Themes by tag: volunteers

Vasyl Tsapiuk gained the nickname “Vasyl-Oboronprom” because he had set up the production of a number of useful inventions for Ukrainian defenders. In addition, Vasyl introduced the “blockchain” system – a decentralized production system that works through data recording and transmission systems. This means that the production of devices is not concentrated in one place, which provides additional protection in wartime. Vasyl, together with his team of engineers located in different regions of Ukraine and abroad, creates means for shooting down enemy drones, as well as quadcopters, drone drop systems, tracking devices, heating vests and much more. All this is produced with the help of 3D printers.

• volunteers

The idea for a charity comic book came from American comic book writer Scott Dunbier after the start of russia’s full-scale invasion. He united many comic book artists to make an anthology and transfer the proceeds to Ukrainians who suffered from russian aggression. The first edition of the anthology Comics for Ukraine. Sunflower seeds was released in 2022. Since then, Ukrainian comic book artists have been watching what will happen to the anthology, because they considered it an invaluable collection from the best comic book creators in the world.

In 2023, the publisher of the anthology approached the team of the UA Comix publishing house and suggested translating it into Ukrainian. In Lviv, the project is overseen by Bohdan Kordoba, Founder of UA Comix. The Ukrainian team plans to finish the cover and text translation by the end of this year. All proceeds will go to the benefit of Ukrainians who suffered from the war.

Journalists are welcome to talk to the Ukrainian team working on the comic book. 

• culture
• volunteers

Benjamin is a lawyer from Dusseldorf, Germany. Since the beginning of russia’s full-scale invasion, the man has been helping Ukrainians. For instance, he sheltered a family from Kyiv in his own house, delivered about 40 tons of aid to Ukrainian cities and villages: for this he had to make 15 trips. Benjamin collects and delivers clothes, medicines, equipment and water purification systems. Voices of Children Charitable Foundation coordinates where this aid is most needed.

Benjamin renovated and equipped a room for children’s study and recreation in a dormitory for displaced persons in Kharkiv. Also, together with Voices of Children, the man is planning to create an art therapy workshop for the children.

Benjamin is currently in Ukraine and is ready to talk to the media.

• casualties
• children
• volunteers

Ivanna Slobodyanyuk worked as a journalist, project author, and TV host for 10 years. During the full-scale invasion, she covered Russian crimes in foreign media outlets and began documenting the war traveling to the East after the loss of her friend. Ivanna decided to make a film in honor of her friend, an aerial reconnaissance man Felix Kurtanych, who died in April 2022, 

The historical-documentary film “Felix” tells the story of a Ukrainian hero and includes references to Ukraine’s way to independence. The film presents key events that make the audience reflect on the price the nation paid for its independence through the centuries and continues to defend it to this day.

The film was funded by Ivanna as a director and supported by donations from the military and compassionate individuals. The entire team worked voluntarily.

The movie will be presented in Lviv on August 10, Ivano-Frankivsk on August 11, Kolomyya on August 12, and in Austria on August 25. The proceeds from the film’s screening will be donated to the needs of the army.

Reference: Felix Kurtanych defended Ukraine in 2014. After two years, he left the service. With the beginning of the full-scale war, he defended Kyiv Oblast and later fought in the East of the country. The young man saved his comrades and was posthumously awarded the Order of Courage, Third Class.

It was he who flew a drone with an ad stating Garage for sale in Kyiv’s Solomianskyi district with the phone number of the former Russian embassy in Ukraine, which intruded into the Reuters’ live broadcast from Kyiv’s Maidan Square on February 16, 2022.

• culture
• dead
• military
• volunteers
• Ivano-Frankivsk
• Lviv

Niels is a firefighter in Germany.  Back in the spring of 2022, he arrived in Kharkiv to help assist. Later, he performed tasks with rescuers in the Donetsk region: he eliminated the consequences of enemy shelling, extinguished fires, and cleared rubble. The rescuer also worked in the Kherson region in the first days after the Kakhovka dam collapse. 

During this time, the volunteer rescuer went home for only a few months.  And recently, he got back to the Kharkiv region again.

• volunteers
• Kharkiv

Twenty-three years old Ryan used to work in the US Navy.  During the full-scale invasion, he decided to come to Ukraine and help people. He joined the Building Ukraine Together volunteers, the Odesa department in particular, where volunteers built the first Military Leadership Center in Ukraine. The man poured concrete and prepared the walls for painting. And now, as part of the Building Ukraine Together camp, he is assisting to equip the space of the Ridne Misto  (‘Hometown’) youth center in the city hall in the Ternopil region. The man says he is impressed by the strength and unity of Ukrainians.

For reference:  Building Ukraine Together is a non-governmental organization that creates opportunities for young people to change the country through volunteering.

• reconstruction
• volunteers
• Ternopil

Volodymyr became interested in pottery in his youth: he tried different techniques and learned from many masters. He had to quit doing it when Russia first attacked Ukraine in the east. Volodymyr mobilized in 2015, took up an anti-tank guided missile, and became an enemy of Russian tanks. After demobilization, he got back to his hobby of pottery. After February 24, 2022, Volodymyr began volunteering and helping Ukrainian defenders. In particular, he visited one of the capital’s hospitals to support the military and hold a pottery workshop for them. Today, the veteran and his wife conduct art therapy for the military in their workshop. They have enlisted the support of the Ukrainian Veterans Fund to scale up into a Pottery Art Center and create an art residence. They plan to take in more military personnel who need therapy.

• culture
• military
• psychological support
• volunteers

Before the start of the full-scale invasion, the company of Kharkiv-based Ihor Yefimenko was doing car repairs. After February 24, 2022, his team reformatted and began manufacturing level 5 body armor for the military. When a relative of Ihor Yefimenko lost his toes due to a mine explosion, the entrepreneur realized that his team should also develop protection for sappers and EOD experts. They took the Canadian model as a basis, adapted it to the needs of the Ukrainian military and rescuers, and began production. The weight of each boot is 4 kilograms, and the team uses 3D printers to manufacture the parts. Ihor Yefimenko explains that boots are not a magic cure, they will not be able to completely prevent injury, but they still allow those who use them to avoid traumatic amputation.

• military
• volunteers
• Kharkiv

Vitalii Hrytsayi is 48 years old and has been repairing cars in Zaporizha for 28 years. The man is a veteran who fought in 2014 in Mariinka, Donetsk Oblast. Later he was demobilized and returned to car repair. Vitalii says he has always dreamed of building a car with his own hands, but he never thought he would have to make one for the war. It took the mechanic 6 years to build his first all-terrain buggy entirely on his own in his spare time. When the full-scale invasion outbreak, he had to speed up because his military friends asked him to build them a war buggy. Now Vitalii is building his third all-terrain vehicle. Each vehicle is different from the others because Vitalii modifies the design to fit a specific task for the soldiers: reconnaissance, assault, or evacuation. Vitaliy cannot draw, so he keeps all the necessary diagrams and calculations in his head.

The mechanic says that Ukrainian defenders need such buggies because they are difficult for the enemy to detect. And they go where a jeep or off-road vehicle cannot.

• volunteers
• Zaporizhzhia

The Military Sewing Company is a voluntary association of people who volunteer to sew adaptive clothing for wounded soldiers: pants, shorts, underpants, T-shirts, etc. The adaptive clothing with Velcro, ties, or buttons is designed so injured defenders can put it on comfortably and painlessly. 

The Military Sewing Company has already produced over 30,000 pieces of such clothing. They are sent to more than 50 medical institutions across Ukraine, as well as to soldiers in need of such garments.

The Military Sewing Company was founded in Dnipro. People who have joined the initiative and sew clothes (in workshops, sewing shops, or home-based ones) are located in Kyiv, Dnipro, Rivne, Poltava, Zhytomyr, and Lviv. Some seamstresses are actively involved in sewing while residing in Norway, Germany, and Canada.

• casualties
• military
• volunteers
• Dnipro
• Kyiv
• Lviv
• Poltava
• Zhytomyr
• Rivne