Themes by tag: women

Olha Yehorova joined the Defense Forces in the summer of 2022. The woman says that she could not understand how it was possible to return to civilian life with a large part of Ukraine under occupation. So Olha turned to one of the centers of the Special Operations Forces and became a clerk. The woman wanted to prepare herself for further transition to a combat group, so she attended various specialized classes.

In the end, the military woman and her comrades managed to get into the sniper platoon, where the commander did not care about the soldiers’ gender and required everyone to work hard and learn to wield weapons skillfully. Currently, Olha is responsible for communications in her platoon. It is her job to ensure communication between the command and the soldiers.

For reference: Olha Yehorova is on the front line. The military servicewoman is ready to communicate with journalists, both online and offline, by prior arrangement.

• military
• women

Olha Pometun, a resident of Kamianka, Dnipropetrovsk oblast, is 37 years old. She was born with brittle bone disease. This is a congenital disease, when the bones are very fragile and break easily. In addition, in childhood, the woman suffered an injury that stopped her growth. Despite all the difficulties, Olha did not lose her passion for living. She took driving courses, bought a car and converted it to her own needs. In addition, she learned to swim and even wrote a motivational book.

With the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Olha took up volunteering. In her native Kamianka, the woman founded the United by Good Charitable Foundation. Currently, Olha’s team consists of seven people, all of whom are IDPs. They help the military, as well as civilians who need support. Since it was founded, the team has managed to help more than 10,000 Ukrainian families.

• volunteers
• women
• Dnipro

Valentyna Makarenko is a military servicewoman, a machine gunner and a musician. The woman joined the ranks of the Defense Forces after her father, Vitalii Filipov, callsign “Paton,” was killed in the fall of 2022 in Kharkiv region.

The woman decided that his death should not be in vain. Valentyna joined the army in the same military registration and enlistment office, where the documents confirming her father’s death were processed. Valentyna got the position of a machine gunner, and now she wants to retrain to be a combat medic, because she wants to save the lives of Ukrainian defenders. As of now, the military woman completed training in Chernihiv oblast and joined the fourth separate tank brigade. After the war ends, Valentyna dreams of returning to music.

For reference: Valentyna Makarenko is on the front line. The soldier is ready to communicate with journalists online.

• military
• women

Before the full-scale invasion, Yaryna Chuchman-Myno was planning to open her own tattoo studio. And Yaryna’s beloved, a licensed in dentistry, was going to head off on a trip to the Czech Republic. Instead, at the outbreak of the full-blown war, he voluntarily went to the local military enlistment office to perform military service. He died at the front in the first days of the Russian invasion.

After that, Yaryna studied at the National Defense University of Ukraine named after “Ivan Chernyakhovsky”. Her father, who supported her decision to join the army, was killed in action on the front line in March 2023. The father had been engaged in the Russian-Ukrainian war since the Revolution of Dignity in 2014 and mobilized again in 2022.

Now Yaryna is a platoon leader, serving in the Zaporizhia sector, with 14 soldiers under her command.

For reference: The soldier is ready to talk to journalists, both online and offline, by prior arrangement.

• dead
• military
• women

The Women of Steel NGO, together with the families of Ukrainian prisoners of war, invites the media to a peaceful action called Lost Connection to take place on December 10, in Kyiv. The event is aimed at supporting Ukrainian prisoners of war and their families.

“We want the Ukrainian government and society to hear us and demonstrate their intention to continue the decisive struggle for their liberation together with the families of Ukrainian captured defenders,” the organizers of the campaign state.

According to them, the exchange process has been completely paused for the past six months. Ukrainian soldiers held hostage in Russian custody are deprived of any chance to send word about themselves being in captivity.

Women of Steel is convinced that only the unity and integrity of society and increasing pressure on the aggressor state can influence the situation.

• military
• prisoners
• women
• Kyiv

Kateryna Hidzula is a mother of three and an entrepreneur from Khmelnytskyi. Three years ago, Kateryna started a hub for women. The main mission of the hub is to provide women with the opportunity for self-realization. Kateryna and her team deliver training sessions for the hub’s visitors. In particular, she gives the essential knowledge to run your own business.

When the full-scale war broke out, Kateryna started supporting displaced women with children. In April 2022, the Free Mom children’s space, launched with funding from the Ukrainian Women’s Fund, opened its doors in Khmelnytskyi. In the kid’s space, children can play and engage in development activities while their displaced mothers are busy with their work.

Currently, there are five free spaces for kiddos in Khmelnytskyi. Kateryna plans to scale up the project and increase the number of areas. And besides, she wants to continue conducting training for women.

• children
• women
• Khmelnytskyi

Bozhena Hrynko pursued a dental specialty such as orthodontics, but she wasn’t committed to dentistry for long. Instead, she started her own business, dealing with recyclables. With the full-scale invasion outbreak, she moved her family to the Zhytomyr region, and after the de-occupation of Bucha and Irpin, she returned to the capital. Bozhena’s husband has been in the military since February 24, 2022, as he is a career soldier.

In the spring of 2022, Bozhena mobilized to the 44th Separate Rifle Battalion as the head of the medical service and medical center. On December 12, 2022, Bozhena got injured in the Donetsk region. She stayed four months in hospitals.

Bozhena and her husband bought a house in the Kharkiv region, where new homeowners settled with their daughter after her injury and rehabilitation. The military woman gives free lectures and practical classes on tactical medicine and handling explosive ordnance at the local lyceum. Next to the Bozhena housing, there is a vacant undeveloped land where she, her husband, and fellow soldiers plan to start a rehabilitation center for the military.

• doctors
• military
• volunteers
• women

On December 5, on Volunteering Day, journalists have the opportunity to visit the rapid response headquarters of the VETERANKA Women’s Veteran Movement. In particular, there will be a meeting with influencers, who constantly support the movement, as well as with defenders and famous Ukrainians.

In addition, the program includes: a tour of the headquarters featuring the explanation of the movement’s activities. Visitors can also try their hand weaving camouflage nets and kikimora camouflage suits, as well as sewing women’s military uniforms and putting together a package for the front.

For reference: The headquarters of the Women’s Veteran Movement is special in that it was created on the first day of the full-scale invasion. The movement successfully raised money to pay for 5,000 individual and collective requests from the front and IDP women. Their aid to the army is worth UAH 70 million (drones, cars, uniforms, body armor, etc.)

• military
• volunteers
• women
• Kyiv

Viktoriia Zahreba has been engaged in a youth sports tourism job. When the full-scale war began, the frontline shifted to Viktoriia’s village in Zaporizhia Oblast. The woman acknowledged that there was no reliable shelter in the village and decided to create one. Viktoriia found a school basement where coal used to be stored. The basement needed to be cleaned up, so she turned to the Ukrainian Women’s Fund for support, applied for a grant, and won. The Foundation provided assets and the villagers got down to modern shelter equipment. It was opened in March 2023 and can accommodate 60 people.

The shelter also serves as a safe environment for leisure, where training and events in psychology, mine safety, psycho-emotional support for children, and women’s leadership are held.

• reconstruction
• women
• Zaporizhzhia

The NGO Ukrainian Valkyrie conducts self-defense training for women in Kyiv and the Oblast. These classes aim to overcome the fear of weapons, learn the gun culture, and acquire skills in armed self-defense. It also focuses on giving every woman, wife, and mother in Ukraine a chance to protect herself and her family from attacks on their lives and health.

Group classes are held 4 times a week. It combines two components: spiritual balancing and armed security training.

Among other things, women can train on a multimedia shooting simulator; gain basic knowledge of the law on hunting weapons; receive training in practical shooting exercises with rifled and smoothbore weapons; and receive first aid training.

The classes are attended by women of diverse occupations: accountants, educators, and beauty industry workers. Overall, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, about 800 women have completed the training, and about 150 have joined the Ukrainian security forces.

• women
• Kyiv