Themes by tag: Kyiv

Before the full-scale invasion, Diana Ilnytska was conducting parenting courses and devoting herself to raising her two children. At the end of February 2022, the woman began to actively volunteer, sending clothes and shoes to Ukrainian defenders. Over time, Diana noticed that most of the military sleep in low-quality sleeping bags, freeze, and cannot rest properly. Diana and the team of the Riy Charitable Foundation managed to develop unique sleep systems that allow soldiers to sleep “just like in a bed”. According to Diana, their sleeping bags meet NATO standards but are several times cheaper than their foreign counterparts.
In addition, she organized the mobile bath unit production. One bath equipment made by Riy 150 soldiers can take a bath, wash, and dry their clothes daily. Six mobile units are already installed at the front, but the production facility in the Kyiv region is working on manufacturing new ones.

• volunteers
• women
• Kyiv

On July 12, 5 boats of the Kyiv region water police will be placed in service. The boats will be personally handed over to the law enforcement officers by the well-known writer, heiress of the Sheraton hotels and businesswoman Mitzi Perdue. The boats are named after five Heroes of the Foreign Legion who gave their lives for Ukraine in the war with russia.
Parents of fallen soldiers will also be present at the event. A briefing by the leadership of Kyiv region police is scheduled within the event.

• Kyiv

Canine specialists of Base 4.5.0. the Center for Innovative Military Rehabilitation will hold canine therapy sessions in the capital. Several trained dogs were chosen for therapy: Welsh corgi Foksi and Laisve, German boxer Linda, and Yorkshire terrier Shusha. The center experts say that during their first sessions they worked with the children who had stopped speaking after the beginning of russia’s invasion. However, after working with animals, the children started talking again. Canine therapists say that working with dogs normalizes the work of the nervous system, reduces stress, conflict and anxiety.

For reference: Canine therapy is a method of positive psychosocial and physical rehabilitation influence on people with the help of specially trained dogs. It is one of the methods of zootherapy.

• animals
• casualties
• children
• psychological support
• Kyiv

Kyiv will host an exhibition of art objects called “Weapon Transformation” during the “Stadium of Culture” charity festival on July 8-9

The Weapon Transformation project is an initiative that has involved more than 80 artists from all over Ukraine. Its goal is to transform spent weapons, including tubes and shell casings, into art objects. One of the project’s main priorities is to draw attention to the war in Ukraine and raise funds to support the army and rebuild the country. Over the six months since the project started, the sale of art objects has already raised more than 400 thousand UAH for the army’s needs. 

Journalists will have the opportunity to talk to the artists.

• culture
• weapon
• Kyiv

The Strongman Federation of Ukraine continues to implement a project for the sports rehabilitation of war veterans and bringing them to civilian life through sports. A sports event for veterans is scheduled to take place in Kyiv on July 8. The competition program will include crossfit, bench press, and rowing.

The program is adapted to different categories of wounds suffered by the defenders. Honored athletes and coaches of Ukraine will be the competition’s judges: Serhii Konyushok, Oleksandr Lashyn, and Vasyl Virastyuk.

• casualties
• military
• Kyiv

The international organization “The Halo Trust” had been helping to demine the territory of Ukraine even before the start of the full-scale invasion. Currently, 800 Ukrainians are involved in mine clearing efforts in 5 regions: Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Sumy, Kyiv and Chernihiv. “The Halo Trust” also works at the sites of flooding caused by the breach of the Kakhovka Dam. In the last eight weeks alone, sappers discovered more than 5,000 mines in Kharkiv and Mykolaiv regions.

The international organization “The Halo Trust” surveys recently liberated Ukrainian lands, using the methodology tested in more than 30 countries of the world.

For reference: According to the State Emergency Service, 30% of the territory of Ukraine is mined. According to some assessments, it may take more than 10 years to clear the land.

• russian crimes
• Chernihiv
• Kharkiv
• Kyiv
• Mykolaiv
• Sumy
• demining

Chi came from Hong Kong to help Ukrainians affected by the full-scale war. A 53-year-old accountant joined the volunteers of the “Brave to Rebuild” project two weeks ago. Now he spends his weekends dismantling the rubble of destroyed buildings in the Kyiv region.

The foreign volunteer will be available for journalists to talk to after July 10.

For reference: Brave to Rebuild is a volunteer project aimed at helping residents of the de-occupied territories of Ukraine restore housing and social institutions damaged due to Russia’s full-scale aggression against Ukraine.  

• reconstruction
• volunteers
• Kyiv

On June 30, at 11:00 AM, Media Center Ukraine – Ukrinform will host a presentation of the “Guide for Veterans and Their Family Members” (within the system of providing psychological, medical-psychological, and psychiatric care in Ukraine).

This guide is a collection of work and adapted materials based on the experience of the crisis support hotline of the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation (UVF) of the Ministry of Veterans Affairs. It was prepared by expert psychologists who work as UVF Hotline Counselors. The guide contains a “Road Map” to the system of psychological, medical and psychiatric care, as well as recommendations for veterans and their family members.

The participants of the event will include:

Svitlana Kashenets — Deputy Minister for Veteran Affairs

Natalia Kalmykova — Executive Director of the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation

Oleksandr Chamorsov — veteran, UVF Crisis Hotline Counselor, crisis psychologist, trauma therapist

Olena Lashko — UVF Crisis Hotline Counselor

Oksana Zbitnieva — Head of Barrier-Free NGO, Head of the Coordination Center for Mental Health under the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine.

• military
• psychological support
• Kyiv

Training for 20 participants of the “Sports Ambassadors” project by the “Come Back Alive” Foundation will start in July. These are 20 active veterans who have gone through their own recovery journeys after being injured on the front line. Now they will help others to go through the same.

Over three months, the ambassadors will be trained in adaptive sports, coaching, mentoring, and leadership to help their brothers and sisters in arms restore their faith in themselves and their abilities after an injury.

Journalists will be able to attend the training of the Sports Ambassadors in the Kyiv region.

• casualties
• military
• Kyiv

On June 28, Media Center Ukraine – Ukrinform news agency will host a press conference entitled “Missing Ukrainians: presentation of the report on people abducted by russia in the occupied territories,” during which human rights defenders will present data on enforced disappearances and arbitrary detentions of active citizens since the beginning of the full-scale war. The participants of the press conference will include:

• Natalia Okhotnikova, Human Rights Adviser at ZMINA
• Maryia Kvitsinskaya, Expert on Europe and Central Asia at the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)
• Dmytro Lubinets, the Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights (participation to be confirmed)
• Anna, a friend of the kidnapped volunteer, an active parishioner of one of Marharyta Kharenko’s churches
• Oleksandra Stoliar, the mother of kidnapped Iryna Navalna, an active citizen who was accused of planning sabotage in Mariupol
• Anhelina, the sister of the wife of the kidnapped volunteer Yaroslav Zhuk

For reference: russia has been abducting Ukrainians since 2014 in the occupied territories, but after the full-scale invasion, there have been many more cases of disappearances. The russian federation is doing this deliberately in order to suppress the active Ukrainian resistance in the occupation. ZMINA Human Rights Center collected data on enforced disappearances during the full-scale war.  

• russian crimes
• Kyiv