Themes by tag: women

Before the full-fledged invasion began, Natalia Dresvyannikova, the founder of the Vilna Nytka (Free Thread) craft and public workshop, was in charge of a shelter for victims of domestic violence. After the Kyiv region was fully retaken, Natalia decided to redefine the purpose of the shelter and began to help address the plight of women victims of war, as well as those who had returned from enemy captivity.

Natalia applied for a government grant funding opportunity, and volunteers from the Ukrainian diaspora in the United States helped provide the workshop with special equipment. The Vilna Nytka workshop teaches needlework to women and provides them with work. Currently, the workshop employs five women, and every day they do textile art with ancient ornaments on Ukrainian shirts. The shirts from the Vyshhorod craft workshop are shopped even in the United States, and part of purchase proceeds go towards supporting women’s shelters.

• casualties
• women
• Kyiv

Olena Rozvadovska, co-founder of the Children’s Voices Foundation is on the BBC 100 Women list. The project recognizes the achievements of women around the world and in all spheres of life – from volunteering to running international organizations. 

A 27-year-old Olena took up the position of press secretary at The Office of the Commissioner for Children’s Rights of the President of Ukraine. In this role, she became deeply involved in human rights activities and learned more about the problems children face. This was followed by 5 years of volunteering in Donbas, the founding of the Voices of Children charity foundation, and the growth of the team from 2 employees to 200 people. 

The Voices of Children Foundation provides psychological and psychosocial assistance to children and war-affected families.

Read more on Olena’s biography here.

For reference: This year, the BBC 100 Women has included two more Ukrainians, Oksana Zabuzhko and Iryna Stavchuk, in its list. Apart from the Ukrainians, 27 global climate activists made the list. Other inspiring women on this year’s list include Michelle Obama, a lawyer and former first lady of the United States, and Amal Clooney, a human rights barrister.

• children
• psychological support
• volunteers
• women
• Kyiv

Inna Surai has been working as a seamstress for over 22 years, over the course of which, she got to try her hand at making plushies, clothes and furniture. And after February 2022, she started sewing first-aid kits, body armor and webbing systems for the Ukrainian military.

This year, Inna received financial support from the state, because she managed to win a grant to open her own workshop. The tailor became the first in her district of Dnipropetrovsk region to receive such support. Currently, Inna is working on hiring more employees and increasing the capacity of her workshop. And although the business is not yet profitable, Inna continues to support servicemen and sew items for the needs of the Ukrainian army.

• women

Valentyna Korobka is 29 years old. She signed a military enlistment agreement with the Defense Forces in 2019 and drove an infantry fighting vehicle for the first time. Two years later, the servicewoman got married and gave birth to a child. Her son was less than six months old when Russia launched a full-blown war against Ukraine.

In August 2022, Valentyna returned to her comrades, became a pilot of kamikaze drones, and now destroys enemy targets from the air. However, at home, she hears reproaches from her parents, relatives, and even her husband, who stayed to live civilian life to take care of their son, asserting that she is a “bad mother.” Valentyna is having a hard time with the separation from her child, but she hopes that when her son grows up, he will understand her choice and be proud of her.

For reference: Valentyna is currently on the front line. She is ready to talk to journalists online.

• military
• women

Nataliia Plakhotniuk was born in Luhansk region and dreamed of becoming a teacher from an early age. She graduated from a university in the east, gained her first teaching experience, and later met her future husband. Pavlo is a professional soldier, who has been in the ranks of the Armed Forces since 2004. A few years ago, the couple moved to Bucha, Kyiv region.

On February 24, 2022, Pavlo and Nataliia learned about the beginning of the big war. The husband was immediately called up for duty, and Nataliia and her children left Bucha only on February 25, when russian tanks had already entered nearby Hostomel. After the liberation of Kyiv region and returning home, Nataliia realized that she wanted to teach children and open her own business. She learned about the Smartum training center franchise, got state financial support for military personnel and their families, and opened her training center in Bucha. Currently, 45 children study in Nataliia’s class. They study mental arithmetic, speed reading and English as well as prepare for school. 

• children
• occupation
• women
• Kyiv

Yuliia Dudysheva is a refugee from Crimea. Before the full-scale invasion, the girl lived and worked in Chernihiv oblast. She was working in advertising, and sometimes helped friends renovate their homes.

After the liberation of Chernihiv oblast in the spring of 2022, Yuliia quit her job and began looking for a new path for herself. In June of this year, the girl began to renovate, restore and decorate apartments for those who had to flee from the war. The first people Yuliia helped were her friends, who allowed the woman to furnish their home. Later, the Crimean woman met another family that needed help with repairs and design. Yuliia is active on social networks, where she shows the entire process of home renovation. Subscribers support her “Coziness for IDPs” project, in particular, they help purchase materials needed for renovation works.

• reconstruction
• women
• Chernihiv

Mariia Volia was born and raised in Mariupol, a city in the south of Ukraine that was destroyed and occupied by the russians last spring. The girl joined the ranks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in 2015. She wanted to defend the country after the first russian attacks on Mariupol. Currently, Mariia Volia is a mortar commander at the front.

Before the occupation of her hometown, the girl had been hiding her orientation. However, after she was wounded in Mariupol, and later escaped from the russian encirclement, Mariia opened up to her brothers in arms. Currently, the commander of the mortar unit hopes that civil partnerships will be legalized in Ukraine, because in the future she wants to get married with her partner.

• military
• women
• LGBT

At the onset of the full-blown war, Nadiia’s husband stood up to defend the country and joined the Territorial Defense. He was killed while holding the defense of Chernihiv region in March 2022. Three children became fatherless. The house that the man was building for his family was destroyed by the occupiers. Nadiia was offered to sell the land, but she refused because she dreamed of rebuilding the house in memory of her loved one.

Currently, Dobrobat volunteers are helping to restore the house. They have already brought building materials to the construction site.

• dead
• reconstruction
• russian crimes
• volunteers
• women
• Chernihiv

Oksana, born in Kherson, has 27 years of teaching experience (pursuing a career in out-of-school learning). At the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Oksana headed to her sister’s house on the left bank of the Kherson region and ended up in an occupied area. She managed to escape on June 1, 2023. Now she lives in a public housing community in the Kyiv region, and since September she has been holding Ukrainian language and literature classes for 9th and 11th graders in-person and online. Oksana gives online lessons in one of the kitchens of the social housing so as not to disturb other IDPs living nearby. 

In addition to teaching essential school subjects, she also runs the Dzhura club, an all-Ukrainian game for children and youth, a form of extracurricular work on the patriotic and moral education of children

For reference: November 11, 2023, marks the one-year anniversary of retaking Kherson. Also, during last year’s counteroffensive in southern Ukraine, the Armed Forces of Ukraine liberated some districts of the Kherson region and part of the Mykolaiv region on the right bank of the Dnipro River.

• children
• occupation
• women
• Kyiv

Ksenia Kostenko quit a successful IT career and started a farm in the Bucha district of Kyiv region. She even patented her own fertilizer production technology.

When Russia landed troops in the Kyiv region in February 2022, there were no workers on her field, which was a great joy to Ksenia. The farmer left for Kyiv and later learned that her house had been destroyed and the fields around her contaminated with mines. Ksenia engaged in volunteering and helping the Ukrainian army. Upon the de-occupation of the Kyiv region and having received permission from the sappers, she returned home. Now, the farmer is working to restore the capacity of her enterprise. 

• volunteers
• women
• Kyiv