Themes by tag: women

Families of defenders of Mariupol announced the establishment of the NGO “Ladies of Steel.” The Council of Wives and Mothers of the soldiers will control the process of the repatriation of POWs. For instance, they will launch a Telegram channel for communications that will help exchange the Ukrainian soldiers. Furthermore, they plan to become a mediator between the Ukrainian authorities and the defenders’ families.

• military
• prisoners
• women

Oleksandra, 82 years old, and her daughter Vira spend nights together with their dog and cat in a shed near their house destroyed by the russian army. The ladies sell potatoes to buy bread. Unfortunately, all their clothes remained under the building debris. When Ukrainian journalists told their story, people from all over Ukraine started sending aid to the old ladies and raising funds for them. Iryna Vereshchuk, Minister for the Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories of Ukraine, also paid interest in their story. However, the ladies still have no home. 

• casualties
• russian crimes
• women
• Kyiv

Associated Press published video footage from the bodycam that belongs to Taira, a volunteer taken into captivity. Yuliia Paievska, who went by call sign Taira, is a Ukrainian paramedic, volunteer, founder, and leader of Taira’s Angels, a medevac volunteer unit. 

 Yuliia was captured by russian invaders in Mariupol after handing over the footage to journalists. Videos show scenes of her saving the wounded and consequences of the shelling of Mariupol by the enemy. There is also footage of russian POWs.

Yuliia was taken into captivity in mid-March. russian propaganda outlets portray her as a “member of Azov battalion.”

• doctors
• prisoners
• women

Olena from Hostomel searches for her sister Liudmyla who disappeared together with her husband from Hostomel while the russians occupied it. On March 22, Liudmyla came under fire. She suffered serious leg wounds. russian soldiers took her purportedly to the military hospital. Ihor, her husband, went there together with his wife. However, they never came back from the hospital.

It has become known by now that Ihor is kept in a pre-trial detainment facility in russia, and no information is available as to what happened to Liudmyla. After Hostomel had been liberated from russians, Olena submitted a statement to the World Organization Against Torture. She hopes to find out what happened to her sister and where she is.

• casualties
• russian crimes
• women
• Kyiv

Plotting the course, determining the vessel’s location, or calculating its movements are the navigator’s duties on a vessel.  These jobs are usually done by men. However, Yevheniia Bakai is the first female navigator of the Navy of Ukraine’s Armed Forces. She mastered the Ship Navigation specialty some time ago and then practiced her skills on ships and powerboats of the Ukrainian Navy. Currently, she is a crew member on one of the combat vessels.

• military
• women