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Oksana is a soldier in the 13th Khartiia Brigade of the National Guard. She is 19 years old and openly identifies as bisexual.
Oksana was still a teenager when the full-scale invasion began. When the girl turned 18, she decided to join the military. She chose the 13th Khartiia Brigade of the National Guard – in part because of its tolerant attitude toward LGBTQ+ service members.
After completing her training, Oksana specialized in assembling FPV drones.
Currently, Oksana is on the front lines. You can communicate with her both online and offline by prior arrangement and with the approval of the press officer.
Yuliia and Serhii shared 27 years of a happy marriage. Together, they raised two daughters, Victoriia and Valeriia. The couple built their home with their own hands – Serhii oversaw the construction, while Yuliia, skilled in painting and plasterwork, contributed her expertise. Their teamwork eventually grew into a small family business, renovating apartments from start to finish.
Russia’s full-scale invasion found the couple at home in the Kyiv region. On the war’s first day, Serhii attempted to enlist in the Armed Forces, but long lines at military registration offices held him back. For a year, he kept trying – and in the meantime, he volunteered.
He later joined the 15th Border Guard Detachment. Though frequently deployed to the front line, Serhii always managed to send a few words to his wife. But after one mission, he never came back. For his unwavering commitment and courage, he was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal “For the Defense of Ukraine.”
For reference: The Children of Heroes charitable foundation is currently supporting the family. The organization assists children who have lost one or both parents due to Russia’s full-scale invasion by providing financial aid, psychological and legal support, and resources for education and personal development until they reach adulthood.
Nataliia Tarabalka, mother of the late Ukrainian Hero and renowned fighter pilot Stepan Tarabalka, has opened a rehabilitation center for service members in memory of her son, who was killed in an air battle in March 2022.
Working with a psychologist helped Nataliia process her grief. Inspired by this experience, she used the state compensation she received for her son’s death to establish the “Warmth of a Winged Soul” rehabilitation center in Prykarpattia. The facility offers both physical and psychological support for active-duty and former military personnel.
Nataliia Tarabalka is available for consultations—both in person in Kolomyia, Ivano-Frankivsk region, and online—by appointment.
For reference: Captain Stepan Tarabalka, 29, was killed in an aerial battle on March 13, 2022, in the skies over Zhytomyr. On the first day of russia’s full-scale invasion alone, he reportedly shot down six enemy aircraft, including a Su-27, MiG-29, two Su-35s, and two Su-25s. Flying a MiG-29, he went on to destroy a total of 40 enemy aircraft. Tarabalka served with the 40th Tactical Aviation Brigade of the Ukrainian Air Force, which in 2024 was awarded the honorary title “The Ghost of Kyiv.”
Vladyslava Romaniuk is a general practitioner and gastroenterologist. She leads the medical volunteer mission FRIDA Ukraine and also serves as the head of the infection control department and project manager at the treatment and rehabilitation center for military personnel at the Oberig Multidisciplinary Clinic.
Originally from the village of Mykilske near Mariupol, Vladyslava moved to Kyiv in 2012 to pursue her studies.
Just days before the full-scale invasion began, she and her family had gone on vacation. On the first day of the war, her husband was in Mariupol but managed to reach the Zaporizhia region. After returning from their trip, her parents remained in the capital. Her grandparents, however, are currently living under occupation. Vladyslava is also a mother.
She was among the first volunteers to join FRIDA Ukraine. Since then, she has taken part in approximately 50 medical missions to areas that were previously under occupation. Vladyslava provides care to patients both in bomb shelters in Donetsk Oblast and in a Kyiv-based clinic.
She has repeatedly taken part in highly dangeros U.S. missions. For instance, volunteer doctors, including Vladyslava, operated in Bakhmut, Donetsk Oblast, while intense street fighting raged through the city.
Interviews with Vladyslava can be arranged in Kyiv or during one of the field missions conducted by the team of medical volunteers.
For reference: FRIDA Ukraine is a non-governmental, non-profit medical mission consisting of volunteer doctors from Ukraine and Israel. Since the onset of the invasion, the mission has provided emergency and outpatient medical care to civilians affected by the hostilities.
Anna and Andrii met four years before russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The couple had planned to marry in 2022, but the war upended their plans. After the invasion began, Andrii joined the Ukrainian Armed Forces, serving in the 47th Magura Brigade as a senior mechanic and driver of a Bradley fighting vehicle.
The couple finally wed in March 2023. That summer, Andrii was wounded in combat. He was fortunate: shrapnel missed his carotid artery by mere millimeters. After recovering, he returned to the front lines. Anna saw him for the last time in the fall of 2023. On October 19, 2023, Andrii Lukivskyi was killed in action in the Donetsk region.
Anna was notified of his death the following day. She was told the bodies of the fallen had been brought to Kyiv, but she received no further updates. Desperate for answers, she launched her own search. For ten months, she looked for any trace of her husband. Eventually, she found him—his body was listed among the unidentified in the Ministry of Internal Affairs database.
What led to the breakthrough was a handwritten note Anna had given Andrii the day before his final mission. He had taken it with him, and it was found with his remains. That note became the key to confirming his identity.
Later, Anna learned that a DNA match between the “unidentified soldier” and Andrii’s family—his mother and sister—had already been established. But the relatives were never informed.
Anna Lukivska is available for interviews both online and in person, by prior arrangement.
Larysa Hurova, owner of the OgOgO Kozi-Kozi home farm in the Volnovakha district of Donetsk region, is racing against time to secure a haven for her livestock. When russia launched its all-out invasion, Hurova managed the farm with four employees and around a hundred goats.
The relentless shelling and the farm’s proximity to the front line have made operations increasingly untenable. Nearby villages have been reduced to ruins, and the farm has been without electricity since December 2024. As conditions continue to deteriorate, Hurova has begun searching for a safer location to preserve her livestock and rebuild her farm’s operations.
The OgOgO Kozi-Kozi home farm is now urgently seeking a secure place to resume its work.
Larysa Hurova is available for online discussions by appointment.
Viktoriia Didovets, a charge nurse in the Intensive and Efferent Therapy Department for Acute Intoxication at the National Children’s Hospital Okhmatdyt, was injured during a missile strike on the hospital on July 8, 2024. As the attack unfolded, she was evacuating children on dialysis to a shelter when a missile struck the building.
By the time Viktoriia was rushed to the operating room, her pulse was barely detectable. She was diagnosed with a fractured pelvis, an open hip fracture, a ruptured liver, and injuries to her face and ear. For more than eight months, she has been undergoing treatment, determined to regain a full life.
By prior arrangement, Viktoriia is available for interviews in Kyiv or online.
Background: On July 8, 2024, a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile struck Okhmatdyt Children’s Hospital. At the time of the attack, 627 children were inside.
The strike killed two people—a doctor and a patient’s relative—while injuring 35 others, including nine children. On July 10, a boy who had been in critical condition in intensive care at the time of the attack succumbed to his injuries in a Kyiv hospital.
Halyna Hrytseniak, a medical doctor and Marine Corps veteran, spent 1 year, 7 months, and 12 days in captivity following the defense of Mariupol. Today, she volunteers with the Stalevi charitable organization and is an active member of the Stalevi veterans’ movement.
Her husband, Mykola Hrytseniak, is also a soldier—a Marine who fought in the defense of Mariupol. He endured four months in captivity before returning to military service as an instructor at the Marine Training Center.
Halyna recalls receiving her first marriage proposal on April 1, 2022, in a bunker at the Ilyich plant, where the hospital was located. Mykola, wounded with a gunshot to his leg, was lying there when he asked her to marry him.
More details on Halyna’s story are available here.
Journalists can arrange an online interview with her by prior agreement.
On March 25, Kyiv will host the forum “Gender Equality in Defenсe – On the Way to Justice and Human Dignity”. The forum aims to strengthen equality and justice in the Security and Defence sector, improve military service conditions, and analyze barriers to implementing inclusive and gender equality policies.
Additionally, it seeks to lay the foundation for an effective strategy that integrates a human-centred, gender-sensitive, and inclusive approach into the defence system at all levels. The event is part of the UK Special Defence Advisor’s Program.
Featured speakers include
- Kyle Sargon, Deputy National Security Adviser of the United Kingdom
- Olha Reshetylova (Kobylynska), Presidential Commissioner for the Protection of the Rights of Servicemen and their Families
- Colonel Petro Fivkin, Head of the Central Department for the Protection of the Rights of Military Personnel
- Members of the Ukrainian Parliament, representatives of civil society and active servicemen (both women and men)
The Forum program includes panel discussions on the following topics:
- Institutionalizing gender equality in the Security and Defense sector;
- Protecting the rights of service members and combating gender-based violence;
- Material support in the Armed Forces of Ukraine;
- Inclusion and diversity in the Security and Defense sector.
Kateryna Pryimak, head of the VETERANKA movement, will moderate the panel “Protecting the rights of service members and combating gender-based violence”.
Accreditation is required to participate in the event.
Note: The Forum is organized with the support of the following partners: British Embassy in Ukraine, Special Defense Advisor Program, VETERANKA Movement, StateWatch, and UK International Development.
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Olha Tolsta and her mother have been caring for cats abandoned by their owners in the northern Saltivka district of Kharkiv. To pay for the care of such a large number of animals, Olha began making traditional Ukrainian jewelry. Over the past three years, she has earned and spent more than 250,000 hryvnia on the animals.
In addition to feeding the cats, Olha and her mother try to take care of their health and find them new homes. Since the beginning of the full-scale war, they have managed to sterilize 30 cats and rehome another 30.
You can talk to Olha Tolsta either online or in person by prior arrangement.
