Themes by tag: military

Oleksii Prytula is a veterinarian from Odesa. During the full-scale invasion, he decided to join the defense of the country. In September 2022, he was seriously injured and lost both legs. Despite this adversity, he returned to work.

The man received prostheses and underwent rehabilitation at the Superhumans Center in Lviv. The veteran’s employer arranged a special workplace for him. So Oleksii can resume his work treating his four-legged patients.

• animals
• casualties
• doctors
• military
• Odesa

Andrii Tkachuk comes from Zakarpattia region. The man devoted his life to sports, in particular, to running and trail running (cross-country and off-road running). Andrii holds Ukraine’s 24- and 48-hour running record. He also participated in European and world championships. Andrii holds the title of master of sports in athletics.

He joined the Defense Forces in 2014 when russia attacked Ukraine for the first time. Later, he got discharged and returned to sports. However, when the full-scale invasion began, Andrii joined the army again. As part of the 128th Mountain Assault Brigade, he fought in the South and received shrapnel wounds in the shoulder and forearm. After treatment, he was transferred to the Carpathian Sich battalion.

Andrii was diagnosed with a heart defect, so he had to undergo a surgery. Afterwards, the veteran returned to training. In December 2023, he became the bronze medalist of the IAU 24 Hour World Running Championship, which took place in the Taiwanese city of Taipei. The athlete ran more than 284 kilometers in one day.

• military

On January 27, an exhibition titled “UKRAINE WAITS FOR ITS HEROES” dedicated to sharing the stories of Mariupol defenders will open in Dnipro. This first-ever exhibition recounts the heroic deeds of the soldiers of the ‘Mariupol’ garrison, aiming to draw attention to the abhorrent detention conditions of Ukrainian prisoners of war who have been held in enemy dungeons for over 1.5 years, will open its doors in Dnipro. 

At the exhibition opening, journalists will have the opportunity to talk to family members and friends of the prisoners of war.

For reference: Every week, families of POWs, those dead or missing and veterans who have survived the hell of captivity themselves gather at peaceful rallies all across Ukraine cities to remind and raise awareness of Ukrainian service members who are in Russian prisons.

The defense of Mariupol lasted for 86 days. A military command order has been given to Ukrainian defenders to “stop defending” the city, leave the Azovstal steel plant, and surrender to the enemy. On May 20, 2022, Mariupol came under Russian occupation.

• military
• prisoners
• Dnipro

Since 2020, Vladyslav “Samurai” Yeshchenko has been engaged in humanitarian demining. The man dealt with defusing mines in eastern Ukraine. In the wake of Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine, Vladyslav mobilized and took up the position of sapper. In August 2022, the soldier was blown up when performing a combat mission, Vladyslav survived 84 mine explosions. The man fell into a coma and lost his eyesight and partially his hearing. However, despite his severe injury, Vladyslav did not give up: he underwent a rehabilitation program, got married, and founded the “Let’s See the Victory” charity organization. Vladyslav supports other soldiers who have suffered eye injuries. In addition, the charity launched an educational project for school students called Phoenix Visual Rehabilitation out of the Darkness. Together with his wife, the soldier visits educational institutions to give practical classes on accompanying the blind and visually impaired. Vladyslav has already visited three schools in Kyiv and taught classes for 170 students.

• casualties
• military

Pavlo Sakhno has been doing pottery for more than 13 years. He opened his own workshop and participated in various festivals both abroad and in Ukraine. With the beginning of the full-scale war, the man volunteered for the army. At first he joined the territorial defense forces and defended Kyiv region. Then he went to Kharkiv region, where Pavlo fought as part of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. In order to distract himself from the constant shelling on the front line, Pavlo decided to try carving spoons. The military man ordered special tools and also read up on this craft.

The man gave his first spoons to his brothers in arms, and then orders started coming in from other soldiers and civilians. Pavlo makes five to eight spoons per month, sells most of them, and donates the money to the unit in which he serves. The serviceman calls it “dugout art” and says the process helps him stay in touch with civilian life.

For reference: Pavlo Sakhno is on the front line. The soldier is ready to communicate with journalists, both online and offline, by prior arrangement.

• military

On January 20, Lviv will host a presentation of the Pokrova Lviv AMP club soccer. Its players are Ukrainian war amputees. 

A team of 14 members has an athletic field training twice a week. 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.

During the event, the team will tell more about the team’s participation in this year’s international championship. The journalists can also talk to the players and coach Bohdan Melnyk.

• casualties
• military
• Lviv

On January 22, the exhibition “Dali: I Will Take My Life Back” will open in Kyin. It is dedicated to the memory of the poet and soldier Maksym “Dali” Kryvtsov.

The exhibition will feature 24 photographs by Maksym Kryvtsov with his poems. The official opening will be timed to the poet’s birthday (January 22). During the event, everyone will be able to listen to poetry from Kryvtsov’s collection “Poems from the Gun Slits,” which will be read by Maksym’s friends and relatives.

All works, as well as postcards with illustrations by Ukrainian artists, will be available for purchase. The proceeds from the sales will be donated to preserve the memory of Maksym Kryvtsov.

For reference: A machine gunner, poet and photographer, Maksym “Dali” Kryvtsov died on the front line on January 7 at the age of 33. On January 11, Ukrainians paid tribute to Maksym in Kyiv, and the soldier was buried in his native Rivne on January 12.

Maksym Kryvtsov participated in the Revolution of Dignity in 2013–2014, and joined the ranks of the Armed Forces as a volunteer in 2014. When the kremlin launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Kryvtsov volunteered to fight again. 

• culture
• dead
• military
• Kyiv

“The Superhumans Center” (a state-of-the-art center specializing in advanced rehabilitation and prosthetic services for war victims and amputees) assists patients with job opportunities. They have developed a program to help people with prosthetic devices find jobs (currently, they offer about 230 positions).

For example, agricultural companies, restaurants, and IT careers are those businesses hiring veterans most of all. 

Recently, one of the Center’s patients (a civilian with an upper limb prosthetic) got employment in catering.

Journalists can learn more about this program and talk to the participants who have been helped to find a job, wherever possible.

• casualties
• military
• Lviv

As a civilian, Olha Rukavishnikova is a violinist. She started music education at the age of four and in the eighth grade, she took up conducting and performed in particular at the Mykolaiv Regional Philharmonic and the Kyiv Conservatory Great Hall. On February 24, 2022, at 8 a.m., Olha was standing ready at the local military registration and enlistment offices. She was issued a firearm by the evening of that day and used it for the first time against the enemy the next day. Now Olha is fighting in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, her main weapon is a hand-held RPG-7 anti-tank grenade launcher, but she also works with a sniper rifle, an automatic easel grenade launcher, a machine gun, and a mortar.

During one of her combat missions, Olha sustained a blast injury to her cervical vertebrae. This exposure to an explosion also resulted in eye loss. Despite this, she refused to be discharged from military service. Now she is performing active military duty at the front line area again.

The servicewoman is ready to talk to the media online by prior arrangement.

• culture
• military
• women

Artur Bukevych has spent almost all his life at a hair salon, at first, as his mother used to bring her kid to a place she’d been doing her job as a hairdresser and then as he started his first barbershop in Khmelnytskyi.

In 2023, an acquaintance invited Artur to give a cut and a face shave to the military personnel at the front. Since then, the barber has been visiting the military at the front every month for frequent services. It takes him about 20 hours to cater, so he stays with the military for several days to refresh the haircut for as many soldiers as possible. In addition to haircuts, Arthur says he creates relaxing grooming sessions for the soldiers: the place where he works smells of lavender and plays music.

The barber shop Arthur opened in Khmelnytskyi is running. The business donates its income to the military. In particular, before the New Year, the barber bought and brought a Starlink satellite system to the front line for military use.

• military
• volunteers