Themes by tag: military

In January 2015, during fierce fighting that flared near the Donetsk airport, Bohdan Pantiushenko, a soldier of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, was taken prisoner by Russia. It took five years to bring Bohdan home. He was freed from captivity in a prisoner exchange on December 29, 2019. Today, together with his wife Victoriia, Bohdan has started his own business, namely a family-friendly cafe in the Kyiv region. A couple, raising a little boy, decided to design a kids’ space in their restaurant, as well as a number of dining options for children. 

At first, Bohdan planned to invest only his own assets, but then he learned about the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation support program for veterans. So the serviceman applied for a business grant and got almost three million hryvnias for the project launch. Bohdan and his wife hope the cafe will open its doors to visitors in the spring of 2024.

• military
• prisoners
• Kyiv

Until the full-blown war, Petro worked as a pastry chef in Odesa, making chocolate and making a variety of desserts. Before the all-out invasion, the man did not even think about serving in the army. But on February 24, 2022, Petro was one of the first to arrive at the military registration and enlistment office. He did not manage to join the Defense Forces, so immediately, but after a few tries he did enter the ranks. He took up combat medic specialist duties.

According to Petro, most of his colleagues adequately responded to his sexual orientation. The soldier dreams of statewide legal recognition so Ukraine will eventually adopt a law on civil union so he can start a family without being afraid of public condemnation.

For reference: Petro is currently in hospital in Odesa. He is ready to talk to journalists, both online and offline, by prior arrangement.

• military
• LGBT

Mariia Volia was born and raised in Mariupol, a city in the south of Ukraine that was destroyed and occupied by the russians last spring. The girl joined the ranks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in 2015. She wanted to defend the country after the first russian attacks on Mariupol. Currently, Mariia Volia is a mortar commander at the front.

Before the occupation of her hometown, the girl had been hiding her orientation. However, after she was wounded in Mariupol, and later escaped from the russian encirclement, Mariia opened up to her brothers in arms. Currently, the commander of the mortar unit hopes that civil partnerships will be legalized in Ukraine, because in the future she wants to get married with her partner.

• military
• women
• LGBT

Photographer Uliana Sidletska, together with makeup artist and stylist Victoria Sanatos, conducts photoshoots for women. They say that they work on the inner state of women. In particular, they help them break free from insecurity and see themselves differently, during photo sessions. 

Two months ago, a woman who had lost her husband in the war came to have some snapshots. After she posted the photos on social media, she faced judgment from people blaming her for inappropriate behavior as a widow doing a photoshoot. Then, to support other wives of fallen Ukrainian heroes, Viktoria and Uliana came up with the idea to create the photo project “I AM A WOMAN” aiming to manifest that women should never forget about themselves. Uliana and Viktoria take photos of fallen heroes’ wives free of charge.

Eight women have already taken part in the photo project. According to the organizers, while posing for photos, women are starting to unfold themselves: they talk about themselves, recall their dreams, and some even say that they have realized something they have been putting off for a long time.

The “I AM A WOMAN” photo project exhibition will open on December 17. The project applications are accepted from other country regions.

• culture
• dead
• military
• women
• Vinnytsia

Oleksandr Markov is a board-certified neurosurgeon. In 2015, he took up arms and joined a volunteer battalion. After returning from the front, Oleksandr took on rehabilitating civilians and soldiers at first, as a hired employee, and after 2022, as the founder of a rehabilitation center in Kharkiv. Oleksandr won a grant and received financial support from the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation and started working with military personnel who required his professional help.

• casualties
• doctors
• military

Born in Odesa, Hennadii immigrated to Israel with his family at the age of 13. There he got an education. As an adult, he worked as a truck driver.

When he learned about the full-scale invasion of Russia, he decided to return to Ukraine and protect his country. He served in the Third Separate Special Forces Battalion of the International Defense Legion of Ukraine. In December 2022, during an assault on an enemy position in the Luhansk region, the soldier stepped on a landmine. He lost an eye and two legs in the explosion.

The man was offered to go abroad for treatment, but he did not want to leave Ukraine.

Soon, journalists are welcome to talk to Hennadii in Lviv.

• casualties
• military
• Lviv

From now on, Ukrainian servicemen can join training sessions from anywhere in the country. All this is part of the online training project from the organizers of the Games of Heroes competition. The online platform of rehabilitation training was launched in September of this year. This is a unique system of exercises developed by coaches Julia Koval and Valerii Kysil, which aims to rehabilitate military personnel with amputations and return them to a full life.

For reference: The “Game of Heroes” competition was first started in 2016. The project was founded by Yevhen Koval, and headed by Roman Lindov, a Kyiv native who was injured on February 18, 2014, during the Revolution of Dignity. The “Games of Heroes” were held annually until February 2022, in particular, among veterans of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the National Guard, and the Border Guard Troops. 

• casualties
• military

Yurii Zdor took up arms back in 2015, when Russia first attacked Ukraine. For the man, it seemed the only logical decision to make. He fought in different brigades and completed his military service as the 72nd Brigade named after the Black Cossacks member. The fighter was on standby when the full-scale invasion broke out, he has packed up all his belongings. Yurii’s wife Svitlana stayed at home in Chernihiv, and her husband went to Kyiv.

Yurii and his unit took part in heavy battles in Kyiv, Chernihiv, Donetsk and Luhansk regions. He was seriously wounded and lost his leg while fighting in eastern Ukraine. Yurii’s spouse says that waiting for her husband for stabilization point discharge was the hardest part, then she found he was getting treatment from the intensive care unit and never left him.

Yurii and Svitlana reside in Chernihiv. They are ready to talk to journalists, both offline and online.

• casualties
• military
• Chernihiv

Serhii is a fighter of the 128th Mountain Assault Brigade “Zakarpattia.” In the early 1990s, the man served on the famous cruiser “Moskva” (at that time, there were negotiations on dividing the Black Sea Fleet between Ukraine and russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union). In April 2022, “Moskva” was sunk by the Ukrainian military. “If I could, I would have helped sink it himself,” Serhii says about the destruction of the cruiser.

With the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Serhii was determined to join the fleet, however, he was mobilized to the 128th Mountain Assault Brigade. The man received the call sign “Combiner,” because in civilian life he worked in the agricultural sector. Currently, Serhii commands a combat vehicle, he is a unit commander and holds the rank of junior sergeant, which he received after fierce battles in Zaporizhia region. His wife, two sons and a three-year-old daughter are waiting for him at home.

For reference: The serviceman is on the front line. He is open to be interviewed, both online and offline, by prior arrangement.

• military

Viktor Dudko, a potter, holds clay therapy sessions for defenders who were injured or wounded in the war. Sessions take place at a pottery school near Lutsk. They are free.

Soldiers work at the potter’s wheel and create plates, cups, glasses or vases. Defenders often dedicate clay objects that they create themselves to their loved ones and sign them with “for my beloved wife” or “for my daughter.”

Such clay therapy sessions have been taking place for almost a year. More than a hundred defenders visited it during this time. For a fee everyone is welcome to Viktor’s workshops in pottery. The potter then sends the funds to help the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Background: Potter Viktor Dudko became famous in Ukraine last year when he made two clay models of the russian cruiser “Moskva,” which was sunk by the Defense Forces of Ukraine.

• military
• volunteers
• Lutsk