Themes by tag: occupation

Nataliia Holubieva, a medical doctor by profession, co-founded and leads the Kherson Oblast Medicine charity foundation, which provides humanitarian aid to hospitals and patients. During the russian occupation of Kherson, she remained in the city, continuing her volunteer work, including sourcing scarce medicines from the Ukrainian-controlled areas.

Following the liberation of part of the region, Holubieva turned her focus to helping residents affected by the occupiers’ destruction of the Kakhovka HPP. She coordinated efforts to resettle those displaced, ensuring they received clothing, food, and medical supplies.

Holubieva stayed in Kherson until August 2023, when intensifying russian shelling with guided bombs forced her to leave for Kropyvnytskyi with her child. On the anniversary of Kherson’s liberation, she established the “United by Kherson Region” Humanitarian Aid Center, which now supports over 1,500 people (560 families) displaced from the Kherson region. The Center also aids residents from other hard-hit areas, including Melitopol, Crimea, and Kharkiv, and assists medical and educational institutions by providing medicine and hygiene products.

Holubieva dreams of opening a medical center specifically for displaced persons, where she can offer both psychological and humanitarian assistance. She is currently searching for a location while pursuing a degree in psychology to further help those in need.

Journalists can arrange interviews with Nataliia in Kropyvnytskyi or online by appointment.

Background: Kherson was occupied by russian forces in March 2022, shortly after the invasion began. Ukraine retook the city of Kherson from occupying russian forces on November 11, 2022, though russian shelling continues.

• casualties
• doctors
• occupation
• volunteers
• women
• Kherson

Before the full-blown war, Olena and Valentyn Bielozorenko dedicated 11 years to developing their eco-farm in Stanislav, Kherson Oblast. The couple cared for 30 goats, 11 dogs, and 10 cats, producing cheese and offering educational excursions for both children and adults. However, when the war erupted, their farm fell under enemy occupation.

For eight and a half months, the Bielozorenkos found themselves surrounded, relying on food exchanges with neighbors to survive. After Ukraine’s Armed Forces liberated their village, they continued to endure for another year in the reclaimed territory, facing persistent shelling. The farm suffered damage from enemy strikes, resulting in the loss of one animal, the destruction of feed supplies, and Valentyn sustaining a concussion.

In October 2023, the couple made the difficult decision to evacuate. They found refuge in the Kyiv region, where they were welcomed by displaced individuals from Donetsk, who generously provided them with a farm and a house at no cost. Within a year at their new location, the number of goats doubled. Looking ahead, Olena and Valentyn plan to establish a rehabilitation center for Ukrainian soldiers on their farm.

For those interested, Olena and Valentyn Bielozorenko are available for online conversations.

For reference: November 11, 2024, will mark the two-year anniversary of Ukraine’s retaking of the city of Kherson from occupying russian forces. 

• animals
• occupation
• russian crimes
• Kherson

The volunteer organization Helping to Leave has successfully evacuated more than 45,000 Ukrainians from occupied regions and russian territory. Currently, the initiative boasts over 200 dedicated volunteers who assist Ukrainians living under occupation or those who have been deported to russia in their return to government-controlled areas.

Most individuals under occupation discover the opportunity to leave through word of mouth, with preparations for each evacuation often taking several months. This timeline is contingent upon the documents that evacuees possess, the situation at the front lines, and the chosen route. Volunteers frequently encounter individuals with expired or completely lost documents.

Following the shutdown of the humanitarian border in the Sumy region, requests for assistance surged, prompting Helping to Leave to operate around the clock to aid those in need. Journalists may cover the work of Helping to Leave’s volunteers by prior arrangement.

For context: The humanitarian corridor at the Kolotilovka-Pokrovka checkpoint on the border area of russian belgorod oblast and Ukraine’s Sumy Oblast was temporarily closed in early August. This checkpoint was the only functioning route between Ukraine and russia, utilized by those escaping occupied territories. The closure was attributed to an escalation of hostilities in the area.

• occupation
• volunteers
• evacuation

Before the full-scale invasion, Inna Yakovenko ran a successful business selling windows and doors, operating out of two trade pavilions in the village of Novovorontsovka, Kherson region. When war broke out, her village was the only one in the Novovorontsovka community that remained unoccupied, but it endured relentless shelling from russian forces for seven straight months. Throughout August 2022, Inna took refuge in her basement, sheltering from near-constant bombardments that eventually wrecked her business.

After Ukrainian forces liberated the region, Inna decided to shift her focus from retail to reconstruction. Determined to help her community recover, she began producing granite blocks to support the rebuilding of homes in her war-torn village.

For reference: November 11, 2024, will mark the two-year anniversary of Kherson’s liberation from russian occupation.

• occupation
• russian crimes
• women
• Kherson

For the past six years, Anton Tenyck has run a farm in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine. After the Ukrainian Armed Forces liberated the right bank of the Kherson region, the farmers decided to return to work. However, this proved to be difficult as most of the fields were mined. In order to continue their work, the farmers had to use hand-held mine detectors themselves. Together with the military, deminers and rescuers, Anton is clearing his territory of dangerous objects left behind by the occupiers. In one year of work, the farmer managed to demine more than 20 percent of his land. 

In addition, Anton tries to employ everyone who returns to the liberated regions of Kherson Oblast.

For reference: November 11, 2024 will be the second anniversary of the liberation of Kherson from the occupiers.

• casualties
• occupation
• russian crimes
• Kherson

Before facing the brunt of russia’s invasion, The Jin Roh Circus Studio & Entertainment has been running in Kherson for 15 years. The war caught its members in their hometown. In the chaos, they sought basic necessities like food and medicine, often taking refuge in makeshift shelters. Remarkably, one of the studio’s halls transformed into a bomb shelter, providing safety to around 40 individuals during the tumultuous early weeks. As russian forces tightened their grip on Kherson, civilians faced escalating repression, prompting many, including Jin Roh’s students, to flee. Even the studio’s founder and director, Roman Vashchenko, was compelled to leave to evade capture.

Since the city’s liberation in November 2022, Vashchenko has returned, dedicating himself to rebuilding the studio’s activities. However, the journey back to normalcy is fraught with challenges. Once bustling with 300 students, Jin Roh now sees a fraction of that number attending classes to 2-8, with safety concerns looming large amidst continued shelling by occupying forces.

For reference: Kherson fell under russian occupation at the onset of the full-scale invasion on March 1, 2022. It wasn’t until November 11, 2022, that the Ukrainian Armed Forces liberated the city from russian control. Despite this liberation, the occupiers persist in regularly shelling the city.

• occupation
• Kherson

10 years ago, Hanna lived and worked in Horlivka, Donetsk region. She was the head of a first-aid post in a mine. After the occupation of Horlivka by the Russians in 2014, she could not live under the enemy flag and moved with her family to Toretsk (Donetsk region), where she started her own business. The Horbachov family opened a shop serving pancakes and coffee, and soon began baking bread. The locals liked the bakery, and in 2022 the family opened another place, this time in Siverskodonetsk, Luhansk region. Hanna managed to bake bread there only once. When the full-scale war began, enemy shells destroyed the bakery. The one in Toretsk lasted longer, but it was also destroyed by the enemy.

The Horbachovs then had to move again, this time to Dnipro. In the new location, Hanna has been able to rebuild the family business from the ground up. Many of the bakery’s customers are from Toretsk: they were also forced to evacuate. Today, the Horbachov bakery employs internally displaced people, including those from Toretsk and Mariupol.

You can meet the Horbachov family in Dnipro. Hanna Horbachova is available for interviews with journalists, both online and offline.

• occupation
• women
• Dnipro

During russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church priests Bohdan Heleta and Ivan Levytskyi continued to serve their parish in occupied Berdiansk, located in the Zaporizhia region. On November 16, 2022, russian forces abducted them. The soldiers reportedly came directly to the church, offering Father Bohdan a chance to cooperate—an offer both priests declined. Soon after, the russians claimed they had allegedly discovered weapons inside the church.

Father Bohdan spent nine months imprisoned in Berdiansk before being transferred to a penal colony in Horlivka, within the occupied Donetsk region, where he endured another ten months. In total, he spent a grueling year and a half in captivity. Throughout his imprisonment, Father Bohdan endured harsh conditions, often sleeping on the floor and being subjected to the constant sounds of others being tortured by the russians. While in solitary confinement in Berdiansk, he was forced to listen to Soviet-era music playing through a speaker for hours on end, an experience that pushed him to the edge of sanity. The abuse only worsened in Horlivka.

On June 28, 2024, both Father Bohdan and Father Ivan were finally freed during a prisoner exchange.

Journalists can arrange interviews with Father Bohdan, either in person in Lviv or virtually, by prior agreement.

• occupation
• prisoners
• religion
• russian crimes
• Lviv

On September 10, the Media Center Ukraine will hold a press conference titled “Destruction of Freedom of Speech in Crimea: Causes, Methods, Results.” The event will delve into the deteriorating state of media freedom in Crimea under russian occupation.

The discussion will center on the second edition of journalist Yuriy Lukanov’s book, “The Press: How Russia Destroyed Media Freedom in Crimea”, published by the German Ibidem Verlag. The English translation of the book was presented earlier this year at prominent institutions, including the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, The Financial Times editorial office, London Metropolitan University, Oxford University, the University of Glasgow, and University College London.

The conference will highlight how the Crimean occupation authorities have intensified their crackdown on free speech compared to 2014, even leveraging Western media outlets in their efforts.

Participants:

• Yuriy Lukanov, freelance journalist, author of the book “The Press: How Russia Destroyed Media Freedom in Crimea”;

• Valentyna Samar, editor-in-chief of the Center for Investigative Journalism;
• Olha Skrypnyk, Chair of the Board of the Crimean Human Rights Group, co-coordinator of the Crimea Platform Expert Network. 

• occupation
• Kyiv

On September 5, a modular house will be unveiled in the Kyiv region, providing a new home for a big family from Kherson who fled the occupation. Dobrobat, a volunteer construction battalion, invites journalists to witness the near-completion of this significant project.

Ms. Olha, a 70-year-old teacher, escaped the war-torn region with her five adopted children. Dobrobat volunteers took on the task of building a new home for them. The family, who lost everything in the conflict, is now preparing to move into the half-installed modular house.

The event will feature both the volunteers and the family, offering a chance to hear their stories and see the completed work. Olha’s husband is seriously ill, and with her brother’s help, she managed to secure land in the Kyiv region where this new chapter begins.

• casualties
• occupation
• reconstruction
• volunteers
• Kyiv