Themes by tag: military

What is more important: a prize in the competition or a participant’s personal achievement? And should we measure the effectiveness of the Games by the number of medals? These and other issues will be discussed on September 29 during a meeting in Kyiv.

Participants:

– Anastasiia Halaiko, Head of the Department of Veteran Sports at the Ministry of Veterans Affairs of Ukraine;

– Ilona Voloshyna, national coordinator of the Invictus Games in Ukraine;

– Alina Frolova, founder of the Center for Strategic Communications “StratCom Ukraine”;

– Taras Kovalyk, head of the Come Back Alive Veterans’ Department 

– Olena Yanovska, head coach of the Invictus Games team;

– Ihor Krytsak, sports manager of the Invictus Games team;

– Maksym Zubov, member of the Invictus Games 2023 team;

– Volodymyr Tovkys, member of the 2023 Invictus Games team;

– Oleksandr Zozuliak, member of the Invictus Games 2018 national team;

• casualties
• military
• Kyiv

Pavlo Korniienko is 37. Before the full-scale invasion, he was in charge of educational and social welfare institutions in the Kyiv region. After the opal-out invasion outbreak, the man took up volunteer work and arranged help for residents of the capital outskirts. Once having visited Bucha and Hostomel, he was determined to join the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Together with his unit, he went to defend the Eastern Ukraine. A mine exploded on the “road of life” in Chasiv Yar, and the shrapnels hit Pavlo. The soldier’s head, torso, arms, and legs were injured. Pavlo was evacuated and taken to Lviv, where he continued his rehabilitation. Pavlo says that his spouse, who “is the meaning of his life,” helps him to keep fighting

• casualties
• military

TMS HUB is a sports area where military and veterans with amputation and injuries can practice Brazilian jiu-jitsu. Classes are free of charge. The project promotes sports rehabilitation and socialization of defenders. One lesson usually lasts an hour and a half.

The initiative was founded by Artem Kuzmich, a veteran of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Originally from Belarus, the man has been at the front since 2014. In 2019, he hit an enemy mine and lost his leg. Despite this, he won Brazilian jiu-jitsu championships in Ukraine, Europe, and Brazil.

• casualties
• military

Yehor Oliinyk is 20 years old. In September 2022, the soldier lost his leg to an enemy mine at the front. Immediately after getting injured, Yehor even neglected to apply a tourniquet just to avoid being captured. However, the thought of his parents waiting for him at home helped him come to his senses and stop the bleeding. After getting the prosthetic in the winter, the man was preparing to return to the front line. Now Yehor is serving with his fellow soldiers and jokes about himself: “I am just like everyone else, just modernized.”

For information: Yehor Oliinyk is at the front line. The soldier is ready to talk to journalists online and offline, by prior arrangement.

• casualties
• military

Yurii Furyk is a gymnastics coach. He has been training athletes and preparing master gymnastics competition winners for 30 years. When the full-scale war started, the man enlisted in the military without any hesitation and moved to the front line. Yurii defended Kherson, Bakhmut, and Soledar, where he got a leg injury that later led to suffering limb loss. The trainer and soldier took up the challenge of learning to use the prosthesis. A month ago, he returned to school in Kolomyia and went on teaching gymnastics to the students who supported him throughout.

• casualties
• military

The “Animal Rescue Kharkiv” NGO opened a contact rehabilitation center for cats “Little Prince.” Animals rescued from the war zone are rehabilitated there. In particular, the center has a contact room made to resemble a home as much as possible, where you can play with cats. According to the founders, it is a kind of rehabilitation and relaxation, both for the pets and for the people.

The room receives visitors 4 times a week. Everyone is welcome. Most of all, military personnel (who also participated in cat rescue) and children are invited there.

For reference: the “Animal Rescue Kharkiv” NGO team has been rescuing animals in the city and the region for more than 8 years. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, they have also been evacuating animals from the war zone and de-occupied settlements (Kharkiv, Donetsk, Luhansk and Kherson regions). Volunteers, in particular, provide emergency medical assistance to animals, give them temporary shelter and find old or new owners for the pets.

• animals
• casualties
• children
• military
• volunteers
• Kharkiv

Olena Chekryzhova is an experienced English teacher who lived in Donetsk Oblast until 2014. There, Olena managed to create one of the first online platforms for learning a foreign language. However after Russia attacked Eastern Ukraine, she left her hometown and kept on doing her business in Kyiv. In 2022, when the full-scale hostile invasion began, Olena got started with volunteering and later taught soldiers English at a military base to make it easier for them to work with the weapons that our partners were sending to Ukraine. Eventually, she created her project to teach English to the Armed Forces.

For information: Olena is in Kyiv, ready to talk to journalists, both online and offline.

• military
• volunteers
• women
• Kyiv

Oleh Symoroz enlisted in the Defense Forces at the beginning of the full-scale invasion. The man defended the Kyiv region as part of the Territorial Defence Forces, and later his unit went to Eastern Ukraine. In October 2022, while performing a combat mission, Oleh’s vehicle hit an enemy mine. The soldier lost both legs and suffered a severe jaw fracture. Oleh has become a bilateral above-the-knee amputee, surviving one of the most difficult surgical procedures for further leg prosthetics. However, the man has taken a responsible approach to his rehabilitation, managed to stand on his prostheses, and is already planning his return to the front line. Oleh is considering a combat position only, perhaps he will train to become a UAV pilot.

For information: Oleh is currently in Kyiv and available to talk to journalists in person.

• casualties
• military

Serhiy Bas is the founder of Zubayster Mobile Dentistry. He came up with the idea to visit soldiers and treat their teeth right at the front in the summer of 2022. The volunteer dentist says that dental problems on the front line often get worse and can sometimes even threaten the lives of Ukrainian soldiers.

Thanks to his investments and donations from all those concerned, Serhiy managed to raise more than $15,000 and create a mobile dental office to travel to the front line. For almost a year of the Zubayster project’s work, volunteers have provided the necessary dental care to more than 1,500 soldiers and civilians living in the frontline area. In a day, doctors have 25 to 30 soldier’s appointments in one mobile office. Since August this year, the volunteers opened a second office.

For reference: Volunteer dentists are ready to take those accredited by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine journalists to the point of deployment, provided they. In addition, the mobile office opened to the public in Odesa.

• doctors
• military
• volunteers
• Odesa

On October 1, the “Buhurt Sich” rehabilitation project for military and veterans will launch in Ukraine. Psychological recovery will be provided via buhurt sports. The military will be able to practice in team jousting in full armor, as well as try out costume reconstruction, pottery, archery and crossbow shooting. It is also an opportunity to spend time in a friendly community.

The project is to be integrated into the activities of the rehabilitation center, where psychologists and rehabilitation doctors will offer buhurt sports as one of the activities. There are also plans to organize additional “Buhurt Sich” sites in different cities of the country, they should become places where a veteran can come with their problems and find support.

For reference: the “Buhurt Sich” project was initiated by the NGO “Buhurt Association in Ukraine.” The founders of the initiative are Ihor Parfentiev, world champion in buhurt, coach, veteran, and Olena Noinets, an activist, public figure, and a volunteer for the military. The NGO has a large team, most of which are currently fighting at the front. 

• military
• psychological support