Themes by tag: military

On April 21, Lviv will host the Armor Fest charity festival to raise UAH 1 million. The funds will be spent on purchasing ultralight body armor plates for Ukrainian paramedics who save the lives of soldiers in the most challenging areas of the frontline. The festival is organized by the VETERANKA Women’s Veteran Movement, which assists the defenders of Ukraine and people affected by the Russian invasion.

• doctors
• military
• women
• Lviv

The Books to the Front project is a Ministry of Culture and Information Policy of Ukraine and the Cultural Forces Public Organization, headed by Ukrainian singer and soldier Kolya Sierga,  joint initiative. The project involves book collection and delivery for the military that are currently on the front line. The project aims to support Ukrainian defenders and provide them with an opportunity to distract themselves after a busy day of combat. Ukrainian bookstore retail chains have become partners of the initiative.

• culture
• military

The volunteer project “Marriage for a Hero” helps to organize turnkey weddings for soldiers. Previously, only soon-to-be newlyweds from Cherkasy region and Kyiv could apply for the service. Nowadays, the project has expanded to the whole country. Volunteers have already organized wedding celebrations in Odesa, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv and many other cities. The number of applications to the project has also increased significantly.

For reference: after russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Svitlana Olifer from Cherkasy, who has been involved in the wedding business for seven years, decided to organize the volunteer project “Marriage for a Hero”. The woman gathered a team of photographers, cameramen, make-up artists and florists who help to organize the celebration free of charge. Sometimes restaurants or caterers are ready to provide services on special terms. In general, newlyweds will have to spend money only on wedding clothes. Nowadays, caring Ukrainians also contribute to the project with donations.

• military
• volunteers

On March 22, at 3:00 PM, Media Center Ukraine will host a presentation of the Legal System Guide for Military Personnel developed by Human Rights Center for Military Personnel “Principle.” The legal system guide will be presented by the co-founder of “Principle,” lawyer and veteran Masi Nayyem, together with the Head of the organization Liubov Halan. Media representatives will also have the opportunity to talk with Mariia Kravchenko, Co-facilitator of the Military Medical Commission Volunteer Movement in Kyiv.

For reference: “Principle” is a non–governmental organization founded in 2023 to provide legal protection for military personnel, including those wounded in action. Masi Nayyem is a Ukrainian lawyer and human rights defender who protected Ukraine in the ranks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. On June 5, 2022, Nayyem suffered a severe head and eye injury, and has since undergone a number of surgeries and experienced firsthand the challenges that wounded veterans face.

• military
• Kyiv

ARTREHUB is a volunteer-based initiative that provides psychological rehabilitation to veterans. Art rehabilitation therapy sessions are held once a week at the military rehabilitation center near Kyiv. The ARTREHUB’s team has been working with veterans since 2017.

• military
• psychological support
• volunteers
• Kyiv

Journalists are invited to the handover ceremony of mobile bath and laundry facilities to two combat units of the Ground Forces.

These facilities enable the soldiers to take a hot shower, wash and dry their clothing, and rest after combat missions.

Within three weeks, Charitable Foundation “RIY” (Swarm) managed to collect funds and equip two bath and laundry facilities, which will be handed over to the army on March 17. The goal is to provide the army with at least 20 facilities this year.

Accreditation required.

• military

Five volunteers from Odesa, including welders, mechanics and electricians, assembled a military buggy. They developed the vehicle themselves, and even took some spare parts from a soviet car. They managed to assemble the buggy by themselves within one month. In the near future, defenders who shoot down enemy drones will be able to use it. And very soon volunteers will make another vehicle.

In addition, volunteers are making portable bathing facilities for the military, which will be also equipped with washing machines. There will even be a place to set up a barbershop in these facilities so that the military can shave and get a haircut.

Also, Odesa volunteers began making a mobile Invincibility Center out of a large bus.

• military
• volunteers
• Odesa

Priest Andriy Zelinskyy is one of the first military chaplains in Ukraine. In June 2014, he provided spiritual support to Ukrainian soldiers in the east of the country. In Kyiv, he visited the first wounded in the Central Military Hospital.

Currently, the Armed Forces of Ukraine is in need of hundreds of chaplains for the army. In October 2022, Ukraine even saw the creation of the Military Chaplaincy Service to organize the training of chaplains.

For reference: Military chaplains are priests who combine their ecclesiastical office with other activities. A citizen of Ukraine with a higher theological education who is a clergyman of a church or religious organization registered in Ukraine may become a chaplain. This person must also be authorized to act as a chaplain by their church.

• military
• religion

Soldiers of the ‘Seneca’ Special Forces unit, as a part of the 93rd separate mechanized brigade “Kholodnyi Yar”, have been defending Ukraine near Bakhmut for almost six months. ‘Seneca’ consists of more than 100 initiative volunteers engaged in aerial surveillance, dropping drone shells, working with ‘kamikaze’ drones, and wiretapping enemy radio stations.

‘Seneca’ is ready to share video footage of their work with journalists and, whenever possible, take the media with them on field trips.

• military

According to “Ukrainian Women Veteran Movement” NGO, paramedics wear over 31 kg worth of gear every day: body armor, helmet, backpack with medicine, tourniquets, bandages, etc. They need to move quickly, roll over or carry the wounded. Veterans know from their own experience that it is difficult and could lead to devastating consequences for the musculoskeletal system. Therefore, the NGO decided to make life easier for these women and purchase 50 ultra-light bulletproof vests. (The weight of such a vest is 2 kg on average, and a standard one is 7 kg or more).

For reference: “Ukrainian Women Veteran Movement” NGO is a community of Ukrainian women with military experience. The NGO takes care of about a thousand female veterans and recruits: from advocating for the rights of female defenders to providing ammunition, basic hygiene products, cars, medical supplies, and drones. The organization’s mission is to help build a professional army where equal rights for women and men are guaranteed.

• doctors
• military
• women