Themes by tag: volunteers

On March 26, volunteer doctors from FRIDA Ukraine will travel on a mission to a children’s home in the Kyiv region. The team includes around 20 medical professionals, including a pediatrician, neurologist, psychologist, urologist, and surgeon. The doctors regularly visit the facility and provide medical care to children.

On March 28–29, FRIDA Ukraine teams will travel to the Sumy and Kherson regions to deliver medical assistance to civilians.

By prior arrangement, journalists can cover the work of medical volunteers and conduct interviews with patients and doctors.

Background: FRIDA Ukraine’s medical volunteer missions are regular deployments of teams of doctors to frontline and remote communities across Ukraine. Each mission includes more than 20 specialists from various fields, including neurologists, surgeons, gynecologists, therapists, dermatologists, and others. During these visits, free medical consultations, check-ups, and tests are provided to local residents. The team has also recently introduced cancer screening services.

• doctors
• volunteers
• Kherson
• Kyiv
• Sumy

On March 21–22, groups of FRIDA Ukraine volunteer doctors will travel on missions to provide medical assistance to civilians in frontline areas. They are heading to Mykolaiv Oblast.

By prior arrangement, journalists may cover the work of the medical volunteers and interview patients and doctors.

For reference: FRIDA Ukraine’s medical volunteer missions consist of regular trips by a team of doctors to frontline and remote communities in Ukraine. Each mission includes over 20 specialists in various fields: neurologists, surgeons, gynecologists, internists, dermatologists, and others. During these trips, free appointments, consultations, and tests are provided for local residents. Recently, the team has also begun conducting cancer screenings—early diagnosis of oncological diseases—to help detect illnesses in their initial stages.

• doctors
• volunteers
• Mykolaiv

Olga is only 24. She is an otolaryngologist and has been participating in FRIDA Ukraine’s medical volunteer missions for two years. During her time as a volunteer, she has visited all regions where FRIDA operates, including trips to frontline areas and children’s homes.

Most often, the doctor encounters chronic sinusitis or hearing loss. And often these conditions become chronic not because people didn’t want to seek treatment, but because there was nowhere and no one to turn to.

Since the beginning of 2026, Olga has been going on missions every two weeks. The doctor has created her own little tradition that supports both her and her patients during the missions. She gives people fortune cookies and waits for them to unfold the paper and smile.

Once, a girl of about ten read her fortune: “The future of Ukraine is in your hands; remember that.” Olya told her: “Child, remember this—it’s true.”

The hardest thing for Olya is dealing with people who have survived the horrors of the occupation. They speak about it calmly, but the doctor herself has to hold back her tears.

By prior arrangement, journalists can speak with Olga in Kyiv.

For reference: The “FRIDA Ukraine” medical volunteer missions consist of regular trips by a team of doctors to frontline and remote communities in Ukraine. Each mission includes over 20 specialists in various fields: neurologists, surgeons, gynecologists, internists, dermatologists, and others. During these trips, free appointments, consultations, and tests are provided for local residents. Recently, the team has also begun conducting cancer screenings—early diagnosis of oncological diseases—to help detect illnesses in their initial stages.

• doctors
• volunteers
• Kyiv

Dmytro Slobodyanik began volunteering at the start of the full-scale invasion. At the time, he was still in school, and in his free time he developed devices for the Ukrainian military. At first, he made periscopes, and later found schematics online for soldering charging stations. Dmytro also learned to build drones and batteries on his own.

Now he is a college student and has a new workshop that the military helped him find. Dmytro has made his devices more powerful. He prints some parts himself on a 3D printer, and purchases the rest thanks to donations.

By prior arrangement, journalists can speak with  Dmytro Slobodyanik online or in person in the Vinnytsia region.

• volunteers
• Vinnytsia

Maria Gvasalia has been volunteering since 2014. One of her latest projects is creating adaptive tableware for veterans and civilians to make it easier for them to eat and serve themselves after injuries.

The unique feature of adaptive plates is that they have fastening elements that make it easier for people with injuries or amputations to eat. To start manufacturing such tableware, Maria learned from Ukrainian craftsmen and consulted with specialists at medical centers that specialize in military rehabilitation.

It takes about two weeks to make one batch of plates. Currently, all products are already reserved, so Maria’s team is working on the next batch of plates. Volunteers deliver the tableware to rehabilitation centers free of charge.

Journalists can speak with Maria Gvasalia online or in person in Cherkasy by prior arrangement.

• casualties
• volunteers
• women
• Cherkasy

Nadiya Zharkikh is a coffee art teacher. She moved to Kherson with her family from Mykolaiv. This happened two months before the start of the full-scale russian invasion. Nadiya wanted to open a barista school in the city. The official opening was scheduled for February 26, 2022, but the war changed everything.

When Kherson was occupied by russia, Nadiya started working at her friend’s coffee shop and volunteered, in particular, preparing food. When threats from the occupiers began to pour in, she decided to flee. She had to pass through 70 checkpoints. From Zaporizhzhia, she went to Kyiv, where she started all over again. On August 7, 2023, on the anniversary of her departure from the occupation, she was able to open a coffee shop near Kyiv with the help of a state grant.

Today, the Navzayem coffee shop continues to operate and develop, despite all the challenges of full-scale war. As a result of the russian attack on September 28, 2025, the windows of the establishment were blown out. The coffee shop team supported the residents by treating the people who had suffered. They also provided a place to stay overnight. During power outages, the establishment operates with the help of a generator.

In general, Navzayem operates in several areas:

• as a coffee shop that supports the local community;
• as a barista school — teaching adults and children the art of coffee and the basics of entrepreneurship;
• as a social support space for IDPs, military families, children, and people in need;
• as a platform for master classes in the Kyiv region (including mobile ones), in cooperation with inclusive branches, schools, orphanages, and community initiatives.

On March 9, the coffee shop will host a master class called “Little Barista” for children with special educational needs.

In addition, Nadiya and her close circle have created a charitable foundation in Mykolaiv called “Welcome to Ukraine,” which supports military personnel and civilians. It currently operates throughout Ukraine. In particular, it helps with the reconstruction of damaged and destroyed housing.

By prior arrangement, journalists can talk to Nadiya in the Kyiv region.

For reference: On the night of September 28, 2025, russia launched a massive strike on the Kyiv region (three dozen victims) and Kyiv (four people were killed, including a child. More than 10 people were injured. One woman also died of stress in a shelter).

The russians occupied Kherson at the beginning of the full-scale invasion (March 1, 2022). The Armed Forces of Ukraine liberated the city from russian troops on November 11, 2022. The occupiers continue to shell the city regularly.

• casualties
• occupation
• russian crimes
• volunteers
• women
• Kyiv

An equestrian sports complex in the Kharkiv region survived occupation and was left without management: in 2022, the owner abandoned it on the eve of the region’s liberation from russian forces. Criminal proceedings were opened against the owner. The horses were cared for by stableman Oleksii Boliukh despite the absence of salary.

The complex was placed under arrest, which prevented volunteers from evacuating the horses to a safer location for several years. However, this year the situation due to ongoing shelling worsened, and the stableman’s house was destroyed by a russian strike. As a result, the animals were evacuated.

The operation was planned to be completed in four days but lasted ten due to constant shelling. Military personnel, the police evacuation unit “White Angels,” volunteers, and humanitarian organizations joined the rescue effort. Ultimately, the 19 horses were transported to the Kharkiv Hippodrome, where they are now under the care of the animal welfare organization “Animals 911 Ukraine.”

Interviews with the volunteer team are available both online and offline in Kharkiv by prior arrangement.

• animals
• occupation
• volunteers
• Kharkiv
• evacuation

Before the full-scale invasion, Yaroslav Vinnichenko specialized in removing unwanted tattoos. His practice also included treating the consequences of firework explosions and removing foreign particles embedded under the skin after бытов injuries. So when, in May 2022, a woman approached him with injuries caused by a landmine explosion, he agreed to help.

Since then, Yaroslav has decided to work on such cases free of charge. He encourages his students and colleagues to join the initiative and help those who have suffered and received traumatic “tattoos.”

Today, this assistance is available free of charge in every region of Ukraine. To receive help, a person affected must contact Yaroslav directly — he will refer them to the nearest specialist.

Interviews with Yaroslav Vinnichenko are available both online and offline in Kharkiv by prior arrangement.

• casualties
• volunteers
• Kharkiv

Before the full-scale invasion, Nataliia and Vadym Kovpak lived in Berdiansk, Zaporizhzhia region (the city has been under russian occupation since February 27, 2022).

On February 24, 2022, the family moved to Khmelnytskyi region, where they rebuilt their lives from scratch. Vadym decided to join the Ukrainian Armed Forces and continues to serve. After he was wounded, the family encountered indifference from the management of some institutions that were supposed to assist with soldiers’ rehabilitation. As a result, Nataliia decided to establish her own rehabilitation center for service members.

In 2023, she opened the “Postava” center. The initiative was supported by the Ukrainian Veterans Fund. Most services for military personnel at the center are free of charge, and Nataliia says she helps other soldiers the same way she would help her own husband.

Journalists can speak with Nataliia Kovpak both online and offline in Kamianets-Podilskyi after March 5, 2026.

• casualties
• military
• volunteers
• women
• Khmelnytskyi

Sewing Squad is a volunteer initiative that produces adaptive clothing for wounded defenders — both men and women — as well as civilians affected by russian aggression.

Since the autumn of 2022, the craftswomen of Sewing Squad have also been making orthopedic pillows — bone-shaped pillows, bolsters, and donut cushions. These are used at all stages of evacuation, from stabilization points to rehabilitation and prosthetics centers. Altogether, the team has sewn more than 20,000 pillows. A personal record belongs to a woman from Dnipro who independently sewed and filled more than 2,000 bone-shaped pillows. In addition, on February 13, a workshop on making bone-shaped pillows will take place in Poltava.

The initiative was founded by Maryna Palchenko and Kseniia Samoilych. On February 28, 2022, they brought their own sewing machines and overlockers to a regular office of a Dnipro-based IT company and launched Sewing Squad to produce balaclavas and thermal underwear, which were distributed free of charge to defenders (a record 498 balaclavas in one day). In May, they received a request from a hospital for “cyber clothing” — special adaptive garments with Velcro or snap fasteners that can be put on quickly, do not cause additional trauma, and do not require a wounded soldier to raise their arms or legs. Over time, an active and talented team of craftswomen and craftsmen from across Ukraine gathered around the initiative.

Today, the initiative unites more than 700 volunteers from various Ukrainian cities and other parts of the world, including Canada, Poland, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, and England. In total, more than 300,000 items of adaptive clothing have been produced, and over 35 clothing models have been developed.

By prior arrangement, journalists can speak with the founders of the initiative in Dnipro, as well as with volunteers who sew the clothing in workshops, production facilities, or their own homes across Ukraine or abroad.

• volunteers
• women