Themes by tag: women

Anastasiia Buhera faced the brutal reality of the full-scale Russian invasion alongside her parents in Izium, Kharkiv region. Originally there on vacation from her studies at a Kharkiv university, Anastasiia witnessed firsthand the devastation wrought by the enemy upon the captured city. She meticulously tracked the relentless bombardment, tallying the number of bombs dropped by Russian forces hourly. Every trip for bread was a perilous gamble, as each outing carried the risk of becoming her last. After a harrowing five months under occupation, Anastasiia managed to escape back to government-controlled territory. Upon her return, she received devastating news: her beloved Kostiantyn, who had been defending Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol since February 2022, had been captured by the enemy. Their last conversation took place on April 24, 2022, when Kostiantyn sent her photos and videos, promising his imminent return. Now, Anastasiia waits anxiously for Kostiantyn’s safe return, tirelessly working to keep the plight of those still held captive by Russian forces in the public eye.

• occupation
• prisoners
• russian crimes
• women

35-year-old Yuliia Hryhorieva, hailing from Chornobaivka village in the Kherson region, has endured a harrowing ordeal. Prior to the onset of all-out invasion, she diligently served as a junior nurse at a nearby hospital, while also tending to her garden during moments of respite. Miraculously, she emerged alive from the Russian occupation of her homeland.

Following the liberation of a portion of the Kherson Oblast from invaders, on November 23, 2023, Russian forces unleashed a barrage of artillery fire upon residential structures in Chornobaivka. The indiscriminate attack claimed the lives of three innocent civilians and left five others wounded, including Yuliia. 

Yuliia got shrapnel raining upon her legs as she traversed her yard when a nearby cluster bomb detonated. She mustered the strength to summon an ambulance, though her prospects seemed bleak as she awaited medical aid. Fortunately, passing Ukrainian soldiers intervened, swiftly evacuating her to Kherson hospital. 

Tragically, Yuliia endured the loss of her left leg above the knee due to the severity of her injuries. Additionally, she sustained an open fracture of the fibula in her right leg, necessitating further surgical intervention.

Yuliia accessed the Superhumans Center in Lviv by submitting an online application. Her primary goal is to regain mobility, master her prosthetic limb, and stride with confidence. Recently, she achieved a significant milestone by taking her first steps on the prosthetic device.

For reference: On November 11, 2022, the Armed Forces of Ukraine liberated Chornobaivka village in the Kherson region from occupation forces.

• casualties
• russian crimes
• women
• Lviv

Olha Kurtmallaieva, 24 years old, majored in finance. The russian federation’s full-scale invasion caught her in her native Berdiansk, Zaporizhia region (now the city is occupied). In the summer of 2022, she left the occupation.

Olha’s husband, Ruslan, has been defending the country since 2014 (he served in the Anti-Terrorist Operation and Joint Forces Operation zone). April 4, 2024 will mark two years since he got captured by the russians during the defense of Mariupol.

Olha is actively fighting for the release of her husband – she is trying to attend every demonstration calling on the release of the prisoners of war. She also co-founded an NGO that helps soldiers of the 501st Separate Naval Infantry Battalion to return home. (Together with other women, they organize rallies, arrange meetings and communicate with representatives of the Ukrainian authorities). And she does all this despite suffering from a serious illness: back in 2021, Olha was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma (cancer of the lymph tissue).

Already during the full-scale war, Olga found out that the disease had progressed from the second stage to the fourth. Doctors link it to great stress. Olha has now undergone 12 courses of chemotherapy. The treatment was very difficult (in particular, she was in the intensive care unit) and the woman had to go through it alone, without her beloved by her side.

Journalists can talk to Olha in Kyiv (in person) or online.

• military
• prisoners
• women
• Kyiv

Olena Chertkova, an economist by training, started her journey with volunteering efforts by taking matters into her own hands like making trench candles and fire starters during the invasion. By 2023, she shifted focus to dry showers due to high demand as a portable dry shower kit is a solution for military hygienic procedures in the field. 

Using online resources and modifying recipes from Ukrainian women on Facebook, Olena perfected her formula, opting for dermatological gel over baby gel and fine-tuning proportions through a month-long trial on herself. Over 5,000 showers later, she now oversees a team of assistants. 

Despite initial monthly costs of 2-3 thousand hryvnias, expenses have risen to 7 thousand hryvnias due to increased production. Olena’s showers, priced at 7 hryvnias, offer cost-effective relief compared to store-bought alternatives. 

Olena’s available for interviews in person in Zaporizhia or online.

• volunteers
• women
• Zaporizhzhia

On March 18, Kyiv will host the “Women Leaders Forum” – a forum of women leaders uniting for the sake of the future. The event is devoted to the discussion of key topics related to the role of women in the society, business, politics and science. The program includes 3 panel discussions:

• “National unity” – preservation of national identity, development of civil society and expansion of partnership between Ukraine and democratic countries, reintegration of temporarily occupied territories.
• “Regions and reconstruction” – development of regional policy and post-war reconstruction.
• “Synergy of education, business and society” – the development of education and values of equality among young people through the cooperation between universities, business and NGOs.

Invited guests of the forum include:

• Olha Budnik – President’s Commissioner for the Foundation of the President of Ukraine for the Support of Education, Science and Sports;
• Lesia Zaburonna – People’s Deputy of Ukraine;
• Tamila Tasheva – a Ukrainian Crimean Tatar human rights activist, public figure, volunteer. Co-founder of CrimeaSOS NGO;
• Tetiana Kahanovska – Rector of V.N. Karazin Kharkiv National University;
• Lilia Pashynna – Deputy of the Kyiv City Council, adviser to the Head of the Office of the President of Ukraine
• Nataliia Kryvda – Head of the Supervisory Board of the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation;
• Yevheniia Kuleba – Deputy of the Kyiv City Council, Founder and Chair of Misto-Sad NGO;
• Anna Gres – owner of Shovkova brand, actress. 

• women
• Kyiv

Tetiana Kuzmuk has been growing lemons, grapefruits, oranges and limes in Zaporizhia for 14 years. At first, the citrus garden was just a hobby for the woman, but then she turned gardening into her life’s work. Currently, Tetiana grows more than 30 varieties of different citrus fruits in her garden.

After the start of the full-scale invasion, gardening also became an opportunity for Tetiana to distract herself from the war, because Zaporizhia is affected by enemy shelling almost every day. Plants also bring material benefits, namely, donations for the Defense Forces. The woman started exchanging tree sprouts for donations to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Tetiana has already managed to raise UAH 200,000. The gardener transferred the collected funds to one of the military units.

• women
• Zaporizhzhia

Valentyna Hantseva, a stalwart of the Soldatske village library in Sumy oblast for over three decades, faced the ultimate test of resilience as the invasion broke out. Months before the onslaught, the library had undergone a modern facelift and invested in state-of-the-art equipment. However, the structure crumbled under Russian airstrikes, leaving nothing but the skeletal remains of walls and roofs.

Undeterred by occupation and aerial threats, Valentyna, alongside her husband, embarked on a daring mission to salvage the literary treasures. Amidst the chaos, they meticulously stowed away over 1,000 undamaged books in grain sacks, shielding them from destruction.

The tide turned in April 2022, as Ukrainian forces liberated the village. Generosity from a German philanthropist breathed new life into the ravaged library premises. Last autumn, Valentyna proudly swung open the doors, welcoming readers back to the cherished institution.

For reference: on April 2, 2022, Kyiv region was completely liberated from russian occupation. By April 6, 2022, the Defense Forces fully liberated Chernihiv region. On April 11, 2022, the then Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi announced that full control over the state border in Sumy region was restored.

• occupation
• reconstruction
• russian crimes
• women
• Sumy

Larysa Zahryva devoted 25 years of her life to education. The woman worked as a teacher, and in 2022 she headed the Social Services Center in Chernihiv oblast. With the beginning of the full-scale war, Mykhailo-Kotsiubynske village, where Larysa lived and worked, was occupied. For 37 days, the woman continued going to work and taking care of elderly people who remained in the village. Larysa hid documents from the russians and was at gunpoint five times. The invaders came to her house in the middle of the night and interrogated Larysa’s husband.

After Mykhailo-Kotsiubynske was released, Larysa managed to found the University of the Third Age with the support of the UN Development Program. Currently, several areas of study are available there: the Faculty of Healthy Lifestyle, the Faculty of Philosophy, and the Faculty of Applied Arts. In addition, Larysa created a project to ensure mobile social assistance – a car with volunteers helping residents with house chores that travels around Chernihiv oblast.

For reference: on April 2, 2022, Kyiv region was completely liberated from the russian occupation. By April 6, 2022, the Defense Forces fully liberated Chernihiv region. On April 11, 2022, the then Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valerii Zaluzhnyi announced that full control over the state border in Sumy region was also restored.

• occupation
• russian crimes
• women
• Chernihiv

Before the full-scale invasion, Tetiana Khomenko was a fourth-year university student majoring in tourism. On February 24, 2022, Tetiana was in the capital. With the first explosions, the girl moved to her native village of Nebelytsia in Kyiv region. On February 28, the girl came out of the basement of her house when she heard an explosion. Fragments of an enemy shell flew straight into her face.

Ukrainian defenders arrived at the site and evacuated Tetiana to the hospital. There, the woman was given first aid, and later transferred to a plastic surgery department. For the first time after the injury, Tetiana saw her face in a photo that she took by herself, because doctors and relatives wouldn’t let Tetiana look in the mirror.

Even though the surgeons managed to almost completely remove the consequences of the explosion, Tetiana took a long time to recover psychologically. Later, she decided to change her profession and began to study psychology instead of tourism. In the future, Tetiana plans to work with those who have also received mine and explosive injuries, in particular, with military personnel.

• casualties
• women

Tetiana, a 64-year-old kindergarten teacher and the head of two apartment buildings co-owners association from Hostomel. As the all-out invasion escalated, she did some prepping. She swiftly opened the basements of two condominiums she oversees, furnishing them with wooden pallets to provide refuge for over a hundred individuals, including a two-month-old infant. Tetiana and her neighbors rallied together, cooking meals in her apartment and even on the streets when communication lines went dead. Tragically, her husband fell victim to a blast wave, sustaining injuries.

On March 5, the invaders seized control of residential properties, compelling residents to seek shelter in the basements. Despite attempts to evacuate to a neighboring area, their efforts were thwarted as occupiers insisted on relocating them to Belarus, a proposal vehemently rejected by the locals. Tetiana herself could only escape the besieged town on March 11, 2022.

For reference: Fast forward to April 2, 2022, when Ukraine regained full control over the Kyiv region from Russian occupation, followed by the Chernihiv region liberation by April 6, 2022. By April 11, 2022, then Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, proudly announced retaking the state border in the Sumy region.

• occupation
• women
• Kyiv