Themes by tag: military

Five Ukrainian veterans with amputations and severe combat injuries will compete in the international Oceanman Lago d’Orta swimming event in Italy. On June 13 and 14, they will take on 2-kilometer and 5.5-kilometer open-water distances alongside participants from around the world, without a separate category or special conditions. An open-water training session will take place in Kyiv region on June 6.

The team’s preparation for the competition is led by Serhii Kostenko, founder and head coach of the K-TEAM Swimming Club and co-founder of the NGO Impossible Is Possible, which promotes adaptive and veteran sports in Ukraine. According to the coach, open-water swimming presents a completely different challenge from training in a pool.

The training program focuses on balance, stroke technique, breathing, navigation, and interaction with the water environment. In addition to physical preparation, psychological adaptation is a key component.

During training sessions, the veterans learn to work as a team, navigate using buoys, manage their energy, and cope with the stress factors typical of open-water competitions.

Journalists can attend and cover the open-water training session by prior arrangement.

Background: The IRON WARRIORS project is implemented by the YANKO Fund charitable foundation in partnership with IRON WARRIORS SPORT HUB and FlyPoint, which also serves as the project’s logistics partner.

• casualties
• culture
• military
• Kyiv

The NGO Military LGBT+ is organizing a five-day intensive training program to help veterans acquire a new profession as tattoo artists. The course is being held as part of a grant-funded program. The NGO team, together with the Strum tattoo studio, will select nine participants for the training, which is scheduled to take place in June.

The course will cover not only tattooing techniques but also safety procedures, hygiene standards, equipment handling, sketch creation, linework and shading, and communication with clients. Participants will also practice on artificial skin. Following the completion of the course, a graduation charity event will be held, where newly trained artists will be able to tattoo guests in exchange for donations.

The training will be free of charge for veterans.

Media representatives can speak with the organizers and participants both online and in person in Kyiv, by prior arrangement.

• military
• Kyiv
• LGBT

Alyona is originally from the Kharkiv region. She now lives in the Poltava region and serves in the Ukrainian military. She is raising two children.

Her husband, Denys, was a lieutenant colonel and military pilot who served as deputy squadron commander and squadron navigator.

Denys completed more than 80 combat missions. He was awarded the Order for Courage, Third Class, as well as the Ministry of Defence distinction “Personalized Firearm”. He was killed on March 27, 2023, while carrying out a combat mission. His aircraft was shot down by russian forces over the Chernihiv region. The pilot attempted to steer the aircraft away from a populated area and did not have time to eject.

Subject to prior arrangement, the family is available for both in-person and online interviews.

• dead
• military
• women
• Poltava

Ruslan and Oleksandr were mobilized before the start of russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. They were stationed in Mariupol when the war began, defended the city and were later taken captive alongside their fellow servicemen. For three years, they sewed clothes in a russian penal colony.

After returning from captivity, the veterans met Maksym Zakharchenko while sheltering together during an air raid alert at a rehabilitation center.

Maksym joined the military at the age of 18, returning from Poland, where his family had relocated after the start of the full-scale invasion. He later left the military due to multiple injuries and concussions.

The three veterans eventually decided to start their own business — a sewing factory called Volotsiuhy (Vagabonds).

They launched production in Kyiv three months ago and are already fulfilling large orders and partnering with established brands. Maksym, Ruslan and Oleksandr plan to expand production and are hiring new employees, including both civilians and veterans.

Interviews with the Volotsiuhy team can be arranged online or in person in Kyiv by prior appointment.

• military
• prisoners
• Kyiv

On May 31 in Bucha, Kyiv region, the event “Match of Expectation: Every Voice Saves” will take place. As part of the event, the Ukrainian national veterans’ team will play an advocacy football match against the Kyiv regional team to draw attention to the families of missing and captured Ukrainian defenders.

The Ukrainian national veterans’ team will include well-known Ukrainian football players and former professional players: Andriy Biba, Yevhen Seleznyov, Yevhen Khacheridi, Serhiy Nazarenko, Oleksiy Bielik, Mykola Morozyuk, Yuriy Maksymov, Eduard Tsykhmeistruk, Oleh Sobutskyi, Volodymyr Lysenko, Mykola Ishchenko, Viacheslav Sviderskyi, Volodymyr Bondarenko, and Serhii Pohorilyi.

The Kyiv regional team will consist of war veterans, service members, volunteers, representatives of the Kyiv Regional State Administration, the Kyiv Regional Council, local communities, the National Police in Kyiv region, and the State Emergency Service of Ukraine.

A symbolic installation will be created in the stadium stands: military uniforms will be placed on 500 seats as a symbol of presence. Each seat will represent a defender whose fate remains unknown and a family that continues to wait. Nearby, photographs of missing soldiers, their words, and links to personal stories will be displayed.

Before the match, participants will form a circle of solidarity around the pitch with lit torches. The first kick of the ball will be taken by a child of a missing defender together with a man from Bucha who was released from captivity.

Within the “Match of Expectation: Every Voice Saves” initiative, families and relatives of missing defenders will be able to receive free legal and psychological support from partner organizations and, if they wish and consent, fill out a needs assessment form for further assistance and follow-up.

Journalists must register in advance to attend the event.

Background: The advocacy event is organized by the NGO “Voices of Silence.” It is an association of families of missing and captured Ukrainian defenders, founded in Bucha by Nataliia Ilyina, the wife of a missing defender.

• military
• prisoners
• psychological support
• Kyiv

Oleksandr Hurzhov, a resident of Mariupol, signed a contract with Ukraine’s Defense Forces in 2020. He was in his hometown when russia launched its full-scale invasion. Within days, he was wounded and later taken captive. russian forces repeatedly transferred him between detention sites, subjected him to torture and deprived him of food. After three years in captivity, Hurzhov weighed just 45 kilograms.

On May 25, 2025, Hurzhov returned home as part of a prisoner exchange. He recalls being struck by the appearance of russian prisoners of war, who “looked like normal people,” while Ukrainians returned from russian captivity as “living skeletons.” One of the first comforts he remembers after the exchange was taking a hot shower. In the prison colony, detainees had to wash themselves in the toilet using a 1.5-liter bottle of water.

Even before his captivity, Hurzhov loved music and enjoyed singing karaoke. Since returning home, he says he has attended more concerts than during the rest of his life combined.

Oleksandr Hurzhov is available for interviews both online and in person in Kyiv by prior arrangement.

• casualties
• military
• prisoners
• russian crimes
• Kyiv

A public event titled “To Lay Down One’s Life for One’s Friends” will take place at the War Museum in Kyiv on May 24 in memory of Ukrainian defenders Liubomyr Sochenko and Anton Balanchuk.

Brothers-in-arms Sgt. Liubomyr Sochenko and Pvt. Anton Balanchuk served as part of a strike drone crew operating Vampire unmanned aerial systems within the 65th Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. While carrying out combat missions in the Zaporizhzhia direction, they destroyed enemy assault groups, military equipment, and fortifications. The soldiers continued combat operations even after sustaining injuries.

During their service, the crew destroyed more than 20 armored and military vehicles, eliminated 72 russian troops, and disabled or destroyed nearly 500 enemy fortifications.

Liubomyr Sochenko and Anton Balanchuk were killed on Sept. 16, 2025, near the village of Novodanylivka in Zaporizhzhia Oblast as a result of an enemy drone strike.

The event will focus on the defenders’ personal stories, memories shared by their relatives, and discussions on remembrance as a way of preserving human lives in national history.

As part of the event, Marina Sochenko — an artist, volunteer, and mother of Liubomyr Sochenko — and Yuliia Balanchuk, Anton Balanchuk’s wife, will speak with attendees. The families will also donate personal belongings and archival materials of the fallen defenders to the War Museum’s collection.

The event will feature photo and video materials, as well as paintings by Marina Sochenko related to the war.

The discussion will be moderated by Liubov Krupnyk, senior research fellow at the War Museum

• dead
• military
• Kyiv

Before the full-scale invasion, a serviceman with the callsign “Space” lived in Kyiv and worked in marketing and advertising. After the start of the full-scale war, he joined the military as a combat medic.

Over time, he served in various roles, including in a rapid response unit and military intelligence. Later, he joined a UAV unit and headed a division that eventually became the strike company known as “Practice.”

Soon, “Space” realized his company needed additional financial support. That is how “Practice” drip coffee packs were created. Most of the profits from sales go toward supporting the unit, while the remaining funds cover production costs.

He currently sells around 2,000 drip coffee packs per month.

“Space” is currently stationed on the frontline and is available for interviews online or offline by prior arrangement.

• military

The goal of the event is to remind society about those who remain in russian captivity and to support the families of prisoners of war.

• military
• prisoners
• Kyiv

Participants:

– Nataliia Yepifanova, Head of the NGO Warriors Liberation;

– Nataliia Kravtsova, mother of a captured “Azov” fighter, defender of Mariupol;

– Dmytro “Diplomat”, defender of Mariupol, veteran of the “Azov” brigade, former prisoner of war;

– Bohdan Okhrymenko, representative of the Coordination Headquarters — Head of the Secretariat of the Coordination Headquarters.

Topics for discussion:

– systemic issues in returning “Azov” fighters from captivity;

– persecution of “Azov” members in captivity: the Olenivka terrorist attack, intensified torture, mass criminal prosecution, and illegal verdicts by russian courts;

– the role of the international community and the state in returning the defenders of Mariupol.

The press conference will take place on the fourth anniversary of the final end of the defense of Mariupol and the surrender of the Mariupol garrison.

Speakers will address the issue of the prolonged captivity of servicemen of the 12th Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine “Azov,” who defended Mariupol and went into captivity in May 2022. More than 700 fighters remain in captivity.

How did it happen that soldiers who became a national and international symbol of Ukraine’s resistance to russian aggression in the early months of the full-scale invasion are often left out of prisoner exchanges?

The purpose of the press conference is also to discuss possible mechanisms to strengthen efforts to secure the release of “Azov” fighters from captivity.

• military
• prisoners
• Kyiv