Themes by tag: military

Maksym Kharkivskyi is a Ukrainian Armed Forces soldier serving in the Zaporizhzhia sector. In the spring of 2023, a bull found its way to his position. His comrades sent a message: “You have visitors”, and the soldier saw the animal walking along a mined path towards them. That same day, Maksym and a comrade evacuated the bull, named Martyn, to a safe location. Maksym started posting videos with the animal on TikTok, and Martyn became popular.

Shortly after, the soldier’s comrades rescued a wild boar: the animal had been injured by enemy shelling. Maksym took the boar in and named her Mashka. After recovering, she became a social media star alongside Martyn. A malnourished roe deer, found in a Kyiv forest, also joined “Maksym’s Ark”, as the soldier calls his animal farm. The young animal had lost its mother, so caring people fed it from a bottle and later contacted Maksym for help.

Thanks to the animals’ popularity on TikTok, Maksym manages to meet his unit’s needs — the soldier hosts live streams to raise funds. Over five streams, he managed to raise enough to purchase 100,000 hryvnias worth of drones. Maksym calls his animals military volunteers. He hopes that after the war, people will visit the farm to meet the animals and learn their stories.

Interviews with Maksym Kharkivskyi can be arranged online or in person, by prior appointment.

• animals
• military
• Zaporizhzhia

Oleksii Prytula is a veterinarian from Odesa. During the full-scale invasion by russia, he defended the country. In September 2022, he sustained severe injuries and lost both legs. He received prosthetics and underwent rehabilitation at the Superhumans Center in Lviv. Subsequently, he returned to work as a veterinarian in Odesa.

Oleksiy joined the national team that represented Ukraine this year at the first-ever Winter Hybrid Invictus Games in Canada (disciplines: curling, skeleton, alpine skiing, rowing on simulators). He also participated in the All-Ukrainian wheelchair rugby competitions. Additionally, he practices archery and wheelchair basketball.

Upon prior arrangement, journalists can speak with Oleksii in person in Odesa or online.

• animals
• casualties
• doctors
• military
• Odesa

A 20-year-old servicewoman in the 63rd Separate Mechanized Brigade with the call sign Bilka became a widow when her husband, Pavlo, was killed on the front lines. After losing her beloved husband, she joined the army to fight the enemy.

Bilka chose to specialize in drone operations because Pavlo was also a drone operator. Initially, she wanted to work with reconnaissance drones, but she currently pilots FPV drones. After completing her training, she began serving in the brigade, carrying out combat missions. She believes that, through her flights, she feels her husband’s presence because she is continuing his work.

Interviews with Bilka can be arranged online or in person by scheduling an appointment with the press officer in advance.

• dead
• military
• women

He once brewed coffee amid the chaos of the sprawling steel factory. Today, he runs his own coffee shop in Kyiv, serving the distinctive “shaman coffee” he perfected while holed up in the Azovstal steel plant, Ukraine’s last stronghold during the siege of Mariupol, alongside hundreds of outnumbered and outgunned soldiers, many wounded and emaciated, as well as more than 1,000 civilians. This is the story of a veteran and former prisoner of war, who goes by the call sign ‘Marquis.’

Marquis joined the Ukrainian army in 2015, when russia first launched its attacks on the country. Before the war, he ran a furniture manufacturing business and worked abroad, but he returned home to volunteer with the Ukraine’s ultra-nationalist Right Sector.

On the front lines, he met a medic named Olena, who crafted a unique coffee blend that quickly won his admiration. Inspired, Marquis began making the drink himself, refining it over the years. Soldiers on the front came to know it as “shaman coffee,” a brew he prepared both at military posts and later, during his time as a civilian after the Anti-Terrorist Operation. When russia launched its full-scale invasion, he rejoined the army immediately.

Marquis fought to defend Mariupol and endured the harrowing siege of Azovstal. He recalls having to crush coffee beans with a grenade to make his signature brew. In May 2022, he and his comrades were ordered to surrender, spending over seven months in captivity. Upon returning home, he intended to continue his military service, but lingering health issues forced him to step back.

Determined to bring a piece of his front-line experience to civilian life, Marquis opened Shaman Coffee in Kyiv. His brew is prepared in a cezve over a burner and infused with 15 different spices. He has also developed a portable field version — bags of ready-made coffee and spice blend. Looking ahead, Marquis hopes to expand Shaman Coffee into a chain of shops.

Marquis is available for conversations about his journey, both online and in person in Kyiv, by appointment.

• military
• prisoners
• Kyiv

On September 26, the Media Center Ukraine will host the presentation of a research entitled “The role of adaptive sports in the rehabilitation of service members and veterans”.

Participants:

– Hanna Bielorusova, Director at the Centre for Strategic Communications StratCom Ukraine;

– Iryna Pykalo, researcher;

– Alina Sarnatska, researcher;

– Ihor Salii, Veteran, participant in international adaptive sports competitions;

– Vitalina Pushkar, representative of Lisova Poliana Mental Health and Rehabilitation Center for Veterans;

– Oksana Horbach, Director of Invictus Games Ukraine NGO, officer in the Armed Forces of Ukraine (online);

– Oleh Duchyminskyi, archery coach (online);

– Kateryna Zahorodnia, head of the Center for Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine, Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Council Regional Clinical Hospital (online). 

Key topics:

– The research objectives and what makes it unique in Ukraine;

– Challenges of integrating adaptive sports into the state rehabilitation system;

– The effects of adaptive sports on symptoms of PTSD and depression;

– Expanding access to adaptive sports beyond rehabilitation centers;

– Scaling the research findings nationwide. 

Background: This is Ukraine’s first scientific research examining how adaptive sports combined with rehabilitation can help veterans restore physical health, reduce symptoms of depression and PTSD, improve social integration, and return to active daily life.

Adaptive sports offer veterans new opportunities for recovery by combining physical, psychological, and social rehabilitation. The research shows that sports are an effective tool for helping military personnel transition back to civilian life.

Registration is required to attend the event.

• casualties
• military
• Kyiv

Oleksandr Ivanko, a retired captain of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and an aircraft engine engineer, has transformed tragedy into creativity. He joined the military in 2012 and first faced the realities of full-scale conflict during a UN peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Upon returning to Ukraine, Ivanko immediately enlisted to defend his country.

His service came at a high cost. Ivanko was severely wounded when a Kh-59 missile struck a helicopter, resulting in the amputation of his leg.

Afterward, he underwent prosthetic surgery at the Superhumans Center in Lviv. During his rehabilitation, Ivanko discovered a passion for music. He completed DJing courses and now performs sets while also playing bass guitar in the center’s therapeutic band.

His performances have reached distinguished audiences, including Ukraine’s presidential couple, Volodymyr and Olena Zelenskyy, and Prince Harry during his visit to Ukraine. Ivanko has also shared the stage with prominent Ukrainian acts such as Zhadan i Sobaky, Druga Rika, Tin Sontsya, and the Academic Symphony Orchestra of the Lviv National Philharmonic.

Expanding his pursuits beyond music, Ivanko started his own business – an online store offering products for meditation and spiritual practices.

Journalists can arrange interviews with Ivanko in Lviv or online, by prior arrangement.

• casualties
• culture
• military
• Lviv

At 24, Artur Dmytrushyn had every reason to remain a civilian. A native of Ukraine’s Lviv region, he was a volunteer, blogger, and IT project manager, and, under the law, not subject to mobilization until he turned 25. But he says he felt he wasn’t doing enough for his country’s defense.

In 2024, he enlisted in the 63rd Steel Lions Mechanized Brigade, where he now serves in the communications department. Alongside his military duties, Dmytrushyn runs the brigade’s social media channels, offering a candid look at service life, recruitment, and the realities of frontline positions. He also works to debunk myths about the military.

According to Dmytrushyn, some of the brigade’s strongest recruits first learned about mobilization opportunities through his videos. “It was after watching these clips on social media that the most motivated candidates came forward,” he explains.

Dmytrushyn remains open to speaking with journalists both online and in person. In-person interviews require accreditation from Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense, and reporters must coordinate their questions and materials with the soldier in advance.

• military

Evacuating the wounded, moving food and ammunition to the front lines, even blowing up bridges to stall russian assaults – these are among the missions carried out by the Alter Ego unit of Ukraine’s 93rd Kholodnyi Yar Mechanized Brigade. Their key tool: ground-based robotic systems.

Each ground robot can move through areas too dangerous for vehicles or ATVs and transport hundreds of kilograms of supplies.

One of the robots’ primary roles is resupplying troops with food, water, and ammunition. Soldiers in the unit wryly refer to the process as “Glovo-Donbas,” a play on words mixing delivery and the region’s name.

The unmanned ground vehicles are also deployed to evacuate wounded soldiers, though that mission can stretch into a 12-hour operation. Troops caution that robots themselves are vulnerable, they can be spotted and targeted by russian drones, making careful operation critical to their survival and success.

For journalists, visiting the Alter Ego fighters is possible only offline, with prior coordination and approval from the brigade’s press officer.

• military

An open training session titled “A Run with the Strong” will be held in Kyiv on September 27. All are invited to join veterans from the “Strong 300” running club for a community run. This event brings veterans and civilians together to run at the same pace.

There will be a distance suitable for any fitness level. Participants can also look forward to making new connections and hearing inspiring stories of resilience from people who have persevered after the war.

Background:

Organizer: Union of Wounded Military of Ukraine “Strong 300”.

Partner: The Ukrainian Athletic Federation.

• casualties
• culture
• military
• Kyiv

The swim was part of the annual international project Neda el Món, which brings together athletes from around the world.

The Ukrainian team, consisting of Ihor Oliinyk, Demian Dudlia, and Maksym Hrinchenko, joined 24 other swimmers in conquering one of the most challenging and unpredictable routes. Despite squalling rain, thunder, and rough waves at dawn, the team persevered. They covered 12.8 kilometers in an impressive 4 hours and 50 minutes.

The veterans are returning to Ukraine on September 26. Journalists can meet with them in Kyiv to hear their thoughts upon arrival. Separate interviews with the participants can be arranged in Kyiv, Dnipro, or online.

Journalists can request photo and video materials of the swim. 

More information about the participants is available here.

Background: The Ukrainian team’s preparation was facilitated by the public organization “One Team Force” – a community dedicated to finding effective ways to provide personalized support for the comprehensive recovery of injured soldiers, from initial rehabilitation to long-term social integration.

• casualties
• culture
• military
• Kyiv