Themes by tag: volunteers
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Andrii Bieliaiev is a racer, founder and head of the NGO “Offroadbrothers.” He took part in his first competitions back in 2010, when he also met Vadym Moroz and Yevhenii Sokur. In 2022, they launched their own off-road school together.
On the site where races used to be held, they built a training ground at their own expense and now conduct daily sessions there. Requests for training from military personnel come in regularly, with bookings scheduled two to three weeks in advance.
The “Offroadbrothers” training ground includes an obstacle section, an area simulating various ruts, pits and bumps, ascents and descents, as well as a tent equipped as a lecture space. Basic skills are taught to military drivers in four hours. Most drivers come for training from frontline regions, so the program has been shortened to two hours of theory and two hours of practice. In addition to military personnel, the instructors also train drivers from the State Emergency Service of Ukraine — their course lasts three days. The team is currently working with the National Guard of Ukraine and assisting in the creation of a training center for car and motorcycle training.
Interviews with the “Offroadbrothers” team can be arranged both online and offline in Kyiv by prior appointment.
Tetiana Marina, the wife of Spanish citizen Mariano García Calatayud, who was abducted in Kherson, has been seeking her husband’s release from russian captivity for four years.
Mariano is a well-known volunteer who has been living in Ukraine since 2014. On March 19, 2022, he was abducted by russian security forces in occupied Kherson. It later became known that he was held in occupied Crimea, in particular at Simferopol Pre-Trial Detention Center No. 2, in a closed section for so-called political prisoners. It is also known that he suffered a heart attack while in captivity.
russia denies the abduction of the Spanish volunteer and conceals information about his place of detention. Spain has also attempted to facilitate an exchange. On February 2, 2026, Mariano turned 78 years old.
By prior arrangement, journalists may speak with Tetiana online.
For reference: Kherson was occupied by russian forces 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 regularly shell the city.
Doctors from the United States of America — volunteers of the FRIDA Ukraine medical mission and long-time friends of the organization — have arrived in Ukraine on a visit of solidarity and support.
Despite the war, the challenging security situation, and winter frosts, they have once again decided to dedicate their personal vacation time to helping Ukrainian doctors and patients.
This time the medical professionals have already visited Kyiv and are now in Kharkiv, where they will remain until February 5. They are visiting medical facilities, communicating with Ukrainian colleagues, sharing professional experience, and supporting local teams.
Among the volunteers is Elena Pal-Val, a pediatrician from the USA who has worked for many years at one of the country’s leading children’s hospitals. Elena has Ukrainian roots, and for her this trip is not only a professional mission but also a personal gesture of support for the country of her origin.
Accompanying her in Ukraine is her husband, Gregory Luke Larkin, an emergency medicine physician, medical university professor, researcher and instructor with many years of international experience. The couple are not participating in volunteer initiatives with FRIDA Ukraine for the first time, and each time they emphasize that it is important for them to be useful here and now.
FRIDA Ukraine invites journalists to interview American volunteer doctors.
Reference: The FRIDA Ukraine medical mission brings together Ukrainian and international doctors who provide free medical care, conduct consultations, screenings, and professional exchanges in various regions of Ukraine, including in frontline and border areas.
Valerii and Tetiana Popovych live in Vyshkovo, a village in the Zakarpattia region. Valerii is a carpenter, and Tetiana is a teacher. Their 35-year-old son serves in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. After the full-scale invasion began, the couple took on the mission of returning fallen soldiers to their hometowns for burial. Valerii volunteers with the Na Shchyti (On the Shield) mission, and Tetiana often accompanies him on his trips.
Together, they organize exhibitions of war artifacts to collect donations for their journeys. Previously, they traveled as far as the eastern front to retrieve fallen soldiers’ bodies. Now, they travel to neighboring regions to meet with other Na Shchyti volunteers to expedite the return of fallen soldiers whose families await them in Zakarpattia.
Valerii has organized a team of seven drivers, including two priests. The drivers take turns on missions to retrieve fallen soldiers’ bodies. Valerii and Tetiana explain that these journeys are psychologically exhausting, yet they feel they cannot stop.
Valerii and Tetiana Popovych are available for interviews online and in person in the Zakarpattia region by prior arrangement.
For reference: The Na Shchyti (On the Shield) project, run by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, is dedicated to locating and evacuating the bodies of fallen Ukrainian soldiers.
Before the full-scale invasion, Iryna Koval worked with metal constructions for the building industry. On February 24, 2022, however, her business had to pivot to support the military.
The first product developed by Iryna’s team was the Brammer tactical evacuation cart, which is designed to transport an adult over long distances. Weighing 25 kilograms with a load capacity of 150 kilograms, the cart allows one person to independently evacuate a wounded comrade. The team also developed lightweight drag stretchers for use in areas inaccessible to vehicles.
Their latest innovation is tactical trailers for ATVs (quad bikes), which can evacuate three wounded soldiers simultaneously. This work was recognized with the “Created by Women” award, which supports women entrepreneurs during the war.
Since starting this project, Iryna’s company has produced over 8,500 evacuation devices. With their help, soldiers on the front lines are saving the lives of their comrades.
Iryna Koval is available for interviews online and in person in Odesa by prior arrangement.
