Themes by tag: military

Daria Ulman is the wife of soldier Kyrylo Ulman, who was killed in action on February 15, 2024. At the start of the full-scale invasion, Daria’s husband joined the ranks of the Volunteer Territorial Defense Unit in Dnipro, established by veterans of the 12th Azov Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine. In December 2022, he became part of the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade as a member of an anti-tank battalion. Kyrylo was killed by a sniper’s bullet.

Daria shares that her husband was passionate about military affairs. After his death, she regretted not having started training alongside Kyrylo. Over the past year, Daria has completed six courses and undergone two full-scale training programs. She later founded her own community, which focuses on military training for women, naming it Community Ulman in honor of her fallen beloved.

To date, 30 women have already participated in the training sessions, and the project has successfully donated 76,000 hryvnias to Kyrylo’s fellow soldiers.

Journalists will have the opportunity to cover the training sessions, which will take place in Kyiv on August 30–31.

Interviews with Daria Ulman can be arranged online or in person in Kyiv, by prior agreement.

• dead
• military
• women
• Kyiv

For the first time in the history of Ukrainian football, the Ukrainian Association of Football (UAF) is launching the Ukrainian Amputee Football Championship — a major event in adaptive sports. (Amputee football is a sport for individuals with limb amputations or congenital limb deficiencies).

The championship will run from September to December and will be held in Kyiv, Kyiv Oblast, Lviv, Cherkasy, and Ivano-Frankivsk. The first gathering round will take place from August 29 to 31 in Kyiv. The champion will represent Ukraine in the EAFF (European Amputee Football Federation) Champions League in 2026.

Participating teams from across Ukraine include MSC Dnipro (Cherkasy), Pokrova AMP (Lviv), Shakhtar Stalevi (Donetsk), Burevii (Kyiv oblast), Hrestonosci (Lutsk), Vinnytsia AMP (Vinnytsia), Nezlamni (Kharkiv), Tytany (Zhytomyr), FC Bartka (Ivano-Frankivsk), Vikinhy (Ternopil).

Background: The tournament is organized with the support of the Ministry of Veterans Affairs of Ukraine, the Ministry of Youth and Sports, and the Agency for Mass Sports of Ukraine.

One of the key strategic priorities of the Ukrainian Association of Football (UAF) is the development of social projects that transform society and create opportunities for everyone. The project for the development of amputee football is one such initiative, as there are over 100,000 individuals with limb amputations in Ukraine.

• casualties
• military
• Kyiv

A driving school tailored for people with disabilities operates at the Lviv State University of Internal Affairs. Since the launch of the Without Barriers project, 33 students, including 11 Ukrainian veterans, have obtained driver’s licenses.

In September 2024, the program expanded to train people with hearing and speech impairments. Students attend theory classes with the assistance of sign language interpreters, and practical driving lessons are also conducted with interpreter support.

Participants and instructors from the driving school for people with disabilities are available for interviews both online and in person in Lviv, by prior arrangement.

• casualties
• military
• Lviv

Before russia’s full-scale aggression against Ukraine, Andrii was a pediatrician and headed the health department in Kharkiv region’s Zlatopil District State Administration. When he mobilized into the Defense Forces of Ukraine in 2023, he joined the 13th Khartiia Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine. 

Today, Andrii goes by the call sign “Baz” and serves at a Battalion Aid Station, assisting surgeons on the front lines. Although his medical practice once focused only on children, he says his experience in the military revealed a striking similarity. “The soldiers are just like kids,” he remarked, “only with beards.”

Andrii can be reached for interviews both online and in person, with prior coordination through the brigade’s press officer.

• doctors
• military

Konstantin Kartavtsev has been on the front lines defending Ukraine since June 2022. Over that time, he has suffered multiple injuries and concussions. On April 16, 2023, while pulling fellow soldiers out of danger, he lost a leg. After months of rehabilitation, Kartavtsev returned to duty in December as a sergeant in the 95th Separate Air Assault Brigade.

Despite his injuries, Kartavtsev found a new passion. In August 2023, still adjusting to a temporary prosthetic, he took up golf. He joined United by Golf, an adaptive sports club that helps service members, veterans, their families, and people with disabilities through the game. Since its launch, the initiative has brought more than 800 veterans into rehabilitation programs, with 55 vets training regularly.

Kartavtsev quickly excelled. Last year, he competed in the International Championship for Golfers with Disabilities in Germany, finishing among the top 10 players in the final standings. Golf has since become his favorite pastime.

On August 19 this year, during a meeting in Washington, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy presented Donald Trump with a golf putter on Kartavtsev’s behalf. The U.S. president accepted the gift and later recorded a video message thanking the Ukrainian soldier.

By prior arrangement, journalists may meet Kartavtsev in Kyiv.

• casualties
• military
• Kyiv

Before the full-scale invasion, Tymur ran his own business selling sauna accessories.

In the first month of the great war, he baked bread for the troops. By December 2022, he joined the 1st Separate Assault Battalion named after Dmytro Kotsiubailo and served in the Dyke Pole reconnaissance company. In September 2023, near Bakhmut, Tymur stepped on a landmine and lost his leg. 

After evacuation, treatment, and rehabilitation, he has been confidently using a prosthetic limb for eight months. He recently underwent another surgery and is currently continuing his recovery.

Tymur is available for interviews online or in-person in Zaporizhzhia, by prior arrangement. On August 24, he will participate in “MOVE ON SPORT: Sunset Swim”, a charity swimming event at a lake near Lviv.

• casualties
• military
• Lviv
• Zaporizhzhia

When russia launched its full-scale invasion, Nazar Bokii enlisted in the Ukrainian army. He served as an infantryman with the 135th Battalion before taking command of a UAV strike team.

In May 2025, a russian drone strike left him gravely wounded. The attack cost him both arms and an eye. Evacuated from the battlefield, he spent weeks in intensive care before beginning a long course of rehabilitation.

Today, Bokii is learning to use prosthetic limbs, supported every step of the way by his wife. He has also launched a blog, sharing his experiences of life after injury and the challenges of recovery.

Nazar Bokii is available for in-person or online conversations in Kyiv by prior arrangement.

• casualties
• military
• Kyiv

Kyrylo, 32, from Kryvyi Rih, and Svitlana, 27, from Zakarpattia, are both volunteers. They met during the first year of the full-scale invasion while traveling to a training ground. “She came up and asked if there was a seat on the bus. For a girl like that, there’s always a spot,” Kyrylo recalls about the beginning of their story.

Both ended up in the 63rd Separate Mechanized Brigade. She served as a combat medic, he as an infantry company commander. Together, they went through a lot — fighting in Mykolaiv, Kherson, and Donetsk oblasts. Kyrylo was on the front lines, while Svitlana was on combat duty and evacuations. That’s how they started dating.

The proposal also happened at the front — on the Lyman axis in 2023. Kyrylo decided there was no point waiting for the “right moment” because, in war, anything can happen. The couple got matching tattoos of the same yellow bus where they first met, with the inscription “Love your fate”. They got married and continued serving as a military couple.

Kyrylo suffered a severe injury this May in Donetsk oblast — he stepped on an explosive device and lost his left leg. Now, he is undergoing rehabilitation and prosthetic treatment at the UNBROKEN Center. For the past two months, he has been working with physical therapists, learning to use his new “iron leg”. After completing rehab, he dreams of starting a veteran-owned business with Svitlana.

• casualties
• military
• women
• Lviv

On August 29, the Day of Remembrance of the Defenders of Ukraine, the Illia Hrabar Charitable Foundation and the Memorial Platform will host the national event Table of Remembrance 2025.

The initiative calls on participants to set aside a single table in a public venue or institution and keep it unoccupied for the entire day, symbolically awaiting an honored guest who will never arrive. Last year, more than 800 establishments across Ukraine took part, along with venues abroad.

This year, organizers are inviting participation from a broad range of institutions, including:

– restaurants, cafés, coffee shops, and other dining establishments

– military units

– schools, universities, bookstores, and libraries

The Table of Remembrance campaign was first organized in 2023 by Mariia Hrabar, in memory of her partner, Illia Hrabar, who was killed in combat, and in tribute to all Ukrainians who have died defending their country. In 2024, the Illia Hrabar Foundation joined with the Memorial Platform to expand the project nationwide.

Journalists can arrange interviews in Kyiv with Mariia Hrabar, as well as with participants involved in this year’s commemoration.

The Illia Hrabar Charitable Foundation was established to honor the legacy of its namesake, a fallen defender of Ukraine. The foundation supports children’s development, sponsors sports organizations and competitions, and assists community groups caring for children with serious illnesses.

Illia Hrabar was born in the village of Kapulivka in the Dnipro region. He studied in Lithuania and graduated from the Kharkiv State Academy of Design and Arts before building a career as a sound producer in the Kyiv region. At the start of russia’s full-scale invasion, he joined the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He was killed in action near Bakhmut, Donetsk region, on December 24, 2022, at the age of 33.

The Memorial Platform, a non-governmental organization, works to foster a culture of remembrance in Ukraine by preserving the stories of fallen defenders and civilians killed in the war.

• culture
• dead
• military
• Kyiv

Mac Hughes, a Canadian from Calgary, arrived in Ukraine with his father, Paul Hughes, shortly after the start of the full-scale russian invasion. The pair began volunteering and founding a Kharkiv-based NGO called H.U.G.S. – Helping Ukraine – Grassroots Support.

Over the next three years, father and son evacuated civilians from frontline towns, repaired military vehicles, and delivered humanitarian aid to communities under fire. Mac spent more than eight months in the Kherson region, providing critical supplies to residents in need.

In March 2024, Mac enlisted in the Ukrainian army, serving alongside Ukrainian soldiers in their war against russian invaders with his unit in the Zaporizhia sector. Four months later, in July 2025, he sustained severe injuries when 30% of his body was burned. Following the evacuation, he was treated in four different hospitals and is now recovering in Kyiv, where Paul continues to care for him.

Mac and Paul are available for interviews in Kyiv, either in person or online, by prior arrangement.

• casualties
• military
• volunteers
• Kyiv