Themes by tag: women

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

Maryna Muzyka and Dmytro met after russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. At the time, they lived in different countries, Maryna in Ukraine, Dmytro in the Czech Republic. A former soldier, Dmytro had served in the Ukrainian army until 2019, when he was discharged after sustaining injuries. But when the war escalated in 2022, he didn’t hesitate. On March 4, just days after the invasion began, Dmytro returned to Ukraine and enlisted in the 59th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade.

Their paths crossed in Mykolaiv, where Dmytro and fellow soldiers were looking for a place to stay. The two quickly grew close. Eventually, Maryna moved to the Donetsk region to be near him, waiting for him to return from combat missions.

On July 1, 2024, Dmytro Muzyka was killed in action during a mission in the Donetsk sector.

The couple had often talked about building a future together, dreaming of launching their own business someday. After Dmytro’s death, Maryna decided to turn that dream into reality on her own. She opened a coffee shop in Mykolaiv and named it Mykyta the Cat, a tribute to her fallen husband, who, she says, had remarkable night vision and moved with the silent grace of a feline.

Maryna designed the space with a theme she calls “combat cats”, a nod to the qualities she saw in Dmytro and the soldiers he served with.

Maryna can be reached for interviews in Mykolaiv or virtually, by appointment.

• dead
• military
• women
• Mykolaiv

In 2018, Olena Nabokova and a group of friends founded the NGO Ukrainian Womanity in Zaporizhia. At the time, she was also the sole caregiver for her son Sasha, who lived with bronchial asthma. In 2020, Sasha, then 17, went to bed one night and never woke up. Devastated by the loss, Olena turned to a psychiatrist for support, unable to cope on her own.

When russia launched its full-scale invasion, Olena was still in her hometown of Zaporizhia. She immediately began volunteering, transforming her apartment into a hub and storage space for humanitarian aid. “We gathered medicine, batteries for hearing aids, food, hygiene items, anything people with health conditions might need,” she recalls.

As it became clear that the war would not end quickly, Olena expanded her efforts. She launched a Center for Children and Women in Difficult Circumstances. Over time, the focus shifted from emergency relief to long-term support, offering training sessions and educational programs for both adults and children.

Now studying to become a positive psychotherapy therapist, Olena continues her work with renewed purpose. Meetings with her are available both online and in person in Zaporizhia, by appointment.

• casualties
• volunteers
• women
• Zaporizhzhia