Themes by tag: occupation

On September 11, a presentation of a VR exhibition about the crimes of russians in the temporarily occupied territories will be held in Kyiv. During the presentation, the authors of the exhibition will show a clip from the documentary film, photos, as well as a VR-video with testimonies of Ukrainian citizens from de-occupied territories.

The VR video of the documentary project “Deoccupation ” will allow “transporting” the viewers to the de-occupied territories and, with the stories of eyewitnesses, viewers will be able to experience everything that happened there more fully. It will be possible to “visit” Kharkiv, Kukhari village (Kyiv Polissia) and settlements of Sivershchyna.

Participants:

• Oleksandra Romantsova, Executive Director at the Center for Civil Liberties
• Vitalii Poberezhnyi, Producer of the docuseries “Deoccupation”
• Karina Piliugina, Producer and Author of Ukraïner projects
• Spokesperson for the National Resistance Center of Ukraine

• casualties
• occupation
• russian crimes
• Kyiv

Anton is 27. He is a surgical oncologist. The man was born in Donetsk region, since 2014 he has lived in Kharkiv. In order to help people who suffered as a result of the war, in August last year he joined the Ukrainian-Israeli mission of medical volunteers FRIDA Ukraine. And since in September 2022 the Armed Forces liberated the occupied territories of Kharkiv oblast, Anton participated in the first field medical missions to settlements de-occupied from the enemy. He recalls that he was most stricken by the sight of broken houses and burnt down tanks between them. And while helping people, he heard that fighting was still going on somewhere nearby.

In general, the medical volunteer managed to visit almost all the de-occupied settlements of Kharkiv region.

For reference: on September 6, 2022, Ukrainian troops launched a major counteroffensive in Kharkiv region. Subsequently, Kharkiv oblast was completely de-occupied.

The Ukrainian-Israeli medical volunteer movement FRIDA Ukraine has been helping civilians since the beginning of russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Volunteer doctors (of various specialties) travel to the frontline and de-occupied regions (for example, Kharkiv, Kherson, or Donetsk regions), where they help local residents who complain about their health. In particular, they consult locals, perform surgeries, evacuate and distribute medicines.

• casualties
• doctors
• occupation
• volunteers
• Kharkiv

On September 8, a press marathon on the situation in the temporarily occupied territories will be held in Kyiv.

Some of the participants include: 

• Dmytro Lubinets, Ukrainian Parliament Commissioner for Human Rights
• Andriy Yusov, Defense Intelligence of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine
• Oleg Nikolenko, Spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine
• Aaro Ylitalo, Political Officer at the EU Delegation to Ukraine
• Anatolii Stelmakh, Deputy Minister for the Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine
• Ihor Solovey, Head of the Centre for Strategic Communication and Information Security
• Ivan Fedorov, Mayor of Melitopol
• Oleksandra Romantsova, Executive Director at the Center for Civil Liberties

Accreditation required (registration ends on September 7 at 6:00 p.m.). The location will be disclosed after accreditation for the event.

• occupation

A team of beauty industry professionals will visit one of the de-occupied villages in Mykolaiv region on September 10. The beauty volunteers will give free haircuts and massages and do eyebrows to the villagers.

For reference, the idea of beauty volunteering belongs to makeup artist Olha Belytska. Together with like-minded people, Olha comes to the de-occupied settlements of the Kyiv region, as well as to the other areas of the country, to help people who have faced the horrors of the occupation feel beautiful again.

• casualties
• occupation
• volunteers
• Mykolaiv

In Kharkiv region, the Kharlamov family (mother Halyna, father Serhii, and son Yevhen) were evacuating people from under shelling since the beginning of the full-scale war. They became the founders of “Volunteer-68 Humanitarian Aid Center” NGO.

In particular, the volunteer family helped evacuate people across the Pechenihy dam in 2022, when part of Kharkiv region was still under occupation. Halyna recalls that it took people 5-6 hours to get to this dam alone, getting through more than 20 enemy checkpoints. Women with children, elderly people were completely exhausted. Almost every woman cried after reaching a safe place. And after the liberation of the region, “Volunteer-68” team drove into populated areas in ambulances and picked up people with limited mobility as well as everyone else who wanted to evacuate.

Recently, “Volunteer-68 Humanitarian Aid Center” NGO and Vostok-SOS Charitable Foundation initiated the opening of a temporary shelter in Kharkiv for low-mobility population groups and people with disabilities who are being evacuated from front-line communities.

For reference: on September 6, 2022, Ukrainian troops launched a major counteroffensive in Kharkiv region. Subsequently, Kharkiv region was completely de-occupied.

• casualties
• occupation
• volunteers
• Kharkiv
• evacuation

The Ukrainian VR project “FIRST DAY” directed by Valeriy Korshunov and produced by Svitlana Korshunova will be presented for the first time at the 80th Venice International Film Festival.

FIRST DAY is a fully immersive first-person VR experience that transports the visitor to the first day of russia’s full-scale invasion, and allows them to experience the internal transformation that Ukrainians went through on February 24, 2022.

The project is based on the stories of real people. The viewer will be able to see the houses of Borodyanka and Bucha destroyed by invaders’ shells. Along with a large number of other artifacts of the war, the buildings were scanned and then reproduced in virtual space.

The project will be presented in Ukraine on September 7. At the closed press event, journalists will have an opportunity to visit the project’s virtual location in VR helmets, talk with the authors of the project and the founders of Venice Immersive in a live virtual format. Residents of Borodyanka and Hostomel, who witnessed the occupation and who can share their experiences, are also invited to the project presentation.

Prior accreditation is required.

For reference: The 80th Venice International Film Festival began on August 30 and will last until September 9.

• culture
• occupation
• russian crimes

Before becoming a farmer, Natalia Koval taught at the Kharkiv National University of Economics. In 2011, her husband suggested starting a farm and Natalia agreed. In 2022, their family farm in one of the villages of Kharkiv region had more than three hundred cows and 12 employees. With the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the farm was occupied.

Families with children remained in the village, and the farm became their salvation. After all, milk was distributed there for free, as well as bread baked by farm employees. The farm had its own generator, and thus electricity. Sometimes one could even catch a mobile connection there.

Occupiers took Natalia’s husband “to the basement,” he miraculously managed to get out. Today, the farm is recovering after all the horrors it experienced.

For reference: on September 6, 2022, Ukrainian troops launched a major counteroffensive in Kharkiv region. Subsequently, Kharkiv region was completely de-occupied.

• animals
• occupation
• volunteers
• women
• Kharkiv

On September 1, a briefing “School education under Russian occupation: Incitement to hatred and destruction of Ukrainian identity.”

Participants:

– Peter Pomerantsev, British journalist, specialist in media and propaganda in modern Russia (online);

– Yevhen Bondarenko, Head of the Information Support Department of the Mission of the President of Ukraine in the AR of Crimea (in person);

– Valentina Potapova, Head of the Direction of National Advocacy Department of the Almenda Center for Civic Education (in person);

– Anastasiia Vorobiova, analyst at Almenda (online);

Topics of focus:

– Narratives that Russia imposes on children in the Russia-controlled territories through textbooks;

– How Russia’s educational propaganda is gaining momentum. What to expect soon? How does Russian propaganda affect children, and what is its effectiveness?

– Legal assessment of Russia’s actions to impose Russian education on the temporarily occupied territories. Is it possible to bring to justice the authors and distributors of the textbook?

– What to do after de-occupation, how to reintegrate youth and children. Strategy from the Ukraine President’s Mission in the AR of Crimea.

For reference: On September 1, a new academic year begins for children from occupied territories. For some, it will be the 10th year, and for others, it will be the second year of living in such circumstances. For all these years, Russia has been using education for propaganda purposes, destroying the Ukrainian identity of children and militarizing them. And school textbooks are an integral tool.

• children
• occupation
• russian crimes

Since the fall of 2019, Nataliia Haietska has been the head of the “Mariupol Zero Waste” initiative group, which includes “Eco Gurt” (eco team) environmental NGO. She has also been an activist in Mariupol. Her activity began with large waste sorting centers in Mariupol. Her team also introduced waste sorting in about 100 housing co-ops of the city. In 2020, the team engaged in environmental education for adults, children and students. They held the first eco-festival in Mariupol and launched a project to implement waste sorting and composting in Mariupol hospitality establishments and parts of Pryazovia area. Their plans were to cover the entire hospitality industry of the region.

Nataliia was caught by russia’s full-scale invasion in Mariupol. She could not leave in the first days because of sick parents. The woman had to survive under the siege for three weeks – under shelling and bombing. Upon receiving help, together with her parents, she was evacuated to Zaporizhia. Then they got to Lviv by evacuation train.

Despite the war, Nataliia together with her colleagues from Kherson in 2022 implemented an international project on making the hospitality sector of Ukraine greener. This year, it was scaled up to the current project “Restoration and Modernization of Hospitality Establishments Based on Zero Waste & Climate Friendly Principles for the Sustainable Development of Ukrainian Communities.” Personnel of about 40 hospitality establishments from all over the country received training, and 10 establishments from 7 regions were chosen for direct offline work.

• ecology
• occupation

On August 24, the Independence Day of Ukraine, Lithuanian high-ranking officials, together with representatives of the local administration, will open a kindergarten restored by Lithuania in Irpin, Kyiv region. The officials will then talk to media representatives.

Lithuania rebuilt the largest kindergarten in the city in just eight months after it had been almost completely destroyed by russian troops. The project budget exceeded EUR 4.8 million.

Pre-registration is required.

For reference: This kindergarten sustained the most damage among all the kindergartens in Irpin community. As a result of repeated shelling and fire, the facility was 75% damaged.

• occupation
• reconstruction
• russian crimes