Themes by tag: military

Before the full-blown war came about, Mykola Melnyk and his spouse were developing their own business to run in Kharkiv: they bought a car wash and opened a cafe nearby.

With the onset of the full-scale invasion, Mykola brought his wife to safety, taking her to his relatives in the Poltava region, while he himself went to the military enlistment office. In the Kupiansk direction, during the storming of a village, Mykola hit an anti-personnel mine. His injury was serious. After receiving serious injuries that kept him from joining the military, despite trying to get back to fighting, the man had to readjust to living as a civilian. A grant from the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation helped him in this matter. Mykola started his own car wash again, including purchasing new equipment for it, and also bought a tire changing machine and tools. His business provides free services for veterans. 

• casualties
• military

Before the full-blown invasion outbreak, Andrii Kopytsia was in no way connected with medicine aside from having first aid care certification. The man ran a cafe he started in Zatoka, Odesa Oblast, and never thought first aid course knowledge would ever come in handy. However, on February 26, 2022, Andrii mobilized and went off to war. The soldier joined a unit that needed an army medic.

Later, the soldier was given the “Lifesaving Award” from the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. After he became a third-time father, Andrii resigned from the service. Andrii’s cafe in Zatoka had to be closed as a result of a Russian munition landing near it. So the man decided to open a new place, this time in Odesa. Andrii put up the money he had earned while he was at war. Later, he applied for a state microgrant program for combatants and won it, but has not yet used the state funds. His “Unbreakable Coffee Shop” has already opened its doors to visitors, and anyone can buy a drink for the military so that they can also support those who are defending the country at the front.

• doctors
• food
• military
• Odesa

In May, the Veteran Hub team presented the Resex project. It involves a study and a platform that helps wounded warriors return to sex life and relationships. The project was inspired by a guide for wounded veterans by Catharine Ellis, an American writer, rehabilitation specialist, and a therapist. Veteran Hub conducted a study to understand the positive experiences and potential barriers to returning to sex and intimacy after injury and trauma for both men and women. The team collected information about how combat experience and physical injuries affect intimate life, what changes in sex can happen to soldiers and how to accept a new self. After that, together with specialists – urologists, psychologists and rehabilitation specialists, the team developed practical recommendations for various injuries and collected them in Liubys (Make Love) manual.

The main goal of the Resex project is to show that the return to sex after injury is different for everyone and each situation is unique. But the main thing to understand is that everyone needs to experience, feel and enjoy sex regardless of the injury.

• casualties
• military

Olena Vovk started volunteering for the military back in 2014, when russia first attacked Ukraine in the East. The woman participated in many projects aimed at the rehabilitation of servicemen of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. And in 2023, she independently took up the efforts to help the veterans to return to civilian life. Olena is a tattoo artist by profession, so she started teaching soldiers her craft. This idea came to Olena from one of her military clients who wanted to master a new profession.

Together with “Kharkiv with you” Charity Foundation and “RAZOM FOR UKRAINE” Charity Foundation, the woman started a tattoo training course for servicemen and veterans in Kharkiv. Charity foundations helped with funding, purchased equipment and consumables for training, as well as tattoo machines for the military.

Olena plans to expand the course next year and conduct training in different cities of Ukraine. In particular, she will train military personnel with leg amputations. There are also plans to help former fighters get employed in tattoo parlors.

• military
• volunteers

Olha Yehorova joined the Defense Forces in the summer of 2022. The woman says that she could not understand how it was possible to return to civilian life with a large part of Ukraine under occupation. So Olha turned to one of the centers of the Special Operations Forces and became a clerk. The woman wanted to prepare herself for further transition to a combat group, so she attended various specialized classes.

In the end, the military woman and her comrades managed to get into the sniper platoon, where the commander did not care about the soldiers’ gender and required everyone to work hard and learn to wield weapons skillfully. Currently, Olha is responsible for communications in her platoon. It is her job to ensure communication between the command and the soldiers.

For reference: Olha Yehorova is on the front line. The military servicewoman is ready to communicate with journalists, both online and offline, by prior arrangement.

• military
• women

Serhii Sidorov was 22 years old when he got into a terrible car wreck. Due to injuries, the man was paralyzed, and he also lost his sight: he could only tell the difference between night and day. Professional massage helped Serhii to recover: the man began to move again and learn to walk again. Later, he himself became interested in massage, which brought him back to life. Serhii graduated and started helping patients in the capital 8 years ago.

With the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Serhii looked for an opportunity to help the military, because due to the injury he had suffered, he could not join the army himself. The man posted on social media calling on the military to contact him for free massage and rehabilitation. Since then, Serhii has helped more than 30 defenders.

• casualties
• military
• volunteers

On December 10, in Kyiv, Plast will hold the first official event in Ukraine to transfer the Light of Bethlehem to the military, civil and volunteer organizations. In particular, representatives of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, “Come back Alive” Foundation, the Serhiy Prytula Foundation, BUR, ULA and many others will receive a lamp with the Light from the Holy Land.

Plast scouts will receive a lamp with the Light of Bethlehem at a traditional scouting ceremony in Vienna on the morning of December 10 and will immediately take it to Kyiv. The event in the capital will begin with a marathon of good deeds for the military. Plast scouts and guests will make trench candles, helmets, bracelets and letters. Then this winter’s first official transfer of the Peace Light of Bethlehem in Ukraine will begin: Plast will share the Light with everyone present.

Later, through Ukrzaliznytsia, it will be distributed to all corners of the country. Lamps will also be delivered for defenders at the front lines.

Background: Plast has been participating in the “scout relay” of the Bethlehem Light for more than 30 years.

• culture
• military
• religion
• volunteers

Valentyna Makarenko is a military servicewoman, a machine gunner and a musician. The woman joined the ranks of the Defense Forces after her father, Vitalii Filipov, callsign “Paton,” was killed in the fall of 2022 in Kharkiv region.

The woman decided that his death should not be in vain. Valentyna joined the army in the same military registration and enlistment office, where the documents confirming her father’s death were processed. Valentyna got the position of a machine gunner, and now she wants to retrain to be a combat medic, because she wants to save the lives of Ukrainian defenders. As of now, the military woman completed training in Chernihiv oblast and joined the fourth separate tank brigade. After the war ends, Valentyna dreams of returning to music.

For reference: Valentyna Makarenko is on the front line. The soldier is ready to communicate with journalists online.

• military
• women

Mykhailo Oliinyk is a composer, pianist, and music producer. He was mobilized into the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the 59th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade named after Yakiv Handziuk in April 2023. Mykhailo is a member of the Cultural Forces Public Organization, which provides emotional and psychological support to defenders on the front line. He got a call sign “Pianist”. 

Recently, the man put out a record of “A Moment” piano pieces composed at the front line. This music has already been performed hundreds of times in forestation areas, destroyed buildings, fields, hospitals, and impromptu concert venues for the defenders. The album includes seven compositions: “Donbas”, “Huliaipole”, “Prayer for Brothers-in-Arms”, “Water Dance”, “Music Box”, “Peach Sky”, and “Ukrainian Sky”.

As a member of the Cultural Forces Public Organization Mykhailo plays several concerts every day at the front line.

By prior arrangement, journalists are welcome to talk to Mykhailo online or offline.

For reference: Mykhailo Oliinyk is a graduate of the Kyiv Municipal Academy of Music named after R. Glier and the Mykola Lysenko Lviv National Music Academy. In the civilian world, he creates music for artists and businesses. He is a coach for young musicians and a lecturer on copyright issues.

• culture
• military

Andrii Maksymchuk mobilized on the second day of the full-scale Russian invasion. A military unit, where the soldier served as a member, was the first to begin a push to regain territory of the Chornobyl zone during the liberation of the Kyiv region. Later, he took part in the operations at the country’s embattled east in the Izium and Bakhmut directions, and now he fights in the Zaporizha direction.

Andrii wrote a children’s poem in his spare time. He dedicated the lines written in the trenches to his young sons. The youngest of them, Myroslav, is fond of dragons and magical creatures and asked his father to create a book about them. The work on the poem lasted 7 months, in between battles. Andrii completed the work in the Izium region and titled it “Traveling in Ukraine and the Magic Dragon”. Andrii’s comrades-in-arms were the first to read the children’s book, and his friends helped with illustrations and raising funds for the first thousand copies.

Today, they have managed to sell 3000 copies of the book, all the proceeds will be directed to support the 132nd separate reconnaissance battalion of the airborne assault troops, where Andrii Maksymchuk serves. The money has already been used to buy drones, and armor and cover military medical care needs. 

• children
• culture
• military