Themes by tag: women

Kateryna serves as a communications officer in the 13th Khartiia Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine. Before russia’s expanded war against Ukraine, she had no ties to the military.

She met her partner online, he was already in uniform at the time. After a few in-person meetings, it became clear they wanted to build a future together, regardless of the circumstances. Although Kateryna began talking about enlisting as a way to be closer to him, he initially opposed the idea. But she made up her mind: it was time to join the Defense Forces.

Her father also decided to enlist. Both passed the military qualification commission and chose to serve with the 13th Khartiia Brigade of the National Guard.

Kateryna completed the required training and took up her role as a communications specialist in one of the brigade’s units. Now, she often sees her beloved and allows herself to dream about the life they’ll share once the war is over.

Interviews with Kateryna can be arranged online or in person with prior coordination and approval from the brigade’s press officer.

• military
• women

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.

• doctors
• russian crimes
• women
• Kyiv

Anna Kosykh, a native of Dnipro now living in the Kyiv oblast, has been passionate about Petrykivka decorative painting since childhood. After earning a degree in education, she began teaching children this traditional Ukrainian art form.

When the full-scale invasion began, Anna chose to stay in Ukraine. Though her art school closed, leaving her unemployed, she soon found a new purpose: transforming spent ammunition casings into works of art that volunteers could sell at auctions.

Anna’s first “canvas” was a used Javelin missile tube, and one of her latest pieces was a transport tube from a Javelin missile. She paints anything sent to her from the frontlines. Anna auctions off the finished pieces and donates the proceeds to support the Ukrainian army.

Journalists can connect with Anna Kosykh online or meet her in Irpin by prior arrangement.

• culture
• women
• Kyiv

Kristina Avramenko was born and raised in Novotroitske, a village in the Kherson region. After finishing secondary school, she moved to Dnipro to continue her education before returning to Kherson to begin her medical internship. It was there, in Kherson, that she encountered the full-scale invasion.

In April 2022, Kristina managed to escape occupation and start anew in Brovary in Kyiv Oblast. There, she completed her internship and began practicing medicine. 

She says she’s not afraid to travel to frontline areas, joining other medical volunteers from the Frida Ukraine mission who operate mobile outpatient clinics and provide free medical care to civilians.

Kristina Avramenko is available for interviews both online and in person by prior arrangement.

• doctors
• women

Daria Morgen, a designer and illustrator based in Kharkiv, first noticed a growing number of people using prosthetic limbs on the streets back in 2014. This observation sparked an innovative idea: to create custom-fitted prosthetic limb covers using 3D printing technology.

Determined to bring her vision to life, Daria sought funding and was soon invited by the Norwegian Institute of Life Sciences to develop her project during a residency. In the summer of 2023, she printed prototypes there and explored the latest technologies and production methods. These prosthetic covers can be customized in a range of colors, patterns, and embellishments, tailored to the preferences of each individual. One of her earliest designs featured embroidery, serving as a distinctive artistic signature.

To raise awareness and reach those already adapting to prosthetic use, Daria connects with rehabilitation centers. She also aims to secure funding to provide these cosmetic covers free of charge to military veterans. Currently, all production of these prosthetic covers for war amputees is carried out on a purely volunteer basis.

Daria Morgen is available for interviews both online and in person in Kharkiv by appointment.

• casualties
• women

Before the full-scale invasion, Chaika had no military experience. In 2019, she married an officer of the 12th “Azov” National Guard Brigade. The couple split time between Mariupol and Zaporizhia. Just before the full-scale war began, Chaika was about to travel to Mariupol, but her husband forbade it. Her beloved, whose callsign was Buinyi, died defending the city.

A year and a half after this loss, she began dating another soldier. His death in 2024 marked the end of Chaika’s civilian life.

Joining the army became her way of fighting back against the enemy for all the pain she endured. She joined the “Stryzh” unit of the Ukrainian Volunteer Army and now serves as a drone operator. Although she dreams of starting a family and having children, she says that will only happen after victory.

Chaika is available for online/offline meetings in Zaporizhia by prior arrangement.

• military
• women

When russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Olha and her daughter Mariia had already taken very different paths, one in healthcare, the other in military training. Two years later, they serve together in the same unit of the National Guard.

Mariia, originally from Lysychansk in Ukraine’s Luhansk region, entered the National Guard Academy in Kharkiv in 2020. After the war began, her family evacuated to Dnipro. Her mother, Olha, who had worked for more than 20 years as a nurse in a maternity ward in Lysychansk, found a new job at a private clinic.

Soon after, Olha saw a recruitment ad calling for volunteers to join the Ukrainian military. Encouraged by her daughter, she applied to the 13th Khartiia Brigade of the National Guard. After graduating from the academy, Mariia joined the same unit. Today, Olha serves as a junior sergeant and nurse in a mobile dental clinic. Mariia is an officer in the brigade’s personnel department.

At home, the two women are supported by Mariia’s father, a retired State Emergency Service officer with more than 30 years of service. Her older brother serves in the Armed Forces as a combat medic.

For reference: russian forces occupied Lysychansk on July 3, 2022, after Ukrainian troops were ordered to withdraw. According to the Luhansk regional governor at the time, the retreat was conducted without casualties.

Interviews with Mariia and Olha are available online or in person by prior arrangement with a press officer.

• military
• women

Nadiia Hvozdyk has been serving her country since 2014, when russia launched its initial assault on Ukraine. After her demobilization from the Ukrainian army, she returned to the frontlines in a different way, first as a volunteer in 2022, and later as a driver for the humanitarian mission On the Shield.

For over a year now, Nadiia has been behind the wheel of a refrigerated truck, transporting the bodies of fallen soldiers back to their families in Rivne and nearby regions. She says driving the refrigerated vehicle is her way of fulfilling a solemn duty, helping grieving families lay their loved ones to rest with dignity and respect. For her, this role feels more meaningful than driving other vehicles in the convoy.

Beyond her work on the road, Nadiia also manages social media for the Rivne-based On the Shield mission. She writes about the emotional toll the job takes on drivers, sharing personal reflections and stories of those who make the final journey with the fallen.

Interviews with Nadiia Hvozdyk are available by appointment, either online or in person in Rivne.

• dead
• military
• women
• Rivne

Svitlana Matsiuta is an artist from Kherson. For the past 20 years, she has worked as an assistant set designer in a theater.

She experienced the full-scale invasion in her hometown. During the occupation, Svitlana and her son avoided leaving home out of fear of russian soldiers. Despite financial hardship, she rejected all offers to work in the theater under russian control. In March 2022, reports began circulating in media and social networks claiming that wild geese had “downed” an enemy military plane. Inspired by this story, Svitlana created her own toy battle geese.

These toys symbolize Kherson’s unbreakable spirit and resistance. Svitlana says the battle geese are especially popular among Kherson residents who have relocated to other parts of Ukraine or abroad. She has received orders from the U.S., the Netherlands, Germany, and Italy.

In addition to geese, the artist makes roosters inspired by the folk art of Maria Prymachenko and Polina Raiko. Creating these toys helps Svitlana distract herself from the shelling and keeps her dream of victory and the liberation of the rest of the Kherson oblast alive.

Svitlana Matsiuta is available for interviews online or in person in Kherson, by prior arrangement.

• culture
• occupation
• women
• Kherson

In April, Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces announced the formation of an all-female drone operator unit called “Harpy.” The unit was created for women who want to defend their families, children, and country using unmanned and robotic technologies. Although men can also join the unit, only women are assigned as strike pilots responsible for final target engagement.

The unit is commanded by Daria, call sign “DShK,” an active participant in the Revolution of Dignity who has been carrying out combat missions in multiple special units since 2022.

New recruits will undergo a 45-day basic military training course, followed by over a month of specialized instruction and additional time for crew coordination before combat deployment.

Journalists can interview — either in person or online — women who have joined the “Harpy” unit, by prior arrangement and with approval from the press officer.

Background: According to Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, as of January 1, 2025, more than 70,000 women serve in the Armed Forces, with over 5,500 currently deployed on the front lines.

• military
• women