Themes by tag: women

For ten years, dog trainer Larysa Borysenko searched and returned the bodies of dead soldiers and civilians to their relatives. In addition to working independently during search and rescue missions, the woman headed the Antares search and rescue squad. Larisa’s life almost ended in March 2023 in Kharkiv region, when she, along with her partner and a search dog, blew up on a tripwire. Larysa was seriously injured and was in a coma when she was taken to a hospital in Dnipro. The doctors did not expect a positive outcome, but Larysa woke up from a coma, underwent rehabilitation and returned to the Pavlohrad-based search and rescue squad a few days ago.

• animals
• casualties
• dead
• women

Aelita Basanets is a mother and wife of an Armed Forces serviceman. When the full-scale invasion began, she went to Poland with her son. She returned eight months later wanting to be as close as possible to her beloved and the military’s families. Aelita saw women losing their husbands in the war withdrawing into themselves and becoming reserved, distancing people. She decided to support them and founded the Children of Angels charity in Kremenchuk, which provides free care for military children and their wives. The foundation’s volunteers are tutors who prepare children for higher education institution admission. The volunteering services also include eyebrow artists, dentists, and makeup artists who work with the wives of fallen soldiers.

• children
• volunteers
• women

Driving courses for women who found themselves in difficult life circumstances due to the war were launched in the capital: they were forced to leave their homes, they lost their work, income or survived the occupation. The first class has already taken place. After completing the courses and successfully passing the exam, students will be able to obtain category B licenses.

The Kyiv City Administration reports that the pilot project will provide an opportunity for 15 women to get a new profession and obtain a freedom that a car can provide, become independent and self-confident. Inclusive education for 5 women with disabilities is also provided separately.

For reference: The training courses are held as a part of the project for the development of the economic capacity of women “VONA hub,” which is carried out by the UN Population Fund in Ukraine with the implementation by “Innovative Social Solutions” NGO, upon the initiative of the Kyiv City State Administration and with the financial support of USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (BHA).

• casualties
• women
• Kyiv

Andriana joined the defense of Ukraine for the first time in 2014. The woman was a member of assault troops, during the anti-terrorist operation, she participated in the battles for the Luhansk airport. Later, Andriana returned to civilian life and founded the “Veteranka” movement. Together with the members of the movement, the servicewoman fought for the women’s right to serve in the Ukrainian army. Immediately after the beginning of the big war, Andriana took up arms again. She fought in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Kherson regions. Nine months ago, the military woman was blown up by a mine. After long-term treatment and rehabilitation, Andriana is preparing to return to the front again.

Important notice: Until the end of September, Andriana will stay in Kyiv. Then she is going to the front.

• military
• women

On September 14, the Veteranka Women’s Veteran Movement and the Hospitallers medical volunteer battalion representatives of NGOs that support women defenders will gather in Kyiv. The mission of the event is to emphasize the need for reliable protection for female servicewomen and to showcase the first anatomical female body armor suit made in Ukraine. The suit called “Ruta Liuta” (Furious Rue) was developed by Ukrainian Armor™ and has been certified by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.

Event accreditation is required.

For reference: Since 2014, women have been actively participating in the fighting in the East. According to the Ministry of Defense’s latest data, there are 42,000 female soldiers in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, including 60,000 civilian employees. Of these, 5,000 women are defending the country on the front line alongside men.

• military
• women

Olha Lekova first faced the war in 2014, when Russia attacked Ukraine in the East. The woman fled Donetsk almost on the last available train going to Kyiv. Here, she started her own business, an interior design studio. When the enemy stepped to the capital’s outskirts in 2022, she decided to stay and fight. She started to equip shelters that were in a poor state. Together with her team, Olha creates shelter furniture from recycled plastic collected by ordinary Kyiv residents and donated by businesses: chairs, tables, and folding beds. So far, they have managed to equip 15 shelters in 8 country regions.

• casualties
• occupation
• women

Tetiana Romaniuk joined the volunteer battalion “Hospitallers” in September 2022, when her skills as a quick response volunteer of the Red Cross Society in Ukraine came in handy. The woman went to the front line with five years of experience in emergency situations. In the break between evacuation missions, Tetiana works on towel embroidery, which is her way of trying to restore Ukrainian culture, which is being destroyed by the russian military.

• doctors
• volunteers
• women

With the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Fortune Volunteers NGO took up the task of providing medical supplies to the military. Volunteers, mostly women, began sewing first-aid kits for those at the front and learning what to fill them with. Currently, female volunteers sew first-aid kits according to NATO standards and fill them with medicines that may be needed at the front. In addition, women make knee pads and stretchers for carrying the wounded. Women from Zhytomyr say that they try to make everything as sturdy as possible so that things can last longer. But they always hope that none of the soldiers will have to use their first-aid kits.

• volunteers
• women

Before becoming a farmer, Natalia Koval taught at the Kharkiv National University of Economics. In 2011, her husband suggested starting a farm and Natalia agreed. In 2022, their family farm in one of the villages of Kharkiv region had more than three hundred cows and 12 employees. With the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the farm was occupied.

Families with children remained in the village, and the farm became their salvation. After all, milk was distributed there for free, as well as bread baked by farm employees. The farm had its own generator, and thus electricity. Sometimes one could even catch a mobile connection there.

Occupiers took Natalia’s husband “to the basement,” he miraculously managed to get out. Today, the farm is recovering after all the horrors it experienced.

For reference: on September 6, 2022, Ukrainian troops launched a major counteroffensive in Kharkiv region. Subsequently, Kharkiv region was completely de-occupied.

• animals
• occupation
• volunteers
• women
• Kharkiv

Kateryna Pryimak is one of the leaders of the Ukrainian Women Veteran Movement and a veteran of the russo-Ukrainian war. Kateryna knows firsthand how uncomfortable a uniform for women can be, if it has been sewn by man’s uniform standards. Therefore, when servicewomen began to request uniforms, the Ukrainian Women Veteran Movement, led by Kateryna and her sister in arms Yuliia Sidorova decided that it was time to create one on their own. The workshop started its work about a year ago, later Kateryna turned to the Ukrainian Veteran Fund for help in order to receive a grant and financial support for the development of production. They succeeded. With the grant, the workshop was able to expand to include workstations for volunteers and start courses on sewing technique. Civilians and three female veterans became their first students.

Kateryna is in Kyiv. The veteran woman is ready to communicate with journalists, both online and offline.

• military
• women