Themes by tag: women

A 20-year-old servicewoman in the 63rd Separate Mechanized Brigade with the call sign Bilka became a widow when her husband, Pavlo, was killed on the front lines. After losing her beloved husband, she joined the army to fight the enemy.

Bilka chose to specialize in drone operations because Pavlo was also a drone operator. Initially, she wanted to work with reconnaissance drones, but she currently pilots FPV drones. After completing her training, she began serving in the brigade, carrying out combat missions. She believes that, through her flights, she feels her husband’s presence because she is continuing his work.

Interviews with Bilka can be arranged online or in person by scheduling an appointment with the press officer in advance.

• dead
• military
• women

The Committee of the All-Ukrainian “Rushnyk of Hope” campaign invites you to join the final stage of the initiative to support the families of those missing in action and prisoners of war. The event will take place on October 1 in Kyiv.

The campaign has united thousands of women from Ukraine and the diaspora, who have embroidered the “Rushnyk of Hope” as a symbol of love, unity, and prayer for the safe return of our Heroes.

Event program:

• Addresses by defenders’ relatives;
• Greetings from representatives of state authorities;
• Participation of military chaplains, clergy, and choirs.

Registration is required to attend.

Background: The campaign organizers are the NGO “Women’s Family”, which includes the associations “Women of the Territorial Defense”, “Women of the Armed Forces”, and the NGO “Born Free 2024” (93rd Separate Mechanized Brigade “Kholodnyi Yar”) – communities that have worked for many months to ensure missing and captured soldiers are not forgotten by society.

• culture
• women
• Kyiv

Kateryna Sadurska, a native of Kharkiv, is a champion athlete who has won gold medals at the World Championships and set world records in freediving. Throughout her life, she searched for the perfect swimsuit that could withstand chlorinated water without deteriorating.

Eventually, she decided to create such a suit herself. She chose nylon made from discarded fishing nets recovered from the sea as the material. This fabric is resistant to saltwater and chlorine, and it offers UV protection. It can also be recycled multiple times. Kateryna designed the swimsuits and found a manufacturer in Kharkiv to produce her first collection. The project’s scaling plans were disrupted by the full-scale russian invasion, and Kateryna considered closing production. However, loyal customers kept asking if more swimsuits would be available, so she decided to keep the business going.

Kateryna Sadurska is available for interviews online and in person in Kharkiv from October 7-9 by prior arrangement.

Background: Kateryna Sadurska won first place in the Constant Weight Bifins (CWTB) discipline at the 2025 World Championship, which was held under the auspices of the International Association for the Development of Freediving (AIDA). The Ukrainian athlete dove to a depth of 97 meters, setting a new national record for Ukraine. This marks her second gold medal at this tournament. Sadurska’s collection now includes nine World Championship gold medals.

• culture
• women
• Kharkiv

In January 2018, Ona Uzoma Asompta, who was born in Nigeria, moved to Ukraine to pursue a medical education. She fell in love with Ukrainian culture, however, and after completing her studies, she decided to stay in Kyiv. After the full-scale invasion began, she evacuated to Portugal, but later chose to return to Kyiv despite the dangers.

Today, Ona does not work in the medical field. Instead, she works as a model and runs a social media blog where she shares insights about her life in Ukraine. Since the start of the war, she has also begun learning Ukrainian.

Ona Uzoma Asompta is available for interviews, both online and in person in Kyiv, by prior arrangement.

• culture
• women
• Kyiv

Before 2014, Mariia Fenenko lived in the Volnovakha district of the Donetsk oblast. As a child, she enjoyed helping her grandfather organize family photo albums and watching him take pictures. When Mariia moved to Donetsk to study, her mother gave her a gift – her first camera. She soon began receiving commissions for her photography and earning her own income. However, after russia first attacked Ukraine, Mariia was forced to leave her homeland and relocate to Kyiv.

In the capital, she resumed her studies and seriously dedicated herself to photography, turning her passion into a profession. Starting with the gift camera, she built a portfolio and saved up for a better used camera. Over the next decade, she became an accomplished photographer.

Today, Mariia contributes her skills to charitable projects that support the Ukrainian military and internally displaced persons. She dreams of capturing her most meaningful photograph yet: a free, de-occupied Donetsk oblast.

Mariia is available for interviews, both online and in person in Kyiv, by prior arrangement.

• culture
• occupation
• women
• Kyiv

Alina Kirina spent much of her childhood in her grandmother’s dental office. The early exposure influenced her career path. Despite her family’s warnings about the long, costly road to becoming a doctor, she chose the profession anyway, and earned her degree.

Her path, however, was anything but simple. In 2014, as a dental student, she fled her hometown of Luhansk with nothing but a backpack when russia first launched its assault in eastern Ukraine.

Together with her future husband, now a National Police officer and combat veteran, Kirina started over in Svatove, Luhansk region. For years she worked for others while quietly dreaming of opening her own clinic.

That dream was still out of reach when russia escalated its all-out invasion in February 2022. But this time, the couple knew how to act fast. Within hours of the first strikes, they had packed their car and driven to safety in the Dnipropetrovsk region.

In Dnipro, Kirina resolved to leap forward. With the help of a grant from the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation, she opened her own dental office. The practice is more than a business – it carries a mission of service. Every Thursday, she and her team offer free consultations to service members, their families, and displaced people. Ukrainian defenders also receive discounted care.

Kirina is available for interviews in Dnipro, either in person or online by appointment.

• doctors
• women
• Dnipro

Crimea-born artist Kateryna Tutierova, has transformed a soldering iron into an unlikely tool of artistry. Born in Bakhchisarai, she entered university in 2014, the year russia annexed the peninsula. Tutierova wanted to transfer to the mainland, but as a minor, she needed her parents’ consent, which they refused to give. Three years later, she graduated with a russian diploma and moved straight to Kyiv.

In Kyiv, she earned a second bachelor’s degree, followed by a master’s in cultural studies from Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, before starting a career in social media management. But after russia launched its full-scale invasion, Tutierova came across an online video demonstrating how to make jewelry with a soldering iron. Intrigued, she borrowed one from a friend, picked up the basics, and began experimenting. By March of that year, she had sold her first piece.

Today, Tutierova works with an alloy of tin and copper, metals that are both environmentally friendly and safe to wear. She began with earrings and chokers, then expanded into larger pieces such as handbags and paintings. Her bold, sculptural designs have since appeared on Fashion Week runways and on Ukrainian celebrities featured in magazines and music videos. Last year, singers Jerry Heil and Alyona Alyona performed at the Eurovision Song Contest wearing her creations.

Tutierova named her brand Sfurato,  a word she once misspelled during a university class. What started as a personal experiment has grown into a distinctive label defined by resilience, artistry, and reinvention. 

Those interested in her work can reach her online or arrange an appointment in Kyiv.

• culture
• women
• Kyiv

“Cap” had planned to join the military right after finishing school. However, things didn’t work out that way, so she first pursued a medical education as a dental technician and later taught pop vocals. When the full-scale invasion began, “Cap” was in her hometown of Bila Tserkva in Kyiv oblast. She volunteered, supported the military, organized fundraisers, until she realized she could be more useful in the armed forces.

After the first year of the full-scale war, “Cap” took time to prepare: she worked out at the gym, lost weight, improved her physical health, and simultaneously looked for a unit she wanted to join. That’s how she learned about Khartiia and, after several training sessions, put on the uniform.

During her service, she held several positions and eventually became an infantry battalion planner. She emphasizes that the army is open to everyone — women and men alike — to fight for a common goal. In her free time, “Cap” dreams of peace, a loving husband, a house of her own, and three children.

Interviews with “Cap” can be arranged online or in person, by prior agreement and coordination with the press officer.

• military
• women

Svitlana and Mykhailo both serve in the 13th Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine, also known as “Khartiia”. They serve together in the brigade’s medical company on the Kharkiv front. They have been together since 2003.

When russia’s full-scale invasion began, the couple was in Zaporizhzhia, where Svitlana worked as a therapist at a regional hospital. She received an offer to help evacuate wounded soldiers. She later considered enlisting in the military, and Mykhailo supported her decision.

In spring 2024, they applied to three brigades and ultimately chose “Khartiia”. Their main condition was to remain together. Currently, Svitlana is the chief of the collection and evacuation department, and Mykhailo is a driver in the motor transport unit of the support platoon.

Interviews with Svitlana and Mykhailo can be arranged online or in person with prior coordination and agreement with the press officer.

• military
• women

Diana Obzhelyan, 21, studied the Chinese language at Kyiv University and planned to become a translator. However, Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine upended her path. She switched to part-time studies and became a deminer with HALO Ukraine.

Diana spent a year demining the northern Ukraine and now teaches people how to stay safe from mines and other explosive hazards.

Journalists can arrange to speak with Diana, who works in various regions of Ukraine.

Background: HALO Ukraine is the Ukrainian program of The HALO Trust, the world’s largest non-governmental, non-profit humanitarian demining organization. For the past 37 years, The HALO Trust has been clearing mines and explosive ordnance in 30 countries worldwide.

• women
• demining