with Disabilities. A press briefing will be held on December 3 to review the year’s progress and setbacks in safeguarding disability rights. Participants and activists will also join the Lights for Rights disability visibility movement that evening to draw public attention to these issues.

The program on December 4 will shift to advocacy sessions and hands-on work to develop future advocacy campaigns.

Accreditation is required to attend the event.

For reference: The conference is organized by Fight For Right and the Reanimation Package of Reforms Coalition in partnership with Mercy Corps, with financial backing from the UK government and additional support from the International Renaissance Foundation and the Center for Disaster Philanthropy.

• Kyiv

Participants:

– Olena Belyachkova, coordinator for families of POWs and missing persons groups, Media Initiative for Human Rights;

– Natalia Shubak, mother of a conscript soldier missing in action near Soledar;

– Oleh Hushchyn, representative of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War;

– Representative of the Commissioner for Persons Missing in Special Circumstances;

– Representative of the Headquarters of the National Guard of Ukraine. 

Key topics: 

– Why the deployment of pre-war conscripts to frontline combat remains largely unaddressed;

– Inequalities in military benefits for pre-war conscripts and their families compared with contract soldiers and soldiers called up for wartime service;

– Pathways to ensure pre-war conscripts are prioritized in prisoner exchanges under the Istanbul Agreements. 

Background: When russia’s full-scale invasion began, conscripts from National Guard 3017 Spartan Military Unit, enlisted under peacetime obligations and stationed in Kharkiv with families expecting their eventual demobilization, remained in service. In 2023, instead of returning home, these conscripts were deployed to the Bakhmut front, where fighting was at its most intense. Currently, at least 35 National Guard conscripts remain missing or in captivity.

• military
• Kyiv

Oksana and Volodymyr met in 2020 through social media. The couple was together for two years and was planning their future together when their dreams were shattered by the full-scale invasion.

In 2013, Volodymyr participated in the Revolution of Dignity, after which he joined the Ukrainian military as a volunteer. After nearly a year of service, he was captured near Ilovaisk in the Donetsk oblast. He spent nine months in captivity before returning to civilian life following a prisoner exchange. With the start of the full-scale war, he took up arms once again. Volodymyr was killed in action in Bakhmut in July 2022.

After learning of her loved one’s death, Oksana created the “Have To Live” online community for the wives of fallen soldiers. Volodymyr had once given gifts to the children of deceased soldiers on St. Nicholas Day, a tradition that Oksana continued. The women’s community has since grown to six thousand members. Oksana established a charitable foundation and assembled a team of specialists to support those navigating loss and grief. The women work with psychologists, receive legal support, and help develop a new culture of remembrance for the fallen.

Oksana Borkun is available for interviews online and in person in Irpin, Kyiv oblast, by prior arrangement.

• dead
• military
• women
• Kyiv

The Media Center Ukraine will host a briefing on November 24 titled “Ukraine-Belarus relations: Are safe neighborly ties and cooperation within reach?”

Participants:

– Vadym Denysenko, Head of the Dilova Stolytsia Analytical Center;

– Ihar Tyshkevich, Political Analyst, Co-founder of the Research Solutions Network; 

– Iaroslav Chornogor, Russian and Belarusian Studies Program Director at the Foreign Policy Council Ukrainian Prism;

– Zmicier Shchyhelski, Acting Deputy Representative for Defense and Security of the United Transitional Cabinet of Belarus. 

Key topics:

– Priorities that could shape Ukraine’s future strategy toward Belarus;

– Opportunities for proactive steps to advance Ukrainian interests, depending on potential scenarios for a frozen war and the positions of regional states;

– How Ukraine envisions its relationship with Belarus once the war ends.

For reference: Ties between Ukraine and Belarus have long reflected a mix of cooperation and contradiction. Before 2022, Belarus was among Ukraine’s top three economic partners. But in February 2022, Aliaksandr Lukashenka’s regime allowed russia to use Belarusian territory and provided support for the full-scale invasion. Since then, Belarus has nevertheless taken part in prisoner exchanges and helped secure the return of Ukrainian citizens who ended up in russia. The number of Belarusian volunteers fighting for Ukraine is also among the largest of any foreign contingent. Yet Kyiv has not defined how it wants to shape relations with Belarus after the war. The lack of a clear policy leaves Ukraine exposed, increasing the risk that its interests may be overlooked in negotiations involving international partners. Setting out the key principles of Ukraine’s approach to Belarus has become both timely and essential.

• Kyiv

On November 22 and 23, demonstrations will take place in 30 Ukrainian cities to draw attention to prisoners of war and those still missing in action, including defenders of Azovstal and other soldiers held in enemy captivity.

The events on November 22 are scheduled in Arbuzynka, Okhtyrka, Vinnytsia, Chernihiv, Irpin, Shpola, Volochysk, Dnipro, Pavlohrad, and Lviv. On November 23, gatherings are planned in Kyiv, Krolevets, Pivdennoukrainsk, Kremenchuk, Mykolaiv, Korop, Obukhiv, Ovruch, Poltava, Korostyshiv, Cherkasy, Uzhhorod, Lozova, Dolynska, Berdychiv, Kropyvnytskyi, Rivne, Kovel, Odesa, and Chernivtsi.

The initiatives are organized by the families of Mariupol garrison prisoners, together with Ukrainians recently released from captivity, to support ongoing advocacy efforts.

• prisoners
• Kyiv

Early this winter, Kyiv will host HART, Ukraine’s first national multisport event for military veterans recovering from injuries, wounds, or illnesses sustained in the defense of the country. From November 30 to December 7, participants from across Ukraine will compete in nine adaptive sports.

Team events will include wheelchair basketball, wheelchair rugby, and sitting volleyball. Individual competitions will feature archery, indoor rowing on a simulator, laser run, powerlifting, cycling, and swimming.

Athletes are free to join.

Around the world, adaptive athletics have become a cornerstone of veteran rehabilitation. In the United States, the Warrior Games have spurred thousands of recovery programs. In the United Kingdom, the Invictus Games reshaped public attitudes toward wounded service members. Similar initiatives in Canada, the Netherlands, and Australia have helped build statewide “sport-based recovery” programs that integrate rehabilitation, mentorship, and social inclusion.

Ukraine is following suit. With support from Ukrgasbank, the Come Back Alive Initiative Center and the Ministry of Veterans Affairs have launched HART as a comprehensive sports-based rehabilitation effort for veterans.

• casualties
• culture
• military
• Kyiv