Themes by tag: military

Oleh Andriienko was seriously wounded during the defense of Kyiv in the spring of last year — the man came under enemy airstrikes. Oleh spent five days fighting for his life in Makariv under constant russian airstrikes. Later, he was evacuated to a safe place, but it was not possible to save his leg. Then the veteran received a prosthesis. Oleh says that his relatives, especially his daughters, helped him to cope with the injury, because he had no right “to come apart” in front of them.

Today, with his own example the man inspires other veterans who had also been injured. Oleh coordinates the “Active Parks” project, which was created so that military personnel could find some psycho-emotional relief. In the future, Oleh plans to take up extreme sports such as rope jumping and take part in the Invictus Games.

• casualties
• military
• psychological support

Ivanna Slobodyanyuk worked as a journalist, project author, and TV host for 10 years. During the full-scale invasion, she covered Russian crimes in foreign media outlets and began documenting the war traveling to the East after the loss of her friend. Ivanna decided to make a film in honor of her friend, an aerial reconnaissance man Felix Kurtanych, who died in April 2022, 

The historical-documentary film “Felix” tells the story of a Ukrainian hero and includes references to Ukraine’s way to independence. The film presents key events that make the audience reflect on the price the nation paid for its independence through the centuries and continues to defend it to this day.

The film was funded by Ivanna as a director and supported by donations from the military and compassionate individuals. The entire team worked voluntarily.

The movie will be presented in Lviv on August 10, Ivano-Frankivsk on August 11, Kolomyya on August 12, and in Austria on August 25. The proceeds from the film’s screening will be donated to the needs of the army.

Reference: Felix Kurtanych defended Ukraine in 2014. After two years, he left the service. With the beginning of the full-scale war, he defended Kyiv Oblast and later fought in the East of the country. The young man saved his comrades and was posthumously awarded the Order of Courage, Third Class.

It was he who flew a drone with an ad stating Garage for sale in Kyiv’s Solomianskyi district with the phone number of the former Russian embassy in Ukraine, which intruded into the Reuters’ live broadcast from Kyiv’s Maidan Square on February 16, 2022.

• culture
• dead
• military
• volunteers
• Ivano-Frankivsk
• Lviv

On August 1, the Media Center Ukraine – Ukrinform will host a presentation of a study entitled “Veterans’ Needs and Barriers to Employment”

Analysts of the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation of the Ministry of Veterans conducted a thorough study, during which 475 employers were surveyed, and 10 in-depth interviews were conducted with Ukrainian business representatives and business leaders. The participants in the event will present the results of the study and discuss the needs and problems of veterans’ employment opportunities. 

Participants:

– Svitlana Kashenets, Deputy Minister for Veteran Affairs; 

– Ruslana Velychko-Trifonyuk, First Deputy Executive Director of the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation of the Ministry of Veterans Affairs;

– Yulya Kirillova, Head of the Department of Educational and Analytical Work of the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation;

– Olga Bandrivska, Coordinator of the Military Vacancies Department at Lobby X;

– Maksym Pylypenko, PR Director at Work.ua; 

– Vitalii Kucherenko, veteran employer, founder of the company for humanitarian demining of de-occupied territories;

Among other things, speakers will discuss whether veterans are supported and confident in future employment, how the state supports and provides opportunities for veterans to return to civilian life, and whether employers are willing to hire veterans. 

Event registration is required.

• military
• Kyiv

Vadym is 19 years old.  Before the all-out invasion, he worked as a director:  On February 23, 2022, he arrived in Lviv to approve the script and budget for a music video. However, in the first days of the invasion, Vadym mobilized to the 206th Battalion of Kyiv Territorial Defense. Later he was transferred to the 93rd separate mechanized brigade Kholodnyi Yar. As a member of this brigade, he performed the duties of a mortarman for six months, covering the infantry near Bakhmut. After getting wounded, he was later transferred to the Seneca special forces unit and began conducting aerial surveillance.  

The guy has a lot of videos of hits taken from a drone. Now Vadym is on vacation in Kyiv and is ready to talk to the media.

For reference: A while ago, the soldier created a Twitter account where he posted memes about the everyday life of a mortarman. While working with mortar launchers he mastered the drone flying, a Mavic 3, handed by volunteers.

• military

Valentyna has dreamed of becoming a soldier since she was a little girl. She looked up to her father, who has served in the Armed Forces since 2014. So she went to medical school and signed a contract with the 128th Combat Brigade in 2020. Valentyna became a combat medic and spent 9 months in the front-line trenches. During her service, she met her future husband, Dmytro. Together they faced the full-scale Russian invasion at a training ground in Dnipro. A few days later, they were transferred to Melitopol. Near Tokmak, an enemy shell hit the tank where Valentyna and Dmytro, and their comrades were. The comrades were killed on the spot, and Valentyna and her beloved were thrown away by the blast wave. Dmytro suffered a concussion but still managed to pull the girl away from the tank, stop the civilian car and bring Valentyna to the hospital, and her coma lasted 10 days. The soldier got a severe skull injury, a fractured pelvis, arm, and trachea. Valentyna underwent 15 surgeries, and now after rehabilitation can breathe on her own again. Dmytro proposed to his beloved right in the hospital. The man was given a military discharge so he could take care of his wife in the Lviv region.

• casualties
• military
• Lviv

On July 29 and 30, during “Kurazh” charity fair in Kyiv, everyone is welcome to play ping-pong with soldiers who were wounded at the front and received prostheses in Superhumans Center, the modern rehabilitation and prosthetics center for victims of war.

Visitors at the event will also be able to hold and even try on one of the prostheses in order to understand what Superhumans Center patients are dealing with and why quality rehabilitation is important to learn to live with a prosthesis.

• casualties
• doctors
• military
• Kyiv

In a training center in Kharkiv region, dogs are being trained to help to demine the Ukrainian lands. The project was launched by Anti-Terrorist Operation veteran and professional dog trainer Serhii Lukinov last November. The Ukrainian Veterans Fund helped with the funding. Currently, 5 German shepherds are being trained at the center. All of them are less than a year old. They are being taught to look for explosives.

For reference: Serhii has been working as a dog trainer for 37 years. In particular, in 2021, a man trained guide dogs. However, during russia’s full-scale invasion, Serhii once again volunteered to defend the country. The man is currently undergoing rehabilitation.

• animals
• military
• Kharkiv

On July 28, at 11:00 AM, Media Center Ukraine – Ukrinform will hold a briefing entitled “Olenivka: Impunity – Encouragement of Terrorism.”  One year ago, the russians committed a terrorist attack brutally murdering the unarmed and powerless defenders of Azovstal, who had been held captive for more than two months at that time. As a result of the barbaric crime, according to unconfirmed data, at least 53 Ukrainian defenders were killed

Participants:

– Nataliia Zarytska, Chair of the “Woman of Steel,” wife of a released from captivity soldier of the Azov Regiment;

– Nataliia Pashniuk-Pashnieva, the mother of the defender of Azovstal who died as a result of the terrorist attack;

– Mariia Alieksieievych, the wife of the wounded defender of Azovstal, injured as a result of the terrorist attack in Olenivka;

– Nelia Shastun, the mother of two soldiers of the Azov Regiment, the elder of whom died, and the second was captured after leaving Azovstal and kept in the Olenivka barracks during the terrorist attack;

– Mykyta Shastun, Azovstal defender released from captivity, who was kept in the Olenivka barracks during the terrorist attack;

– Oleksandr Zarutskyi, international lawyer;

Prior accreditation is required.

• casualties
• dead
• military
• prisoners
• russian crimes
• Kyiv

Oleksandr was 29 when he was wounded and lost his leg in 2014 at the front near Luhansk. What came next is amputation, a wheelchair and a prosthesis, which Oleksandr refused to wear, because he did not accept himself without a leg. The veteran began abusing alcohol and drugs.

In the end, the man managed to overcome his addictions. And after visiting the city of Lourdes in France, his panic attacks and terrible headaches disappeared. Oleksandr decided that such trips should be shared with other servicemen. The veteran posted an invitation on social media looking for those who would like to go and those who would help to pay for the trips. A sponsor was found quickly, and there were so many people willing to join the trip that he had to order a tourist bus for the servicemen. This is how the “Hero Bus” project came to be. Oleksandr has already lost count of how many military personnel he managed to show the miraculous springs of Lourdes, Krakow, the Louvre, how many people he took to the Red Sea so they could take a swim in it.

Since February 24, 2022, Oleksandr has taken only military personnel with amputation of one leg above the knee on his travels, because he has suffered the same kind of amputation, and the veteran knows exactly how to help these people.

• casualties
• military

Volodymyr became interested in pottery in his youth: he tried different techniques and learned from many masters. He had to quit doing it when Russia first attacked Ukraine in the east. Volodymyr mobilized in 2015, took up an anti-tank guided missile, and became an enemy of Russian tanks. After demobilization, he got back to his hobby of pottery. After February 24, 2022, Volodymyr began volunteering and helping Ukrainian defenders. In particular, he visited one of the capital’s hospitals to support the military and hold a pottery workshop for them. Today, the veteran and his wife conduct art therapy for the military in their workshop. They have enlisted the support of the Ukrainian Veterans Fund to scale up into a Pottery Art Center and create an art residence. They plan to take in more military personnel who need therapy.

• culture
• military
• psychological support
• volunteers