Themes by tag: Lviv

HAB | Lviv Habilitation Center is Ukraine’s first habilitation facility dedicated to veterans, their families, and civilians affected by the war. Its mission is to provide a recovery environment that blends physical rehabilitation, psychological support, creative activities, and community engagement. Here, individuals can not only regain physical strength but also discover inner resilience, motivation, and new opportunities for life.

The center features eight fully accessible rooms designed for people in wheelchairs and their families. It also offers five sports programs: swimming, CrossFit, jiu-jitsu, archery, and yoga. HAB functions as a community hub, where veterans, their families, and civilians can connect, share experiences, and support one another. Over the past two years, the center has assisted more than 800 residents.

Journalists can visit HAB | Lviv Habilitation Center by prior arrangement and, when possible, speak with residents and specialists about their work and experiences.

For reference: Habilitation follows treatment and standard physical or mental rehabilitation. Its primary goal is to help individuals with amputations, complex injuries, or disabilities adapt to new circumstances, develop independence, and practice essential self-sufficiency skills.

• casualties
• military
• Lviv

The STEP Animal Adaptation Center in Ukraine’s Lviv Oblast is now sheltering 200 dogs. A small village is being built for them, complete with streets and houses. The kennels are designed for comfort, staying cool in summer and warm in winter.

The first house was funded by a donor from the United States, who requested a portrait of his own dogs on the building. Philanthropists from the United Kingdom and Ukraine contributed to the construction of the other houses.

The village shelters animals rescued from war zones, including the Kharkiv, Donetsk, Kherson, and Sumy regions.

The Center’s mission is to rescue animals, provide them with safe living conditions, and help them find new homes. Plans are also underway to establish a psychological and rehabilitation hub at the site for service members, their families, and children with special needs.

Journalists can visit the Adaptation Center in the Lviv region by prior arrangement. Remote interviews with its representatives are also available.

• animals
• Lviv

A driving school tailored for people with disabilities operates at the Lviv State University of Internal Affairs. Since the launch of the Without Barriers project, 33 students, including 11 Ukrainian veterans, have obtained driver’s licenses.

In September 2024, the program expanded to train people with hearing and speech impairments. Students attend theory classes with the assistance of sign language interpreters, and practical driving lessons are also conducted with interpreter support.

Participants and instructors from the driving school for people with disabilities are available for interviews both online and in person in Lviv, by prior arrangement.

• casualties
• military
• Lviv

The Superhumans Center, an all-Ukrainian center for war trauma featuring prosthetics, reconstructive surgery, and rehabilitation, invites its friends and supporters to attend the SuperPeople Cup veteran mini-football tournament on August 23.

Tournament line up:

1. Superhumans team
2. Carpathian Bears veteran team
3. FC Karpaty Lviv veteran legends team 
4. Ultras Karpaty Lviv veteran team
5. Halychyna Rehab Center veteran team
6. Ultras Veres Rivne veteran team
7. FC Rukh media team
8. Academy of the Ukrainian Ground Forces military team

The event will take place in the Lviv oblast. The SuperPeople Cup will be awarded to the winners.

The event will be attended by Myron Markevych, meritorious football coach of Ukraine, and former coach of the Metalist, Dnipro, and Karpaty clubs.

• culture
• Lviv

On August 28, Lviv will host the Ukraine Tech Forces Forum, titled “Joint Ventures, Joint Defense”, supported by the European Union.

The event aims to unite government officials, arms manufacturers, and leading defense companies from Ukraine and the EU to address a critical question: “What is needed today to accelerate and optimize the deployment of joint defense production?”

Program highlights include the presentation of a joint study by Tech Forces Ukraine and the BRDO Office of Effective Regulation on Ukraine’s private defense industry; panel discussions; and the premiere of the Quantum Systems documentary “On the Innovation Frontline”, followed by a talk with Matthias Lehna, the company’s Director of Business Development and Government Relations.

Registration is required to attend.

• Lviv

Before the full-scale invasion, Tymur ran his own business selling sauna accessories.

In the first month of the great war, he baked bread for the troops. By December 2022, he joined the 1st Separate Assault Battalion named after Dmytro Kotsiubailo and served in the Dyke Pole reconnaissance company. In September 2023, near Bakhmut, Tymur stepped on a landmine and lost his leg. 

After evacuation, treatment, and rehabilitation, he has been confidently using a prosthetic limb for eight months. He recently underwent another surgery and is currently continuing his recovery.

Tymur is available for interviews online or in-person in Zaporizhzhia, by prior arrangement. On August 24, he will participate in “MOVE ON SPORT: Sunset Swim”, a charity swimming event at a lake near Lviv.

• casualties
• military
• Lviv
• Zaporizhzhia

The Lviv Habilitation Center | HAB, Ukraine’s first veterans’ center, in partnership with the NGO Spravzhni, will host a special Independence Day gathering, MOVE ON SPORT: Sunset Swim, on August 24 at a lake near Lviv.

The charity event is designed to support veterans and their families, offering a space for connection, psychological recovery, and physical activity. Guided by the slogan Strong When We Are Together. Alive While We Fight, the initiative blends community building with wellness-focused activities.

Participants will be able to choose between 500-meter and 1,000-meter swims. The swim is non-competitive, allowing each person to set their own pace. Routes will follow all safety protocols, and the SkyLake venue offers full accessibility for wheelchair users. The program will also feature discussions on adaptive sports and psychological recovery, presentations of veteran-focused sports activities, and a networking area with coffee, personal stories, and informal conversations.

MOVE ON SPORT: Sunset Swim unites veterans’ organizations, sports clubs, and engaged community members around a shared mission. Proceeds from civilian participants’ charitable contributions will go toward developing a veterans’ swimming group, covering training and coaching expenses. Participation is free for veterans, and their families are encouraged to spend the day together.

For reference: The Lviv Habilitation Center was established as a barrier-free transitional space for veterans, helping them move from the acute trauma of war toward stabilization and reintegration into active life. Founded with the support of the International Charitable Foundation Alliance for Public Health, the center has welcomed more than 800 residents over the past two years.

The NGO Spravzhni is building a barrier-free rehabilitation and recreation facility in the village of Stilsko, near Lviv. Designed as a meeting place for veterans and civilians, it fosters recovery, dialogue, and cooperation, creating opportunities for new ideas and partnerships.

The MOVE ON SPORT event is made possible through the support of Swim4U, K3swim, the Trostianets community, and the SkyLake venue.

• culture
• Lviv

Kyrylo, 32, from Kryvyi Rih, and Svitlana, 27, from Zakarpattia, are both volunteers. They met during the first year of the full-scale invasion while traveling to a training ground. “She came up and asked if there was a seat on the bus. For a girl like that, there’s always a spot,” Kyrylo recalls about the beginning of their story.

Both ended up in the 63rd Separate Mechanized Brigade. She served as a combat medic, he as an infantry company commander. Together, they went through a lot — fighting in Mykolaiv, Kherson, and Donetsk oblasts. Kyrylo was on the front lines, while Svitlana was on combat duty and evacuations. That’s how they started dating.

The proposal also happened at the front — on the Lyman axis in 2023. Kyrylo decided there was no point waiting for the “right moment” because, in war, anything can happen. The couple got matching tattoos of the same yellow bus where they first met, with the inscription “Love your fate”. They got married and continued serving as a military couple.

Kyrylo suffered a severe injury this May in Donetsk oblast — he stepped on an explosive device and lost his left leg. Now, he is undergoing rehabilitation and prosthetic treatment at the UNBROKEN Center. For the past two months, he has been working with physical therapists, learning to use his new “iron leg”. After completing rehab, he dreams of starting a veteran-owned business with Svitlana.

• casualties
• military
• women
• Lviv

Social Drone UA is a volunteer-driven community dedicated to assembling FPV drones for Ukraine’s armed forces. The initiative is open to anyone willing to participate, individuals simply purchase the necessary parts and follow detailed assembly instructions available on the group’s website.

The network now includes more than 2,000 people who have each assembled at least one drone, alongside 70 members on the testing team and many others supporting the effort. Every completed drone undergoes a rigorous in-flight test to identify potential issues such as defective components, assembly flaws, or soldering errors. On average, around 1,500 drones are tested each month. Since its launch, the initiative has delivered 33,798 drones to the military.

Journalists may arrange in advance to cover the project in Kyiv and Lviv.

• volunteers
• Kyiv
• Lviv

Anna Kudzia is a Polish specialist in monument restoration. Over the past decade, she and her team have worked to preserve Ukraine’s architectural heritage. In Lviv, the restorers set up a workshop where they repair and restore sculptures.

When the full-scale war began, Anna co-founded the Ukraina Pomagamy initiative with a group of Polish and Ukrainian restorers. They purchase vehicles and medical supplies for the front lines and assemble first-aid kits for soldiers in their own workshop. Anna Kudzia personally delivers these supplies to the front, either alone or alongside her team of women volunteers.

You can speak with Anna Kudzia and her team online or in person in Lviv, by prior arrangement.

• culture
• volunteers
• Lviv