Themes by tag: military

The “Come Back Alive” Center for Initiatives invites journalists to cover Ukraine’s second national sitting volleyball championship. The event will feature two days of competitions and a variety of festival activities. The final matches between the top teams are scheduled for July 6.

Visitors will also have the opportunity to attend educational lectures on adaptive sports and veteran rehabilitation after injury. Organizers will give visitors the opportunity to try various adaptive sports, such as archery, table tennis, golf, rowing machines, and wakeboarding.

Prior registration is mandatory for all attendees.

• casualties
• military
• Kyiv

Originally from the Luhansk oblast, Eduard and Maryna Bykov met as students, got married, and later moved to Kyiv, where they had two daughters.

On February 24, 2022, Eduard woke Maryna with the news that war had begun. He decided to join the military and insisted that his wife and daughters evacuate abroad, where they lived for over two years.

On April 17, 2024, near Chasiv Yar, Eduard was severely wounded when a russian guided aerial bomb struck near their position. A phone call from Maryna likely saved his life – he stepped outside to talk while those who remained inside did not survive.

Eduard spent 15 days in a coma and lost an arm and a leg. Doctors are still trying to restore his sight. He faces multiple surgeries, prolonged rehabilitation, and prosthetic adaptation. Throughout this ordeal, Maryna has been his pillar of strength, supporting him every step of the way.

The Bykov family is available for online or offline meetings in Kyiv or Lviv by prior arrangement.

• military
• Kyiv

After russian forces took over Luhansk in 2014, Oleksandr Ivantsov left his hometown. In 2015, he joined the Azov Regiment and spent five years fighting in eastern Ukraine before being demobilized. When russia launched its full-scale invasion, Oleksandr was stationed near Africa, guarding ships against pirates. But just three weeks later, he flew to Mariupol on one of the helicopters that broke through to the city and made it to the Azovstal steel plant.

Once he arrived at Azovstal, Oleksandr told his wife about his choice to join the city’s defense.

The fight for Mariupol dragged on for 86 days, with Ukrainian soldiers holding out under constant fire, surviving almost without water, food, or crucial medical supplies for the wounded. On May 16, 2022, the defenders still holding Azovstal were ordered to surrender to save their lives. Oleksandr refused to give in to the russians and stayed inside the plant with his commander’s approval.

For seven days, he hid in one of the tunnels, with only a few supplies and a sleeping bag. After that, he gave up his weapon, changed into civilian clothes, and left the plant. For 18 days, Oleksandr traveled on foot, without any contact, until he reached territory controlled by the Ukrainian government. He lost 11 kilograms but managed to reunite with his family. Later, he returned to the front lines and now leads a team of attack drones in the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade. In June 2025, Oleksandr was honored with the title Hero of Ukraine.

Oleksandr Ivantsov is available for interviews online and in person in the Kharkiv region by prior arrangement through the press officer.

• military
• Mariupol

Nestor was only 15 years old when russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Then a 10th-grade student, he already knew he wanted to join the fight as soon as he was old enough.

His family intervened when he first tried to enlist, taking his passport and sending him to western Ukraine’s Khmelnytskyi region in hopes of keeping him safe. But once he turned 18, Nestor signed a contract with the 13th Khartiia Brigade of the Nationsl Guard of Ukraine, completed basic training, and joined the infantry.

Now, with the call sign that nods to the famed Ukrainian anarchist Nestor Makhno, the young soldier is part of Ukraine’s next generation of defenders, adapting to modern warfare as a UAV specialist, conducting reconnaissance and striking enemy positions from behind the controls.

Interviews with Nestor are possible both in person and online, with prior coordination and approval from a press officer.

• military

Kariakin was just 17 when russian-backed forces seized his hometown of Kadiivka, formerly known as Stakhanov, in Ukraine’s Luhansk region in 2014. While most of the world’s attention had shifted elsewhere, Artem began documenting life under occupation on an anonymous Twitter account. He posted maps showing the location of russian forces, tracked their movements, and shared dispatches from behind enemy lines. Eventually, his work caught the attention of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and he began secretly collaborating with the military.

For years, Kariakin led a double life. He avoided friendships, shut himself off from romance, and trusted no one. “Anyone could report me to the occupiers,” he said.

The losses mounted. In 2020, his mother passed away. The following year, he lost both his grandmother and father. With his immediate family gone, Artem moved to Kyiv, hoping for a fresh start. But his time in the capital was short-lived. When russia unleashed an all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Kariakin joined the Territorial Defense Forces just weeks later. By June, he was fighting near Bakhmut, one of the war’s fiercest battlegrounds.

Now serving officially in Ukraine’s military, Artem continues gathering intelligence from occupied territories, a task he once carried out in secret. He receives data from spotters and artillery correctors working in the field. critical information that helps the Armed Forces target russian positions.

In February 2023, after nine years of resistance, Kariakin made a bold decision: he revealed his identity publicly on social media. With that move, he launched a new campaign #FreeCivilResistance aimed at drawing attention to Ukrainian civilians imprisoned by russian forces. He added that this cause is deeply personal to him because he knows people who have been thrown into russian prisons.

Artem Kariakin remains stationed near the front lines and continues to serve actively. He is available to speak with journalists, online and in person by prior arrangement.

• military
• occupation

Before the full-scale invasion, Chaika had no military experience. In 2019, she married an officer of the 12th “Azov” National Guard Brigade. The couple split time between Mariupol and Zaporizhia. Just before the full-scale war began, Chaika was about to travel to Mariupol, but her husband forbade it. Her beloved, whose callsign was Buinyi, died defending the city.

A year and a half after this loss, she began dating another soldier. His death in 2024 marked the end of Chaika’s civilian life.

Joining the army became her way of fighting back against the enemy for all the pain she endured. She joined the “Stryzh” unit of the Ukrainian Volunteer Army and now serves as a drone operator. Although she dreams of starting a family and having children, she says that will only happen after victory.

Chaika is available for online/offline meetings in Zaporizhia by prior arrangement.

• military
• women

When russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Olha and her daughter Mariia had already taken very different paths, one in healthcare, the other in military training. Two years later, they serve together in the same unit of the National Guard.

Mariia, originally from Lysychansk in Ukraine’s Luhansk region, entered the National Guard Academy in Kharkiv in 2020. After the war began, her family evacuated to Dnipro. Her mother, Olha, who had worked for more than 20 years as a nurse in a maternity ward in Lysychansk, found a new job at a private clinic.

Soon after, Olha saw a recruitment ad calling for volunteers to join the Ukrainian military. Encouraged by her daughter, she applied to the 13th Khartiia Brigade of the National Guard. After graduating from the academy, Mariia joined the same unit. Today, Olha serves as a junior sergeant and nurse in a mobile dental clinic. Mariia is an officer in the brigade’s personnel department.

At home, the two women are supported by Mariia’s father, a retired State Emergency Service officer with more than 30 years of service. Her older brother serves in the Armed Forces as a combat medic.

For reference: russian forces occupied Lysychansk on July 3, 2022, after Ukrainian troops were ordered to withdraw. According to the Luhansk regional governor at the time, the retreat was conducted without casualties.

Interviews with Mariia and Olha are available online or in person by prior arrangement with a press officer.

• military
• women

On June 28, the Lviv oblast will host an adaptive CrossFit competition for wounded soldiers, veterans, amputees, and people with disabilities in wheelchairs. These competitions have become a crucial step in the rehabilitation and social reintegration of our heroes.

The competition will be attended by 25 adaptive athletes from all over Ukraine – veterans and active military personnel who were injured while defending their homeland, underwent treatment and continue their rehabilitation.

Registration is required (the exact location will be shared after sign-up). Registered media representatives will be provided with transportation from Lviv.

Background: The event is organized by the ‘Games of Heroes’ NGO and the Charitable Foundation ‘Kharkiv with You’ with the support of the King Baudouin Foundation (Belgium).

The competition’s history dates back to 2015, when the psychological rehabilitation of severely wounded soldiers first became a pressing issue following russia’s aggression in 2014. The growing number of wounded required not only medical and psychological support but also active efforts to help them reintegrate into society and return to an active life.

• casualties
• culture
• military
• Lviv

YOUkraine Hub is a support space for military personnel released from captivity, initiated by former prisoners of war themselves. It hosts meetings and peer-to-peer support sessions built on trust and mutual understanding. The goal is to create a safe environment and assist our Heroes in adapting to civilian life.

The hub provides free services, including medical, legal, social, and psychological support, as well as organizing off-site events.

YOUkraine Hub invites foreign media to collaborate in order to draw the international community’s attention to the severe physical and psychological consequences of captivity, and the need for systemic support for soldiers who have already been liberated. The hub also aims to raise global awareness of the ongoing situation and help free those still held captive.

Journalists can arrange to speak with hub representatives in Kyiv and, when possible, with defenders who have returned from captivity.

• military
• prisoners
• Kyiv

Born in Mariupol, 22-year-old Illia Iliashenko graduated from a nautical lyceum and enlisted in the 23rd Marine Guard Detachment of Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service. From the earliest days of russia’s full-scale invasion, Illia and his comrades worked to repel enemy forces from the sea.

When his ship docked in Mariupol and the commander called for volunteers to reinforce ground positions, Illia stepped forward. He transitioned from a naval gunner to a machine gunner on land. Later, he was ordered to move to Azovstal in what became a special operation, his unit was already encircled. Illia recalls enduring “hell” on the way to the steel plant.

In May 2022, alongside other defenders of Azovstal, he was captured by russian forces after the Ukrainian military command ordered a surrender. Initially, he was held in the notorious Olenivka prison in the occupied Donetsk region and later transferred to Taganrog, russia. It was there that Illia “celebrated” his birthday, in captivity.

He spent 10 months as a prisoner of war. Illia only realized he was being exchanged when he heard Ukrainian spoken on the bus transporting him. The date was February 16, 2023.

After his release, he underwent rehabilitation and began writing a book about the defense of Mariupol. Due to health reasons, Illia was discharged from military service. He now works at the YOUkraine Hub, a support center for former POWs, where he helps fellow soldiers navigate their recovery.

Illia Iliashenko is based in Kyiv and available for interviews, online and in person, by prior arrangement.

• military
• prisoners
• Kyiv