Themes by tag: occupation

The official opening of the learning ‘mini hub’ in the liberated Rudnytske village in Kyiv Oblast will be held On November 30. The settlement was severely damaged during the occupation of the region in the spring of 2022: private houses were utterly destroyed, and the school and other infrastructure facilities were smashed up. The children, eventually, had no place to study, attend after-school clubs, or just get together.

Thanks to the grant and philanthropists, we managed to create a hub where teachers can give lectures, the youth can organize their leisure time, and children can stay online to do their homework in case the power is out.

Event prior accreditation is required.

For reference: The learning ‘mini hub’ in Rudnytske in the Kyiv region, was created by the MHP-Gromadi Foundation with the support of ISAR Ednannia as part of the Ukraine Civil Society Sectoral Support Activity project.

• casualties
• children
• occupation
• reconstruction
• Kyiv

Heorhii and Olha Chervienkovs founded a cannery in Posad-Pokrovske, Kherson region, 9 years ago. Before the full-scale invasion began, the plant’s output was more than 100 tons of canned goods per month. When the start of the full-scale invasion started in 2022, the russians occupied Kherson region and destroyed almost all the villages on the front line.

Heorhii and Olha found out that their cannery had been destroyed already after the de-occupation of their town and their return home. Entrepreneurs set to work and six months after the de-occupation, Heorhii and Olha managed to launch the first production line. At first, they had to use power generators to work, and there was a shortage of workers, as some employees had joined the army or left the community. Currently, the couple is working to return the plant to its pre-war capacity.

• occupation
• reconstruction
• Kherson

Volodymyr Moisei is a master of sports in powerlifting. His story began with an ordinary trip to the gym. And within a year, with the help of the coach, Volodymyr met his first standard.

In 2019, the athlete got into a traffic accident and lost his arm. After two and a half months, he began his return to professional sports, developed a special strap to help him lift a bar with extreme weights and thought about the world record. When the Great War began, Volodymyr’s hometown, Berdyansk, was occupied. Due to the injury, the man could not join the army and took up volunteering. Later, he was able to evacuate his family from Berdyansk to Switzerland, and he himself returned to Ukraine.

In March 2023, Volodymyr visited the U.S.-based “Arnold Sports Festival” – as an adaptive athlete in the weight class of under 100 kilograms, he lifted the weight of 260 kilograms and set a world record in powerlifting. The athlete dedicated his record to the Armed Forces of Ukraine and his family.

For reference: Volodymyr Moisei is ready to communicate with journalists, both online and offline by prior arrangement.

• casualties
• occupation
• volunteers

Nataliia Plakhotniuk was born in Luhansk region and dreamed of becoming a teacher from an early age. She graduated from a university in the east, gained her first teaching experience, and later met her future husband. Pavlo is a professional soldier, who has been in the ranks of the Armed Forces since 2004. A few years ago, the couple moved to Bucha, Kyiv region.

On February 24, 2022, Pavlo and Nataliia learned about the beginning of the big war. The husband was immediately called up for duty, and Nataliia and her children left Bucha only on February 25, when russian tanks had already entered nearby Hostomel. After the liberation of Kyiv region and returning home, Nataliia realized that she wanted to teach children and open her own business. She learned about the Smartum training center franchise, got state financial support for military personnel and their families, and opened her training center in Bucha. Currently, 45 children study in Nataliia’s class. They study mental arithmetic, speed reading and English as well as prepare for school. 

• children
• occupation
• women
• Kyiv

Oksana, born in Kherson, has 27 years of teaching experience (pursuing a career in out-of-school learning). At the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Oksana headed to her sister’s house on the left bank of the Kherson region and ended up in an occupied area. She managed to escape on June 1, 2023. Now she lives in a public housing community in the Kyiv region, and since September she has been holding Ukrainian language and literature classes for 9th and 11th graders in-person and online. Oksana gives online lessons in one of the kitchens of the social housing so as not to disturb other IDPs living nearby. 

In addition to teaching essential school subjects, she also runs the Dzhura club, an all-Ukrainian game for children and youth, a form of extracurricular work on the patriotic and moral education of children

For reference: November 11, 2023, marks the one-year anniversary of retaking Kherson. Also, during last year’s counteroffensive in southern Ukraine, the Armed Forces of Ukraine liberated some districts of the Kherson region and part of the Mykolaiv region on the right bank of the Dnipro River.

• children
• occupation
• women
• Kyiv

Building shelled, employees pressured, and more than 10,000 of the most valuable exhibits looted by the occupiers are what the Shоvkunenko Kherson Regional Art Museum has experienced since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Russia.

It was a few days shy of the de-occupation of Kherson (November 11, 2022) that the museum heist was committed by armed Russian occupiers under the slogans of “preserving cultural property.” The artifacts were taken as plunder to the occupied Crimea. The identification of the missing items is currently underway.

Apart from that, the occupiers hit the museum building twice: in November 2022 (windows were smashed, and the facade was shattered) and in April 2023.

Journalists can send a request to arrange interviews and filming in the museum.

For reference: Before the full-scale invasion, the museum’s collection included nearly 14,000 pieces of art.

• culture
• occupation
• russian crimes
• Kherson

Valentyna Hantseva has been working in the library of Soldatske village, Sumy oblast for 32 years. A few months before the full-scale invasion, the library had undergone modern renovation and purchased new equipment. But the building of the library could not withstand the air strike of the russians, who aimed right at the center of the occupied village. Only the roof and walls remained of the library: everything inside the building was damaged by the blast wave. Despite the occupation and the enemy aircraft, Valentyna, together with her husband, began to gather the undamaged books and hide them in grain sacks. The woman managed to take out and save more than 1000 books.

In April 2022, the Ukrainian military de-occupied the village. A philanthropist from Germany helped restore the library premises, and last fall, Valentyna opened the doors of the library to readers again.

• culture
• occupation
• women
• Sumy

Oleksandr Knyha has been the director of the Kherson Regional Academic Music and Drama Theater named after Mykola Kulish for over 30 years. He is also an honorary citizen of Kherson and a member of the regional council.

At the beginning of Russia’s all-out invasion, Oleksandr ended up being in Russia-occupied territory. On March 23, 2022, the Russian military arrested him. After interrogation, they released him, but a few days later they came to the theater to force Oleksandr to cooperate. The man began to look for ways to flee life under occupation. He managed to escape on April 1, 2022.

After all he has been through, he did not quit his favorite occupation. While in the Ukraine-controlled area, he was preparing the annual Melpomene of Tavria international theater festival, which had previously been held in Kherson.  And later he launched the theater in evacuation.

Meanwhile, the occupation authorities appointed a man who used to be a security guard at the theater in Kherson to the position of the director. They even “renamed” the Mykola Kulish Theater to the Russian Academic Theater.

After Ukraine forced retook Kherson on November 11, 2022, Oleksandr and some of the actors came back to their hometown. Despite enemy shelling, the artists work in a sheltered art hub. Oleksandr, along with other residents of the Kherson region, had to face the consequences of the flooding of his native land due to the occupiers’ blowing up the Kakhovka HPP dam. His house was underwater in the occupied flooded town of Oleshky.  

Journalists are welcome to talk to Oleksandr offline or online.

For reference: November 11, 2023, marks a year anniversary of the Kherson liberation from the Russian occupation. Also, during last year’s counteroffensive in southern Ukraine, the Armed Forces of Ukraine regained some districts of Kherson region and part of Mykolaiv region on the right bank of the Dnipro River.

• culture
• occupation
• Kherson

12 years ago, Yuliia Roshchenko opened her own business together with her husband. In the village of Chornobaivka, Kherson region, the woman created a copy center where fellow villagers could make copies of documents or print out the necessary papers. After the start of russia’s full-scale invasion, Yuliia spent the night printing “Children” signs for cars so that those leaving the occupation could try to prevent russian attacks on their families.

Later, the occupiers came to the copy center and demanded that Yuliia and her husband print russian documents, as well as photos for russian passports. The couple refused even though the enemy threatened them with weapons. Because of the threat to their lives, Yuliia’s family went to the west of Ukraine, where they stayed until their native village was liberated by the Ukrainian military. After returning, the couple received a government grant to start the copy center again.

• occupation
• women
• Kherson

Nadiia is a teacher of the art of making coffee. The woman and her family had moved from Mykolaiv to Kherson, a city in the south of Ukraine that was under russian occupation for more than half a year. This had happened two months before the beginning of russia’s full-scale invasion. Nadiia wanted to open a barista school in the city. The official opening was scheduled for February 26, 2022, but the war changed everything.

The woman found herself under occupation, worked at a friend’s coffee shop, and volunteered by cooking food. When threats from the occupiers poured in, she decided to leave. She had to overcome 70 roadblocks. From Zaporizhia, she went to Kyiv, where she started all over again. On August 7, 2023, precisely on the anniversary of her escaping the occupation, she was able to open a coffee shop near Kyiv with the help of a state grant. Nadiia also helped a displaced woman from Zaporizhia region by employing her as a barista in her coffee shop.

Together with her close circle, Nadiia created the “Welcome to Ukraine” charity foundation in Mykolaiv, which helps the military and civilians.

For reference: November 11, 2023 marks the anniversary of the liberation of Kherson from the occupiers. Last year’s counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the South of Ukraine also liberated some of the districts of Kherson region and a part of Mykolaiv region on the right bank of the Dnipro. 

• occupation
• volunteers
• women
• Kyiv