Themes by tag: Kyiv

70-year-old Olha is a teacher who takes care of 5 adopted children. Her husband is severely ill.

The village in the Kherson region where the family lived was occupied by Russia since the beginning of its full-scale invasion. The woman was living in fear of enemy military might separate her from her children, as her daughter and sons were adoptees. They managed to flee life under occupation only on the third attempt.

Now the family lives in a rented apartment. However, Olha’s brother helped them buy a plot of land in the Kyiv region. Dobrobat volunteers assisted in constructing new housing for the family. It will be a one-story eco-house made of wood. They will start building it with the onset of warm weather.

For reference: “Dobrobat” is a volunteer building division helping those affected to restore housing and social infrastructure in the de-occupied territories.

• casualties
• children
• occupation
• reconstruction
• volunteers
• Kyiv

Women who have fallen into difficult life circumstances due to the war have almost completed driving courses in Kyiv. These are the first courses like this in Ukraine. They started in September last year. 15 women joined the pilot project. Among the participants are those who were forced to leave their homes due to russia’s full-scale invasion.

The women have already passed the theoretical part of the exam and are completing the practical part. After successful training, they will be able to obtain a category B license and have the opportunity to become mobile and independent. 

• casualties
• women
• Kyiv

On January 16, journalists are welcome to come to the opening of the exhibition “Earthly Paths of the Heavenly Hundred” in Kyiv. It is organized by the Kyiv History Museum and the National Memorial Complex of the Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred — the Museum of the Revolution of Dignity to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the Revolution of Dignity.

The exhibition “Earthly Paths of the Heavenly Hundred” is about people who became Heroes, about who they were and what brought them to the Maidan.

For the first time in one place, visitors will be able to see so many personal belongings of the Heroes of the Heavenly Hundred as well as some unique artifacts. (Particularly, items donated by the families of fallen Heroes).

The event requires accreditation.

For reference: The participants of the Revolution of Dignity in 2013-2014, who died in the center of Kyiv at the hands of security forces and their mercenaries, were called the Heavenly Hundred. The official number of those included into the Heavenly Hundred is 107 people. The first Heroes died on January 22, 2014. In the morning, 21-year-old Serhiy Nigoyan from Dnipropetrovsk region received  a fatal gunshot in the head. Subsequently, 25-year-old Belarusian Mykhailo Zhyznevskyi received a fatal gunshot wound to the heart.

On the same day, in a forest near Kyiv, the body of Yurii Verbytskyi from Lviv was found in a forest near Kyiv. There were signs of torture. He was a Maidan activist who had been kidnapped from the hospital the day before.

• dead
• Kyiv

A press conference of Suspilne Public Broadcasting Company and the finalists of the National Selection representatives for the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 will be held at the Media Center Ukraine – Ukrinform on January 11. 

During the event, eleven songs of the finalists will be presented, as well as the draw for performances running order for the final of the National Selection. The event will be moderated by the permanent commentator and host of the National Selection for Eurovision Timur Miroshnychenko.

For reference: The final of the National Selection aired as a live concert on TV will take place on February 3. As in previous years, the winner of the selection and the Ukraine representative for Eurovision 2024 will be determined in a split by jury and viewers. The jury of the final will be selected by Ukrainians via online voting.

The 68th Eurovision Song Contest, featuring 37 countries’ representatives will be hosted by the Swedish city of Malmö in May 2024. The semifinals, one of which will include a representative from Ukraine, will take place on May 7 and 9. The Grand Final of Eurovision 2024 will be held at the Malmö Arena on Saturday, May 11.

• culture
• Kyiv

Kyiv set up the “Free inclusive transportation for defenders” pilot project delivered by the Doves of Peace charitable foundation. An inclusive minibus as a transportation system supplement is available for soldiers unable to move around easily due to injuries and wounds. In particular, transportation services operate for people wearing prostheses and wheelchairs or crutches users. The vehicle is equipped with an installed lift, comfortable seats, and climate control. The foundation’s employees and volunteers provide the necessary assistance to passengers.

• casualties
• military
• Kyiv

The announcement of the upcoming United States Air Force Trials 2024 team will be held at the Media Center Ukraine – Ukrinform on January 10. The USAF Trials is an adaptive sports competition for wounded members of the United States Air Force and Marine Corps. The competition will take place in March 2024 in Las Vegas (Nevada). Ukraine will be represented by 30 participants in the competition. They were selected by a special commission based on the results of the All-Ukrainian adaptive sports competitions held in mid-December in Kyiv.

Participants:

– Svitlana Kashenets, Deputy Minister for Veteran Affairs;

– Ihor Krytsak, Coordinating Manager at the United States Air Force Trials competition;

– Olena Yanovska, Head Coach of the team that will compete in the United States Air Force Trials;

– Ivan Naumenko, Director of Strategic Initiatives Department of “Come Back Alive”;

– Anna Bielorusova, Chief Operating Officer at the Centre for Strategic Communications StratCom Ukraine;

– Oleksandra Lokhvytska, Head of the Program Department at the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation.

• casualties
• military
• Kyiv

Liudmyla Chepizhko, owner of a beauty salon in Solomianskyi district of Kyiv. The woman opened the establishment during the all-out Russian invasion.

On the morning of January 2, 2024, Russians attacked Kyiv with missiles. The explosion shattered windows and damaged walls in Liudmyla’s salon. Luckily, there were no people at the moment when the strike hit, so there were no those injured. The very next day, Liudmyla boarded up the broken windows with plywood and reopened the salon for business.

• reconstruction
• russian crimes
• women
• Kyiv

On January 13-14, Kyiv will host a new masterclass session as part of the project “Thousands of Love Stories. Paintings of Wives of Real Heroes.” At the event, women who lost their husbands during the war will paint pictures.

The charity project was started by the artist Oleg Yurov in January of last year. Since then, over 200 women took part in art workshops, during which they created paintings in memory of the men who had died defending Ukraine. In particular, women made pictures of their dreams, objects or sensations associated with their deceased loved ones. An exhibition of paintings by those who took part in the charity project has recently been held in Kyiv.

• culture
• dead
• military
• women
• Kyiv

Yulia Torbenko is a rescue paramedic with a special-purpose emergency rescue unit in Bila Tserkva, Kyiv Oblast (part of the State Emergency Service). She has been doing this for about 14 years. Earlier, in civilian life, Yulia was a paramedic in the EMC team. 

With the all-out invasion outbreak, she and her colleagues stayed at work. There were many casualties due to enemy missile attacks and air strikes, as the war grinds on. 

Yulia provided first aid to everyone who needed it: under fire, clearing rubble, and responding to road accidents. She also accompanied demining teams while clearing mines in the de-occupied Kyiv region.

Despite all the risks, Yulia also continues to save people who have suffered from enemy attacks.

• casualties
• doctors
• Kyiv

On January 5, Media Center Ukraine Ukrinform will host a briefing on the investigation of the terrorist attack in Olenivka “Crime without punishment.”

Participants:

• Anna Lobova, a wife of a soldier heavily wounded in the terrorist attack, “Olenivka Families Community” NGO;
• Mariia Alieksieievych, a wife of a soldier heavily wounded in the terrorist attack, “Olenivka Families Community” NGO;
• Tetiana Katrychenko, Media Initiative for Human Rights (MIHR) NGO;
• Andrii Yakovlev, Regional Center for Human Rights NGO;
• A representative of the Coordination Headquarters for the Treatment of Prisoners of War;
• A representative of the Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union

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 with Ukrainian POWs kept inside. As a result, at least 50 Azovstal defenders were killed.

On January 5, 2023, Stephane Dujarric, Spokesman for the United Nations Secretary-General, stated that the Secretary-General had decided to disband the fact-finding mission regarding the 29 July 2022 incident at Olenivka.

Both the UN and the ICRC were denied access to the scene of the crime. Moreover, these organizations refrained from explicitly attributing responsibility to the russian federation for the lack of access. 

• prisoners
• Kyiv