Themes by tag: military

Olha Serhiienko is originally from the city of Bobrovytsia in the Chernihiv region. After graduating from high school, she enrolled in the Military Institute of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.

Instead of the usual student routine, the young woman lived in barracks and underwent basic combined-arms military training. Olha was a first-year student when russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The female cadets were released to go home for a single day. That was how Olha found herself in her native Bobrovytsia, which was immediately occupied by russian troops. The cadet did not have time to return to Kyiv.

The young woman’s family hid the fact that she was a future member of the military. She even had to bury her uniform in the garden. She recalls living with a sense of guilt, knowing that her relatives could have suffered because of her, as the occupiers were constantly hunting for anyone connected to the Ukrainian army.

Following the de-occupation, she returned to her studies. After graduating from the institute, she took the oath of allegiance to the Ukrainian people. Today, she serves as an officer in the psychological personnel support unit of the 141st Separate Mechanized Brigade.

Interviews with Olha “Pingvi” can be arranged either online or in person in Dnipro, by prior appointment and coordination with the press officer.

• military
• occupation
• women
• Dnipro

To remind the public about the defenders of Azovstal and other military personnel who remain in enemy captivity, peaceful events are planned in 29 cities.

On June 20, rallies will take place in Okhtyrka, Pavlohrad, Chernihiv, Irpin, Vinnytsia, Zaporizhzhia, Bila Tserkva, Shpola, Volochysk, Lviv, Ostroh and Dnipro.

On June 21, events are scheduled in Kyiv, Krolevets, Pivdennoukrainsk, Kremenchuk, Uman, Mykolaiv, Ovruch, Obukhiv, Dolynska, Lozova, Kovel, Korostyshiv, Uzhhorod, Berdychiv, Kropyvnytskyi, Chernivtsi and Odesa.

The events are being organised by the families of prisoners of war from the Mariupol garrison. Ukrainians who have themselves been released from captivity also often take part in the rallies.

• military
• prisoners

Olha Rukavishnikova is a violinist and athlete. The veteran began studying music at the age of four, and by eighth grade she had taken up conducting. She performed, among other venues, at the Mykolaiv Philharmonic and the Grand Hall of the Kyiv Conservatory. Olha also dedicated 10 years of her life to sports, which earned her the military call sign “Karatyst”.

At 8 a.m. on Feb. 24, 2022, Olha was already standing in line at her local military enlistment office. By the evening, she had received a weapon, and the following day she used it against the enemy for the first time. Olha served in the ranks of Ukraine’s Armed Forces for four years. Her primary weapon was the RPG-7 rocket-propelled grenade launcher, although she is also trained to operate a sniper rifle, an automatic grenade launcher, a machine gun and a mortar.

During one combat mission, an explosion threw Olha several metres through the air, and one of the fragments, according to the servicewoman, fractured a cervical vertebra. As a result of the same injury, she lost her left eye.

Olha returned to her unit relatively quickly and continued her service. However, she recently left the military due to health reasons. She is now gradually readjusting to civilian life.

Olha Rukavishnikova is available for interviews with journalists, both online and in person, by prior arrangement.

• casualties
• culture
• military
• women

Nazari Krasovskyi signed a contract with the 12th Azov Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine in 2020. The soldier was in Mariupol when the full-scale invasion began; he defended Azovstal and, alongside his brothers-in-arms, followed command orders and surrendered into captivity in May 2022.

Nazari spent 3.5 years in captivity. To keep his spirits up, the serviceman wrote poems, scratching the lines onto a piece of soap, and whenever the opportunity arose, he transferred the texts onto scraps of paper. He was returned home in August 2025 during a prisoner exchange.

Since then, Nazari has been undergoing rehabilitation at the UNBROKEN National Rehabilitation Center in Lviv. The soldier suffered a severe spinal injury while in captivity.

The serviceman shared that Ilona had been his friend for 15 years. During his rehabilitation, she immediately came to visit Nazari, and he realized he wanted to marry her. Ilona said yes to his proposal.

Interviews with Nazari Krasovskyi can be arranged either online or offline in Lviv by prior agreement. Photo and video materials of the marriage proposal moment are available for journalists upon request.

• casualties
• military
• prisoners
• russian crimes
• Lviv

Dmytro Yehizarov (“Kok”) was a participant in the Revolution of Dignity, an entrepreneur, a loving husband, and a father of three. On January 5, 2023, he joined the defense of the Motherland as part of the 33rd Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Serving as a Stugna anti-tank missile system operator, he carried out combat missions in the Zaporizhzhia and Pokrovsk directions. Despite suffering a spinal injury, concussions, and a shrapnel wound, he constantly returned to duty to fight against the occupiers.

On June 20, 2024, Dmytro was killed in action in the village of Peremoha, Donetsk Region. Before his death, he destroyed four units of enemy armored vehicles and damaged two tanks, halting an enemy mechanized assault.

Dmytro’s brother, Roman, launched a petition to posthumously award the Defender the title of Hero of Ukraine, which quickly gathered the required number of signatures. On June 3, 2026, the President issued the corresponding decree.

The memory of the warrior has been immortalized with a memorial plaque at School No. 177 in Kyiv, at the museum of Vadym Hetman Kyiv National Economic University, and in the M. M. Hryshko National Botanical Garden, where a memorial bench was installed and a maple tree was planted in Dmytro’s honor in the Indonesian Garden.

The memorial event will be attended by the soldier’s mother Alla Ihorivna, his wife Olena, his daughter Daria, his brother Roman, his friends Andrii and Kyrylo, and his colleague Olha. Speeches will be delivered by Olha Korabliova, a representative of the Scientific Council of the Botanical Garden, and Mykola Haponiuk, Deputy Head of the Department of Finance at KNEU.

Media accreditation is required to attend the event.

• dead
• military
• Kyiv

In Kyiv, civilians are invited to join a military training program organized by the Khartia-Hub and the 13th Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine “Khartia.”

During the training, instructors will teach weapon handling, group cohesion, tactical medicine, operation planning, after-action analysis, topography, and other essential military disciplines.

Registration is required to participate in the event.

• military
• Kyiv

Tetiana is a servicewoman of the 72nd Separate Mechanized Brigade named after the Chorni Zaporozhtsi, known by her call sign “Harley Quinn.” She wanted to join the army back when russia first attacked Ukraine. However, in 2014, her husband forbade her from doing so. Five years later, the couple divorced, and Tetiana immediately signed a contract with the military.

She chose the field of communications, and later took up the position of communications platoon commander in the unmanned systems battalion of the 72nd Mechanized Brigade. Tetiana studied cryptographic protection, wrote programs for radio station programming, coordinated with other signal corps members, and sourced technical manuals.

The servicewoman was on duty when the full-scale invasion began. Since then, she has had to set up communications from scratch countless times. Following the defense of the Kyiv region, the unit led by Tetiana relocated to the Donetsk region.

Interviews with Tetiana, call sign “Harley Quinn,” can be arranged both online and offline, subject to prior agreement and clearance by the press officer.

• military
• women

To raise awareness for the defenders of “Azovstal” and other service members still held in enemy captivity, peaceful rallies are planned across 29 cities.

On June 13, events will take place in Okhtyrka, Svitlovodsk, Pavlohrad, Vinnytsia, Chernihiv, Zaporizhzhia, Shpola, Volochysk, Bila Tserkva, Ostroh, Lviv, and Dnipro.

On June 14, rallies are scheduled in Kyiv, Krolevets, Pivdennoukrainsk, Kremenchuk, Korop, Ovruch, Obukhiv, Dolynska, Poltava, Lozova, Kharkiv, Uzhhorod, Berdychiv, Rivne, Kropyvnytskyi, Odesa, and Ivano-Frankivsk.

The events are organized by the families of the Mariupol Garrison prisoners of war. Released Ukrainian POWs themselves frequently join these solidarity actions.

• military
• prisoners

David Plaster is a former US military medic. After retiring from service, he traveled to more than 100 countries. In 2012, he decided to settle in Ukraine. In 2014, during the Revolution of Dignity, David treated the wounded on the Maidan.

Following the outbreak of the Anti-Terrorist Operation (ATO), David trained Ukrainian service members in tactical combat casualty care (TCCC) and prepared instructors to pass on these crucial skills. Back then, a language barrier hindered David’s work, as he had to communicate through gestures with those who did not speak English. Today, the veteran is already fluent in Ukrainian.

Additionally, in 2014, he founded the “Anomaly” non-governmental organization, which provides humanitarian aid, conducts training sessions in both tactical medicine and English, and supports veterans and internally displaced persons (IDPs). Each month, the NGO’s team trains between 400 and 800 people in tactical medicine.

Interviews and conversations with David Plaster can be arranged both online and in-person in Kyiv, subject to prior agreement.

• doctors
• military
• Kyiv

On February 24, 2022, Olha Shtern found herself without identification documents. A day before russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, she had submitted her passport to change her surname following a divorce. At the time, she was living and working in Mykolaiv, a southern Ukrainian city.

After the invasion began, volunteers helped Olha and her child evacuate abroad.

A host family on Portugal’s Azores Islands took them in. But neither the islands’ natural beauty, nor the support of those who had helped her, nor her volunteer activities there could persuade Olha to remain outside Ukraine. With war continuing at home, she felt she was not doing enough.

She soon returned to Ukraine. In Odesa, Olha enlisted and became a combat medic in a combat unit, where she continues to serve.

She has served in some of the war’s fiercest battle zones, including Bakhmut, Soledar and Blahodatne. She recalls how, during another shelling attack, the blast wave threw her back, and her only concern was that she had lost her radio. Although she has suffered four concussions during her service, only one has been officially documented.

Olha has also faced sexism within the military. She says she managed to overcome that difficult period thanks to the support of her fellow service members.

From time to time, she considers returning to civilian life. But she dismisses those thoughts after saving another wounded person.

Her son is waiting for her at home and is being cared for by his godmother.

Journalists interested in speaking with Olha Shtern may arrange interviews either online or in person in Kharkiv region by prior appointment.

• doctors
• military
• women
• Kharkiv