Themes by tag: military

Viktoriia Kovach has been fighting since 2014, went to the front as a combat medic, and now heads the medical service of the 3rd separate assault brigade. Apart from active duty, Viktoriia has worked at the Ministry of Health of Ukraine and has been involved in advocating for the rights of interns and expanding their powers. After her victory, the combat medic dreams of getting a good night’s sleep, reading a book, and hiking in the mountains. 

• doctors
• military

Wind Hunters yachting school invites military personnel, who were injured at the front and are undergoing rehabilitation in Lviv, to learn yachting. Classes for the soldiers are free.

Defenders will join the general groups that are already learning. One yachting lesson lasts 3.5 hours. The course is designed for a total of 6 classes.

• casualties
• military
• Lviv

When russia first attacked Ukraine in 2014, Halyna Klempouz was still a student. The girl started actively volunteering. In 2016, Halyna decided to become a military officer, the girl held various positions in the army and ended up in air reconnaissance. A year later, Halyna was demobilized, her father died and the girl had to stay at home to take care of her mother. With the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the veteran wanted to mobilize, but Halyna’s boyfriend, who was defending Mariupol, made her promise that the girl would stay in the rear until he returned home. Halyna’s beloved was captured by the russians along with other defenders of Azovstal. Thus, Halyna’s struggle for Ukraine turned into a struggle for Ukrainian prisoners. Currently, the veteran works as a spokesperson at the Association of Azovstal Defenders’ Families.

• military
• prisoners
• women

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