Themes by tag: military

Denys Abdulin is a boxer and soldier from Bila Tserkva in the Kyiv region. Back in 2014, when a Russian-launched armed conflict erupted in eastern Ukraine, the man wanted to join the Defense Forces but got rejected four times.

When the full-fledged war broke out, Denys evacuated his wife and children to Lithuania and went to the military enlistment office. The soldier underwent training and within three weeks he headed to defend Sievierodonetsk. The soldier fought with the occupiers for two months, until a mine fragment hit him in the head during one of the artillery attacks. Denys underwent 5 surgeries, however, vision loss couldn’t be corrected. The man gains support from his wife Lesia and volunteers who are teaching Denys how to use the phone and computer again. Today, Denys has returned to boxing and wants to become a professional massage therapist.

• casualties
• military

Vidadi Israfilov is a Karabakh and Russian-Ukrainian war veteran. He left Azerbaijan for Ukraine in 1999 and started his own business in the construction industry. He became one of the participants in the Revolution of Dignity back in 2013. Later, Vidadi joined the General Kulchytsky Battalion as a volunteer and served for more than five years. The soldier was demobilized due to health reasons, but this did not stop Vidadi from defending the Kyiv region when the full-brown war outbreak.

Today, the man is in charge of the union of Azerbaijani volunteers who have stepped forward to defend Ukraine. Vidadi’s son, Shakhliyar, has taken over his father’s construction business while his father volunteers and helps Ukrainian soldiers. Vidadi and Shakhliyar have won a grant from the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation to purchase a car and special construction equipment: they plan to train veterans with it. After all, they want to be able to employ as many soldiers as possible after Ukraine’s victory.

• military

On November 28, an exhibition “100 Paintings by Wives of Real Heroes” will take place in Kyiv as part of the Music and Poetry Festival. The paintings were created by women who lost their husbands in war. 

The exhibition was made possible by the charity project “A Thousand Love Stories. Paintings by Wives of Real Heroes”. It was launched 10 months ago by artist Oleg Yurov. During this time, 200 women took part in art workshops to create paintings in memory of their husbands who died defending Ukraine. In particular, women painted dreams, objects, or phenomena that they associate with their husbands.

Journalists will have the opportunity to talk to the participants of the charity project during the exhibition on November 28 and December 2.

• culture
• dead
• military
• women
• Kyiv

In the “Warm Up” (Zihrii) movement participants knit warm clothes (hats, scarves, balaclavas, mittens, and socks) to be sent to Ukrainian defenders. These pieces of clothing do not compete with tactical equipment but aim to show caregiving to the military. As the founders of the movement explain, apart from military tasks, soldiers have other tasks, such as cooking and going to the post office. This is where warm scarves, socks, or hats from “Warm Up” come in handy.

Over 5 thousand people from all over Ukraine have joined the initiative since its inception. Ukrainians abroad (Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Sweden) also knit for our defenders.

The people of various professions: top managers, editors, nannies, etc have been joining the “Warm Up” movement. There are also men among the knitters.

• military
• volunteers
• Kyiv

In Lviv, war veterans who have lost their limbs are being rehabilitated through soccer play and have assembled a team called Pokrova Lviv AMP. The men have training twice a week on one of the football pitches. The team consists of 14 members from different cities of Ukraine.

The players on the pitch are lower-extremity amputees, and the goalkeepers are upper-extremity amputees. The field players use forearm crutches and play without prostheses.

Salesian priests and coach Bohdan Melnyk joined the sports initiative. According to the coach, they are currently working with the Ukrainian Association of Football for People with Disabilities to create a national football championship for players, including veterans, with amputated limbs.

• casualties
• military
• Lviv

Valentyna Korobka is 29 years old. She signed a military enlistment agreement with the Defense Forces in 2019 and drove an infantry fighting vehicle for the first time. Two years later, the servicewoman got married and gave birth to a child. Her son was less than six months old when Russia launched a full-blown war against Ukraine.

In August 2022, Valentyna returned to her comrades, became a pilot of kamikaze drones, and now destroys enemy targets from the air. However, at home, she hears reproaches from her parents, relatives, and even her husband, who stayed to live civilian life to take care of their son, asserting that she is a “bad mother.” Valentyna is having a hard time with the separation from her child, but she hopes that when her son grows up, he will understand her choice and be proud of her.

For reference: Valentyna is currently on the front line. She is ready to talk to journalists online.

• military
• women

In January 2015, during fierce fighting that flared near the Donetsk airport, Bohdan Pantiushenko, a soldier of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, was taken prisoner by Russia. It took five years to bring Bohdan home. He was freed from captivity in a prisoner exchange on December 29, 2019. Today, together with his wife Victoriia, Bohdan has started his own business, namely a family-friendly cafe in the Kyiv region. A couple, raising a little boy, decided to design a kids’ space in their restaurant, as well as a number of dining options for children. 

At first, Bohdan planned to invest only his own assets, but then he learned about the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation support program for veterans. So the serviceman applied for a business grant and got almost three million hryvnias for the project launch. Bohdan and his wife hope the cafe will open its doors to visitors in the spring of 2024.

• military
• prisoners
• Kyiv

Until the full-blown war, Petro worked as a pastry chef in Odesa, making chocolate and making a variety of desserts. Before the all-out invasion, the man did not even think about serving in the army. But on February 24, 2022, Petro was one of the first to arrive at the military registration and enlistment office. He did not manage to join the Defense Forces, so immediately, but after a few tries he did enter the ranks. He took up combat medic specialist duties.

According to Petro, most of his colleagues adequately responded to his sexual orientation. The soldier dreams of statewide legal recognition so Ukraine will eventually adopt a law on civil union so he can start a family without being afraid of public condemnation.

For reference: Petro is currently in hospital in Odesa. He is ready to talk to journalists, both online and offline, by prior arrangement.

• military
• LGBT

Mariia Volia was born and raised in Mariupol, a city in the south of Ukraine that was destroyed and occupied by the russians last spring. The girl joined the ranks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in 2015. She wanted to defend the country after the first russian attacks on Mariupol. Currently, Mariia Volia is a mortar commander at the front.

Before the occupation of her hometown, the girl had been hiding her orientation. However, after she was wounded in Mariupol, and later escaped from the russian encirclement, Mariia opened up to her brothers in arms. Currently, the commander of the mortar unit hopes that civil partnerships will be legalized in Ukraine, because in the future she wants to get married with her partner.

• military
• women
• LGBT

Photographer Uliana Sidletska, together with makeup artist and stylist Victoria Sanatos, conducts photoshoots for women. They say that they work on the inner state of women. In particular, they help them break free from insecurity and see themselves differently, during photo sessions. 

Two months ago, a woman who had lost her husband in the war came to have some snapshots. After she posted the photos on social media, she faced judgment from people blaming her for inappropriate behavior as a widow doing a photoshoot. Then, to support other wives of fallen Ukrainian heroes, Viktoria and Uliana came up with the idea to create the photo project “I AM A WOMAN” aiming to manifest that women should never forget about themselves. Uliana and Viktoria take photos of fallen heroes’ wives free of charge.

Eight women have already taken part in the photo project. According to the organizers, while posing for photos, women are starting to unfold themselves: they talk about themselves, recall their dreams, and some even say that they have realized something they have been putting off for a long time.

The “I AM A WOMAN” photo project exhibition will open on December 17. The project applications are accepted from other country regions.

• culture
• dead
• military
• women
• Vinnytsia