Themes by tag: Kyiv

On July 11, the training began for guides, who will work at memorial sites of the russo-Ukrainian war in Kyiv region. Their goal is to train qualified specialists who will be able to provide meaningful, reliable information about the tragic events of the war in Kyiv region.

The courses will consist of online and offline classes, trainings, educational and methodological excursions and will culminate in thematic exams. The program is divided into theoretical and practical parts. The training will last 4 weeks.

At the first stage, the organizers selected 29 applicants, including representatives from tourism industry and museum institutions.

Journalists are welcome to cover the training process.

For reference: Guide training takes place within the framework of the project “Kyiv region. Memorial Sites” of the Kyiv Regional State Administration.

• culture
• occupation
• russian crimes
• Kyiv

Svitlana Solonska worked as a kindergarten teacher in Zaporizhia region. Her husband, Vladyslav, was a teacher by education. At one time, he graduated from the Zaporizhia Police School. After the Revolution of Dignity, he joined the ranks of the Azov volunteer formation. Vladyslav was very happy when the unit later became part of the National Guard of Ukraine (now it is the Azov Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine). Having started as a driver, Vladyslav was promoted to the position of company commander, and then to the position of logistics officer.

On February 22, 2022, Vladyslav came home and told his wife that they were being sent to Mariupol. It was the last time Svitlana saw her husband.

Svitlana and her 13-year-old daughter were in Zaporizhia region when the full-scale invasion began. During the first days, their settlement was occupied by the russians. The woman saw enemy tanks driving through her village in the direction of Mariupol. Later, her husband called and said that Svitlana and her daughter needed to leave urgently, as the invaders would come to their home. On March 19, they were able to leave for Ukraine-controlled territory.

Vladyslav was at the Azovstal plant in Mariupol. Despite the blockade of the city and constant shelling, he was assigned the task of delivering products and supporting the rear. He delivered food and water to the field hospital under the shelling. A “Starlink” allowed him to keep in touch with his wife.

In May 2022, Vladyslav together with other defenders followed the order of the high command and surrendered. On the night of July 29, 2022, Vladyslav was injured during an explosion in the barracks in Olenivka, he did not receive proper medical care. There was no information about his condition for a long time. Later, Svitlana found out that her husband had died: they could find him only by DNA matching.

Journalists are welcome to learn more and talk with Svitlana in Kyiv.

For reference: On the night of July 29, 2022, the russian federation committed a terrorist attack, setting off an explosion in the barracks of the penal colony in Olenivka, which housed Ukrainian prisoners of war. At least 50 defenders of Azovstal were killed in the attack.

• dead
• military
• prisoners
• russian crimes
• women
• Kyiv

On July 11, the Media Center Ukraine will hold a briefing with the Head of the Press Service of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, focusing on the consequences of the russian missile attack on Ukraine on July 8.

For reference: On July 8, russia launched a powerful missile attack on Ukraine. The missiles caused significant destruction to residential buildings and civilian structures, including a strike on the Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital in Kyiv. The attack targeted Kyiv, Kryvyi Rih, Dnipro, and other Ukrainian cities, resulting in numerous deaths and injuries.

• russian crimes
• Kyiv

Dozens of volunteers, including members of the Los Solomas community, are currently working in Kyiv’s Holosiivskyi district, where a kindergarten and nearby houses were damaged by the missile hit on July 8.

Volunteers are engaged in tasks such as clearing construction debris and covering shattered windows with plastic.

Journalists are welcome to report on the volunteers’ efforts.

For reference: On July 8, russian forces launched a missile attack on Kyiv, damaging 129 buildings in the city. The attack resulted in 34 fatalities. As of the morning of July 10, 38 people injured in the attack remain hospitalized, with 6 in serious condition.

• reconstruction
• russian crimes
• volunteers
• Kyiv

Serhii Krasnov, a master of sports in cycling from Nova Kakhovka, Kherson region, has embarked on a 3,500-kilometer charity bike ride across Ukraine. His hometown has been under russian occupation since the full-scale invasion began, and some of his relatives and friends remain there.

Serhii’s ride aims to raise funds to support displaced people from the Kherson region. He plans to complete the journey in 23 days.

Starting his route in Odesa on June 29, the cyclist will arrive in the capital on July 14, passing through Mykolaiv, Kryvyi Rih, Zhytomyr, Uman, and Cherkasy. Serhii plans to conclude his ride in Odesa on July 21.

Serhii Krasnov is available for interviews with journalists, both online and offline.

• casualties
• occupation
• Kherson
• Kyiv

On July 9, the Media Center Ukraine will hold a briefing with Vadym Guttsait, President of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine. The focus will be on the preparation of Ukrainian athletes for the upcoming Olympic Games in Paris.

For reference: The Summer Olympic Games will take place in Paris from July 26 to August 11, 2024, featuring competitions in 32 sports.

• Kyiv

A charity initiative called “Wind Power” has been launched in Kyiv, aimed at empowering women who are veterans, internally displaced persons (IDPs), or wives and widows of military personnel. The project focuses on teaching participants how to sail, fostering a supportive community, and helping them find new purposes in life. Eventually, the program aims to qualify them as yacht captains.

Currently, 16 women are enrolled in the 2.5-month course. The curriculum includes 10 practical training sessions on a sailing yacht with a professional instructor, 5 theoretical sailing classes, and participation in sailing races to solidify their skills.

The “Wind Power” project is led by Viktoriia Pototska, a military spouse and experienced yacht captain with a decade of sailing under her belt. She also founded the Family Yacht Club sailing school.

Journalists seeking coverage of the project in Kyiv can do so by prior arrangement.

For reference: The initiative is part of the You Are Goal program by the Projector Foundation, supported by USAID’s Ukraine Confidence Building Initiative (UCBI), and takes place at the Obolon Yacht Club in Kyiv. 

Key partners include psychologist and yachtswoman Maryna Petrovych and financial literacy coach and yachtswoman Svitlana Telychenko.

• women
• Kyiv

On July 8, Media Center Ukraine will host a presentation of the trailer for the film “People of Steel.” The event will also feature a presentation of results of the pre-premiere screening of the film about the Mariupol defenders in front of European diplomats.

The documentary, which took more than a year to complete, uses unique footage from the prison in Olenivka and Mariupol, where the russians committed numerous war crimes.

Participants:

• Serhii Fomenko, musician and director, frontman of the band Mandry;
• Kateryna Prokopenko, Association Azovstal Defenders’ Families;
• Andrii Rizol, Head of the association “Watch Ukrainian!”;
• Petro Yatsenko, representative of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.

For reference: This film was developed as part of the Culture VS War and Between Light and Evil projects, involving the NGO Association of Azovstal Defenders’ Families and the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War.

IMPORTANT NOTICE! Starting from the beginning of July, Media Center Ukraine will be located in the comfortable public space Urban Space 500, at 9 Hrinchenko Street in Kyiv. All events will take place there.

• russian crimes
• Kyiv

Having an alternative source of electricity has become a matter of survival for people with disabilities in Ukraine. After all, this makes it possible to provide electricity for an oxygen concentrator, charge an electric wheelchair or connect an anti-bedsore mattress. Providing people with sources of alternative energy has become a priority for the Fight For Right NGO.

They are currently working on 30 requests trying to obtain large alternative power equipment, and such requests come in daily

By prior agreement, journalists have the opportunity to talk with representatives of the Fight For Right NGO in Kyiv and, if possible, with people who ask the NGO for alternative sources of electricity.

For reference: the Fight For Right NGO advocates for the observance of the rights of people with disabilities in Ukraine. With the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the organization has started evacuating people with disabilities, providing assistance at their homes as well as psychological support and legal advice.

• blackout
• Kyiv

On July 5, on the birthday of public activist and military man Roman Ratushnyi, the documentary film “20 Days in Mariupol ” will be screened in Kyiv. This movie depicts the russian siege of Mariupol in February-March 2022. (The film won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film in 2024)

“Film Screenings on Protasiv ” continue the traditions started by Roman Ratushnyi, who united and rallied the local community in the struggle for the green zone in Protasiv Yar, a historical area in Kyiv. Roman was a scout of 93rd Separate Mechanized Brigade “Kholodnyi Yar.” He died at the front on June 8, 2022.

The film screening will feature a fundraiser for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Program of the event:

• The beginning. Introductory speech by Yulia Bartle, Head of Save Protasiv Yar NGO.
• Screening of the film-essay “Roman Ratushnyi. A Free Man” directed by Mishel Lades. The film was presented last year at the “Protasiv Yar” festival in tribute of Roman Ratushnyi.
• Meeting with the participants of events in Mariupol in the spring of 2022:

• Mykhailo Vershynin, a police major who returned from captivity and is currently fighting in the East. Head of the Patrol Police Department in Donetsk region.
• Call sign “Ostap,” a major of the National Guard of Ukraine, who after captivity is serving in “Azov” 12th brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine. During the defense of Mariupol, he commanded the air reconnaissance combat group of the Azov Regiment
• Alina Kozytska, Head of I’Mariupol.Molod NGO, Head of the Mariupol Youth Council
• Liudmila Vaskovska, an anesthesiologist at the regional hospital in Mariupol, one of the people featured in the documentary.
• Screening of the documentary film “20 days in Mariupol.” 

• Kyiv