Themes by tag: women

For more than three years, history teacher Oksana Struk has been living in anticipation of her husband, Kostiantyn, to come home from russian captivity. The couple, both teachers, have been together for over two decades and lived in the border village of Mala Vovcha in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, just three kilometers from the russian border. When russia launched its full-scale invasion, the village was among the first to fall under occupation.

Oksana and the couple’s son managed to flee to Ukrainian-controlled territory in August 2022. Kostiantyn, a physical educator, stayed behind. Soon after, Oksana learned that russian forces were targeting teachers who refused to cooperate with occupation authorities. One day, they came for her husband – he was arrested, and their home was searched.

According to Oksana, a colleague who was made principal of their school under the occupation denounced her husband to the russians. When Ukrainian forces liberated the village in September 2022, the collaborator fled to russia.

The International Committee of the Red Cross later confirmed that Kostiantyn is being held in russia. In all the time since his abduction, Oksana has received only one letter from him.

Today, she joins peaceful rallies alongside other families whose loved ones remain imprisoned in russia, demanding their release and urging international attention.

Journalists can arrange to speak with Oksana in Kharkiv or online by prior appointment.

• occupation
• prisoners
• russian crimes
• women
• Kharkiv

Before the full-scale invasion, Nataliia Havrylenko was an entrepreneur in Kherson. She was preparing for war and planned to join the Territorial Defense with her beloved. On February 24, 2022, the couple went straight to the military enlistment office. Soon, the Kherson Territorial Defense fighters, of which Nataliia was a member, received weapons. However, they only managed to serve for two days.

Nataliia recalls how a battalion commander entered the office of the newly formed unit, ordered them to lay down their weapons and flee home through the fields, and then left. In that moment, she and her husband, along with the other civilians, realized that they would have to defend their hometown on their own. Thus began the partisan movement in Kherson. Nataliia and her comrades set up a field hospital and established cooperation with the Special Operations Forces.

On July 7, 2022, russians broke into Nataliia’s home, where she was staying with her daughter-in-law, son, and grandson. She was taken to a temporary detention center, where she was held for several months. Although she was not physically tortured, she was interrogated using a polygraph and forced to give an interview to russian propagandists. Nataliia was released on November 1, 2022, without documents, money, or a phone.

Today, she continues her volunteer work supporting Ukrainian military personnel.

Nataliia Havrylenko is currently in Kamianske, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. She is available for interviews, both online and in person, by prior arrangement.

Background: 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 shell the city regularly.

• occupation
• prisoners
• russian crimes
• volunteers
• women
• Dnipro
• Kherson

Viktoriia Kramarenko worked at a burn center in Kyiv from 2008. When russia first attacked Ukraine in 2014, she began volunteering, traveling to the east to help save and evacuate wounded soldiers from the front lines.

Starting in 2015, Viktoriia officially served as a medic with military units, deploying on rotations to the front lines. In 2018, she founded the Wings of Victory charitable foundation.

Following the start of the full-scale invasion, Viktoriia began teaching tactical medicine to new recruits immediately. Once she acquired an ambulance, she began evacuating the wounded from Irpin, Bucha, and Hostomel. Subsequently, she worked near Lysychansk in the Luhansk region, assisting Ukrainian fighters in hospitals.

Through her foundation, Viktoriia launched a rehabilitation and recovery program for military personnel, purchasing sports equipment and setting up a swimming pool. They even bought a horse for hippotherapy. Viktoriia is currently applying for grants to secure financial aid and continue her work with service members.

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

• doctors
• volunteers
• women
• Kyiv

Yuliia Matvieieva, 32, lived in Mykolaiv with her husband, building an ordinary life until a russian drone attack changed everything. In July this year, a drone struck their home, sending nearly 300 shards of metal into Yuliia’s face and eyes.

Since then, she has undergone seven surgeries – four of them on her eyes. Her treatment continues, and she remains hopeful that one day she will regain her sight.

Together with her husband, Yuliia runs a blog on social media where she shares her journey of treatment and recovery. Despite the trauma, she says she dreams of seeing her husband’s face again and watching the sun set over the river.

Yuliia Matvieieva is available for conversations both online and in person in Mykolaiv, by prior arrangement.

• casualties
• russian crimes
• women
• Mykolaiv

Vira Biriuk, originally from the village of Bakhmutivka in Ukraine’s Luhansk region, endured a year as her village fell under russian occupation, followed by another year in enemy captivity. When russian forces seized her village at the start of the full-scale invasion, she decided to stay in her home despite the growing danger.

A year later, in the middle of the night, occupation forces broke into her house and took her away. The russians accused her of murder, but Vira believes the real reason was her Ukrainian passport, and the fact that her late brother had served in the Ukrainian military defending the Luhansk region.

Under torture, she says, she was forced to sign a confession. For the first month, she was held in a temporary detention facility, then transferred to a pre-trial detention center in Luhansk, where she spent nearly a year in harsh conditions.

In September 2024, Vira was released as part of a prisoner exchange. After a brief rehabilitation period, she settled at a social center’s temporary housing facility. Today, she works with a charitable foundation in Chernihiv that assists families of prisoners of war.

Vira Biriuk is available for interviews both online and in person in Chernihiv, by prior arrangement.

• casualties
• occupation
• prisoners
• russian crimes
• women
• Chernihiv

Olena Yahupova, a resident of the occupied town of Kamianka-Dniprovska in the Zaporizhzhia oblast, endured captivity and forced labor at the hands of russian forces due to her pro-Ukrainian stance. Olena worked in civil service for over 20 years and was known for her Ukrainian patriotic views. She was denounced for allegedly having a husband who served in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. In October 2022, occupiers seized her from her home.

During her detention, Olena was subjected to torture as the russians sought information on her husband’s whereabouts and details about other individuals with pro-Ukrainian views.

She was also forced into labor slavery, compelled by the occupiers to dig trenches alongside other hostages. Olena performed this grueling work while living in inhumane conditions. She managed to secure her release after more than six months in captivity.

Now that she is safe, Olena has filed a report with law enforcement and undergone forensic medical examinations. She has been diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury, cerebral microangiopathy, deteriorating eyesight, and injuries to her hip and shoulder joints. She has been assigned a second-degree disability. As a result of the torture Olena endured, she is scheduled to have surgery to replace two cervical discs with implants.

Olena has been officially recognized as a person deprived of personal liberty as a result of Russian aggression, a victim of human trafficking, and a victim of conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV).

Journalists have the opportunity to speak with Olena in the Kyiv oblast online or in person, by prior arrangement.

• casualties
• occupation
• prisoners
• russian crimes
• women
• Kyiv

Folklorist Yaryna Sizyk, animation director Mariia Ozirna, and the Kherson Art Museum named after Oleksii Shovkunenko have launched a project dedicated to the paintings stolen by russians during the occupation of the city. According to the museum staff estimates, the occupiers looted approximately ten thousand works of art.

The project’s goal is to attempt to recreate what the Russians took away. To date, the team has managed to “reproduce” a painting by Mykhailo Bryansky (1830-1908), “Portrait of a Girl in an Embroidered Dress”. The painting was not simply repainted but was modernized and animated. Ukrainian model and singer Daria Astafieva helped “bring it to life”; the artists transformed her into the girl in the embroidered dress from the stolen canvas. For the animation, the team used a shirt that Inna Mykutska, a tour guide from Kherson, embroidered during the occupation.

The team has also recreated the oil painting “Cossacks in the Steppe” by Serhii Vasylkivsky (1854-1917). Servicemen Roman “Dobriak” Kolesnyk and Stanislav “Ref” Zorii of the Armed Forces of Ukraine participated in the reproduction of this artwork. Yaryna and Mariia added the Ukrainian folk song “Oh, There Beyond the Seas…” performed by the band Shchuka-Ryba to this animation.

The project founders are currently working on further recreations.

Yaryna Sizyk and Mariia Ozirna are available for interviews with journalists in Kyiv.

Background: 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 shell the city regularly.

• culture
• occupation
• russian crimes
• women
• Kherson
• Kyiv

Pastry chef Anna Voskoboinyk and her husband first discovered their passion for desserts while living in Italy. After returning to Kherson, they opened an ice cream stand that gradually expanded into a small chain. In 2019, Anna entered a competition to create a dessert that would embody the spirit of her hometown.

She spent months experimenting, drawing on childhood memories and personal associations with Kherson, until she finally crafted a cake that captured the city’s essence. The creation, aptly named the “Kherson” cake, brought Anna widespread recognition and put her confectionery on the map.

The outbreak of war, however, forced her to leave her hometown. The couple chose to rebuild their business in Vinnytsia, bringing the Kherson cake with them. Today, it is a beloved dessert across Ukraine and has even gained popularity abroad, often purchased as a gift to carry a piece of home.

Anna Voskoboinyk is available to meet and discuss her creations, either online or in person in Vinnytsia, by prior arrangement.

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.

• culture
• women
• Kherson
• Vinnytsia

Tetiana Slavinska is a canine handler from Kyiv. In 2015, her military husband returned home after rotation. At the time, Tetiana was worried about how he would adjust to civilian life and decided that a dog would help him relax emotionally. This is how a beloved family member appeared – a Belgian Malinois named Drive. The family began a new life with training, and competitions. At the end of 2022, Tetiana was able to travel to Poland, where Drive was trained to locate the deceased.

The next challenge was physical protection: body armor for the dog. Tetiana searched for protective equipment in Ukraine, Europe, and America. Simultaneously, she considered the possibility of making it herself, as foreign equivalents were very expensive. Tetiana studied foreign models of dog body armor that her military canine handler friends brought her. She also consulted with a veterinarian, because body armor is not just about protection; it’s also about the dog’s ability to move freely. Furthermore, an improperly fitted vest can harm the animal’s joints.

Tetiana experimented with different models, changing the cut and adding new elements. For example, she added a strap to the body armor at the soldiers’ request, allowing the dog to be carried if there is a risk of injuring its paws (from shrapnel, broken glass, etc.). In the summer of 2025, Tetiana received a patent for her product. Currently, she has two working dogs and is using them to help demine the country.

Journalists can speak with Tetiana in person in Kyiv or online, by prior arrangement.

• animals
• women
• Kyiv

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