Themes by tag: military

Under the banner of the “City Healing” initiative, Ukrainian servicemembers undergoing treatment or rehabilitation in Lviv’s medical facilities are being offered complimentary tours of the historic city. These tours, available both individually and in groups, serve as a rejuvenating respite for those in need.

Covering a diverse array of topics, the tours showcase the city’s myriad attractions, from its iconic landmarks and bustling downtown to its serene parks. Knowledgeable guides provide insights into Lviv’s rich history spanning princely and medieval eras, its architectural marvels, artistic heritage, and cherished traditions.

Since its inception, the “City Healing” program has extended its healing touch to 552 military personnel and their families. 

• casualties
• culture
• military
• Lviv

Volodymyr Mamalyha is a psychologist by profession. In 2014, when russia attacked Ukraine for the first time, he volunteered to join the army. Volodymyr served as a sniper in the East. After returning to civilian life, the veteran began to help the military by providing psychological support to the defenders and creating veteran communities in Cherkasy.

The day after the big war started, the man was already in the ranks of the Armed Forces. Volodymyr fought near Popasna and Lysychansk in Luhansk region, later he was hospitalized and discharged from active duty by the decision of the military medical commission.

The veteran says that it was not easy to return to normal life, so he decided to create a hub of psychological support for servicemen and veterans of the Armed Forces. Volodymyr applied for a grant from the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation, won and received funding. And then he started a hub in Cherkasy. Besides psychologists, lawyers work there too. In addition, various training events for veterans are held in the hub. Currently, Volodymyr has applied for another grant to purchase a special car to transport servicemen with disabilities to the hub.

• casualties
• military
• psychological support

Before the full-scale invasion, Ruslan Mokrytskyi was a successful businessman: he had a chain of coffee shops in Khmelnytskyi. However, shortly after the start of the big war, the man sold the business and joined the Defense Forces. As a member of the 95th Separate Airborne Assault Brigade, the soldier fought on the front lines, and between combat missions, he began to cook various dishes, film the process and share it on social networks. Ruslan’s content soon became popular. The man says that thanks to cooking, he manages to distract himself and recover after missions at the frontline.

In July 2023, during one of the tasks, Ruslan provided first aid to his brother in arms, and he himself received a shrapnel wound in the hand. The fighter returned to his hometown, where he underwent rehabilitation. But even at that point he did not abandon his blog. After the core functionality of his hand were restored, the man returned to the front line

For reference: Ruslan Mokrytskyi is in the Kupiansk sector. The military man is ready to communicate with journalists both online and in person, by prior arrangement.

• military

On March 10 Dnipro gears up to host the poignant performance, “The Third Spring in Captivity.” This nationwide initiative, titled “Don’t be silent! Captivity kills!”, aims to highlight the dire predicament faced by Ukrainian prisoners of war, particularly those hailing from the embattled city of Mariupol and the Azovstal region, who have languished in enemy captivity for nearly two years.

For context: The defense of Mariupol endured for 86 grueling days, with soldiers enduring complete encirclement for 82 of those days. In May 2022, following orders from the command, Ukrainian defenders ceased resistance, vacated Azovstal, and surrendered to enemy forces.

• military
• prisoners
• Dnipro

“Darling, I Live on!” is a psychological support project for women who lost their husbands in the war. It operates in Zaporizhia.

In March 2023, activist Yaryna Herashchenko was approached by a family friend who had lost her military husband who asked her for support. Then the women came up with the idea to create the project “Darling, I Live on!” Yaryna’s mother, who is a psychologist, got involved as well.

Over the course of a year, 22 participants joined the project. As part of the initiative, women receive psychological aid and support on their way to recovery. In particular, they take part in various activities: archery, yoga and Thai boxing. Women also participate in field sessions. For example, on the island of Khortytsia, the participants wrote letters to their loved ones, made small paper boats from their messages and sent them down the Dnipro. They also treated each other to their loved ones’ favorite dishes.

The participants are also taking part in two photo projects: “Memory of you” (photos with memorabilia that help the participants tell the stories of their husbands) and “Darling, I Live on!” (“awakening photo shoot”). Group 4 meetings will start in March.

• dead
• military
• psychological support
• women
• Zaporizhzhia

Roman enlisted with the Right Sector Ukrainian Volunteer Corps while he was still pursuing his studies in rehabilitation therapy and volunteered for training camps, preparing himself for the rigors of combat. A former student turned soldier and faced his first deployment to the frontlines in 2016. Serving in a reconnaissance battalion in some of the most perilous regions, he experienced the harsh realities of war firsthand. Tragically, in 2019, while near Olenivka in the Donetsk region, Kashpur stepped on a petal mine, resulting in the loss of his leg.

Undeterred by his injury, Kashpur embraced the challenge of prosthetic rehabilitation and soon found himself excelling in the Games of Heroes project, where he emerged victorious twice. Determined to inspire fellow wounded soldiers, he pushed his limits further. In December 2021, Kashpur achieved a remarkable feat by pulling a 16-ton An-26 airplane, moving the giant aircraft 6 meters and 40 centimeters, earning him a place in the National Register of Records of Ukraine.

Despite facing setbacks, including a mismatched prosthesis and the onset of full-scale war, Kashpur continued to persevere. He not only trained newcomers but also actively participated in assaults. His resilience knew no bounds as he set his sights on conquering marathons. In April 2023, Kashpur made his debut in the prestigious 43rd London Marathon. He followed up with appearances in the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, D.C., and the New York City Marathon in October and November, respectively. Most recently, Kashpur achieved a personal milestone by completing a marathon in Tokyo, Japan, setting a new personal record.

For reference: As Kashpur prepares to return to Ukraine to the Vinnytsia region on March 9, he stands ready to share his remarkable story with journalists, both online and offline, by prior arrangement.

• military

Serhii Shpanko is 46 years old. The man joined the ranks of the Defense Forces back in 2014, when russia first attacked Ukraine. Since then, Serhii served in many positions in the army, until he was discharged and became a teacher at the Military Institute of Telecommunications and Information Technology. On February 24, 2022, Serhii was in the capital, and together with the cadets he organized the evacuation of the population from Kyiv region, in particular, Bucha and Irpin. At the end of March of the same year, Serhii returned to the Armed Forces, less than a month later, he found himself in the Avdiivka sector. During one of the missions, his car came under enemy fire. Serhii’s next memory after being wounded is the hospital. The soldier received numerous facial injuries, his facial nerve was severed, his ear was torn off and his eye was damaged. Serhii has undergone many surgeries. A team of reconstructive surgeons from Canada, the U.S. and Ukraine decided to restore the functions and symmetry of his face as part of the “Face the Future” international mission. Nowadays Serhii can smile and close his eyelid. The man returned to the Institute, and now teaches cadets to use small arms.

For reference: “Face the future Ukraine” is a mission of Canadian and American reconstructive surgeons, which brings together world experts and their Ukrainian counterparts to restore physical health and aesthetic beauty of people injured in enemy shelling. They also work with servicemen who have suffered face and neck injuries on the front line.

• casualties
• doctors
• military

From March 1 to June 1, Modern Ukraine charity foundation will organize and conduct art therapy master classes in Poltava, Odesa, Vinnytsia, Fastiv, Dnipro, Mykolaiv, Yuzhne, and Kyiv. There will be more than 20 master classes in total. Women who lost their loved ones in the war will take part in the events. The paintings created at the master classes will be shown at exhibitions in Dnipro, Odesa, Ivano-Frankivsk, Novovolynsk and Volodymyr.

“Zhyva. True Love Stories” project is a volunteer initiative that helps Ukrainian women who are experiencing the loss of husbands and fiancés to rediscover the meaning of life and channel their pain into creativity.

More than 100 women have already participated in “Zhyva. TRUE LOVE STORIES” project – they created paintings in memory of their husbands and wrote their own stories for these canvases. Many paintings were on display in the regional exhibitions “PAINTING WITH HEART,” which took place during 2023-2024 in Kyiv, Lviv and Lutsk.

In December 2024, Modern Ukraine foundation will organize a nationwide exhibition featuring works by the participants of the “Zhyva” project in Kyiv.

Journalists are invited to learn more about the project and cover it.

• dead
• military
• women

Vladyslav Molodykh is a serviceman of the 71st Jaeger Brigade. The occupiers stormed the dugout, where Vladyslav and his brother in arms had been staying for 3 days. During the assault, Vladyslav Molodykh eliminated at least 6 russian invaders. Then the russians blocked the exit from the dugout with the Ukrainians. Also, the debris from a nearby house collapsed into their dugout.

The soldiers, who found themselves under the rubble, ate dry rations until they ran out. The fighters had to survive at sub-zero temperatures without food and water. They melted the snow to quench their thirst at least a little.

Later, the Ukrainians managed to make a small hole in the pile of the debris, through which Vladyslav’s brother in arms climbed out. Other defenders found him with the help of a drone. Vladyslav remained in the dugout for another two weeks. In total, he stayed underground for 41 days. In the end, the man was saved by soldiers who were looking for Vladyslav. Currently, the military man is undergoing rehabilitation in Vinnytsia region.

Additionally: Vladyslav Molodykh is ready to communicate with journalists, both online and offline, by prior agreement.

• casualties
• military
• Vinnytsia

Maryna and Mykola are both military, they met in 2019 in the army. The woman had two daughters from a previous marriage — Olena and Oleksandra. Mykola also has a daughter named Milana. At first, the family lived in Mariupol, Donetsk region (now the city is occupied), then they moved to Berdiansk, Zaporizhia region (now the city is occupied).

The couple served in the Azov brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine. In 2020, Mykola resigned from the Azov and joined the marines. Maryna’s contract ended in November 2021, but she did not want to leave her brothers in arms.

When the full-scale invasion began, Maryna, along with other Azov defenders of Mariupol ended up at the Azovstal plant (i.e. Iron and Steel Works where fierce battles with the enemy took place in the spring of 2022). Mykola wanted to switch with Marina and go to Azovstal instead of her. The woman persuaded him not to do this, because at the checkpoint the russians shot three guys who were on the way to meet their girlfriends, and many others who broke through to the plant went missing. Even then Maryna understood that she and other military personnel were unlikely to get out of the Azovstal alive. And she asked her husband to take care of her daughters. On May 8, 2022, the woman died in a fire at the Azovstal.

Now Mykola is fighting for the right to adopt his deceased wife’s daughters and give them a happy future. He is purchasing a three-room apartment for the girls in Kyiv region so they could live together as a family.

With the help of the Children of Heroes Fund, Maryna’s daughters received gifts and visited a rehabilitation camp, which helped them to distract themselves from terrible memories and disturbing thoughts.

For reference: the defense of Mariupol lasted 86 days. Following the order of the command, the Ukrainian defenders stopped putting up the defense, left Azovstal and surrendered to the enemy. On May 20, 2022, Mariupol was occupied by russia.

The Children of Heroes Charity Fund supports children who have lost one or both parents due to russia’s full-scale invasion. The fund offers financial aid as well as psychological and legal support. The organization helps these children with education and development until they reach adulthood.

As of the beginning of February, 7,889 wards are under the care of the Fund. Of them, 1,062 are IDPs, 151 children have lost their mother and father, 177 are children with disabilities, 970 are children from large families. Every week about 80 children are included into the list of the recipients of the fund’s help. Among the fund’s children, 88% are kids of military personnel, while the remaining 12% are civilians.

• casualties
• children
• dead
• military
• women
• Kyiv