Themes by tag: military

The Women of Steel NGO, together with the families of Ukrainian prisoners of war, invites the media to a peaceful action called Lost Connection to take place on December 10, in Kyiv. The event is aimed at supporting Ukrainian prisoners of war and their families.

“We want the Ukrainian government and society to hear us and demonstrate their intention to continue the decisive struggle for their liberation together with the families of Ukrainian captured defenders,” the organizers of the campaign state.

According to them, the exchange process has been completely paused for the past six months. Ukrainian soldiers held hostage in Russian custody are deprived of any chance to send word about themselves being in captivity.

Women of Steel is convinced that only the unity and integrity of society and increasing pressure on the aggressor state can influence the situation.

• military
• prisoners
• women
• Kyiv

Bozhena Hrynko pursued a dental specialty such as orthodontics, but she wasn’t committed to dentistry for long. Instead, she started her own business, dealing with recyclables. With the full-scale invasion outbreak, she moved her family to the Zhytomyr region, and after the de-occupation of Bucha and Irpin, she returned to the capital. Bozhena’s husband has been in the military since February 24, 2022, as he is a career soldier.

In the spring of 2022, Bozhena mobilized to the 44th Separate Rifle Battalion as the head of the medical service and medical center. On December 12, 2022, Bozhena got injured in the Donetsk region. She stayed four months in hospitals.

Bozhena and her husband bought a house in the Kharkiv region, where new homeowners settled with their daughter after her injury and rehabilitation. The military woman gives free lectures and practical classes on tactical medicine and handling explosive ordnance at the local lyceum. Next to the Bozhena housing, there is a vacant undeveloped land where she, her husband, and fellow soldiers plan to start a rehabilitation center for the military.

• doctors
• military
• volunteers
• women

On December 5, on Volunteering Day, journalists have the opportunity to visit the rapid response headquarters of the VETERANKA Women’s Veteran Movement. In particular, there will be a meeting with influencers, who constantly support the movement, as well as with defenders and famous Ukrainians.

In addition, the program includes: a tour of the headquarters featuring the explanation of the movement’s activities. Visitors can also try their hand weaving camouflage nets and kikimora camouflage suits, as well as sewing women’s military uniforms and putting together a package for the front.

For reference: The headquarters of the Women’s Veteran Movement is special in that it was created on the first day of the full-scale invasion. The movement successfully raised money to pay for 5,000 individual and collective requests from the front and IDP women. Their aid to the army is worth UAH 70 million (drones, cars, uniforms, body armor, etc.)

• military
• volunteers
• women
• Kyiv

Volunteer journalists, professional chess players and the VETERANKA movement decided to organize a charity fundraiser called “Well-Aimed Fundraiser” to help Ukrainian snipers. The purpose of the fundraiser is to buy additional ammunition for the military, as there is a constant shortage of it.

The fund raiser will feature a charity chess tournament, which the organizers dedicate to the memory of chess players-warriors who died in the russo-Ukrainian war. Some of them include: Artem Sachuk, Oleksandr Hoshylyk, Mykhailo Safonov, Roman Khytrych, Serhii Mazurov, Oleksii Druzhynets, Andrii Melnychuk, Roman Buzinskyi, Andrii Chepil, Oleksandr Brivko, Andrii Vovchenko, Heorhii Promskyi, Mykola Hapchyn (MIA).

The tournament will consist of two stages: online (December 3) and offline: super final (December 9, in Kyiv).

Special guests include: soldiers — Lesia Lytvynova and Yevhen Shybalov, journalist Andriy Kulykov, blogger Denys Kazansky, military officer and writer Mykhailo Brynykh.

The winner of the chess tournament will receive a custom-made cyberpunk themed chess set made by veteran artist Vitalii Bernatskyi. Parts of the russian Su-25 shot down in Kherson region in 2022 were used to make the chess set.

Journalists are welcome to learn more about the event and, in particular, cover the super final on December 9. 

• military
• volunteers
• Kyiv

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