Themes by tag: women

Before the full-scale invasion, Nelli Ernandes served as director and lecturer at Makariv medical college in the Kyiv oblast. During the occupation, russian forces destroyed much of the town, leaving the college dormitory roofless and its façade, internal floors, windows, and doors obliterated.

After the liberation of the Kyiv oblast, Nelli immediately sought ways to restore the dormitory. With support from the Partnership Fund for a Resilient Ukraine, reconstruction began in December 2022. By September 2024, the community celebrated the reopening of the renovated dormitory, which now houses 60 students, including internally displaced persons.

Nelli Ernandes is available for interviews online or in person in Makariv by prior arrangement.

• occupation
• reconstruction
• russian crimes
• women
• Kyiv

Once a front-end developer in civilian life, a Ukrainian soldier known by the call sign “Mavka” now leads a UAV strike unit within the Yastruby regiment.

Mavka was born in Luhansk, a city under russian occupation since 2014, into a military family; her father held the rank of 2nd class captain. As a teenager, she dreamed of joining the armed forces, but at the time, she says, “it wasn’t considered something for girls.”

Following russia’s aggression in eastern Ukraine in 2014, she relocated from her native Luhansk to Kyiv. In 2020, she began training with the 135th Obukhiv Battalion.

In 2022, the war came for her home once again. On the first day of the full-scale invasion, she and her husband arrived at the military enlistment office at five in the morning. Just weeks later, on March 15, 2022, she took the oath of allegiance to the Ukrainian people.

Today, Mavka commands a strike team. She previously led a smaller strike crew, and before that, she served in an infantry unit.

The UAV commander is currently deployed on the front line. Interviews can be arranged in person or online with prior approval from the unit’s press officer.

• military
• women

Rusudana Pavlichenko is of Georgian descent. When the full-scale invasion began, she was abroad for her father’s funeral. For the first time in her life, Rusudana had to flee the war (the war in Abkhazia) when she was only 10 years old. She then came to Ukraine and has lived here her entire life.

Rusudana’s husband, Serhii Pavlichenko, defended Ukraine from the occupiers since 2014. He held the defense of Azovstal during the beginning of the full-scale invasion and was captured afterward. He died in a terrorist attack in Olenivka (a village in the occupied Donetsk oblast) on July 28-29, 2022. The couple had two children: 12-year-old Adeliia and 8-year-old Nazar.

Journalists can arrange to interview Rusudana in Cherkasy or online.

Currently, the family is being supported by the charitable foundation “Children of Heroes.” The foundation helps children who have lost one or both parents due to russia’s full-scale invasion. The foundation provides financial assistance, psychological support, legal support, and promotes education and development for children until they reach adulthood.

Background: On July 29, 2022, russia committed a terrorist act by detonating an explosion in a barrack of a correctional colony in Olenivka where Ukrainian prisoners of war were held. At least 50 Azovstal defenders were killed in the attack.

• dead
• military
• occupation
• prisoners
• russian crimes
• women
• Cherkasy
• Mariupol

A new initiative, Heroes Glory Golf, has launched in the Kyiv region, providing free golf training for Ukrainian military veterans. Tailored for those with combat experience, the program offers:

– golf instruction;

– participation in tournaments and competitions;

– outdoor recreation in a nature reserve;

– peer support and new connections within the veteran community.

The program aims to help veterans transition to civilian life through physical activity, skill-building, and a sense of community. Participation is entirely free of charge.

Eight women veterans have already enrolled, and recruitment for additional teams remains open.

Journalists may attend training sessions near Kyiv by prior arrangement.

Background: Heroes Glory Golf is organized by Heroes Glory, a veteran service organization, and is supported by the DTCare Foundation and the Women Veterans Movement.

• culture
• military
• women
• Kyiv

Marta Partem works in the IT sector. In the early days of the full-scale war, she and her colleagues organized the evacuation of refugees abroad, bought first-aid kits for soldiers, and later focused on the purchase of drones and electronic warfare systems. In total, the young woman has raised over three million hryvnia to support the Ukrainian defenders.

Through her volunteer work, Marta visited a military hospital in Lviv, where she learned that many soldiers did not have a vyshyvanka (traditional embroidered shirt). Together with her friend Oksana Brynzak, she decided to launch the “United by Vyshyvanka” initiative — a project for those who want to give embroidered shirts to soldiers as a token of gratitude for their service.

Marta shares that for many soldiers, these gifted vyshyvankas are the first they have ever received. She encourages those who wish to participate to send her their own or newly purchased embroidered shirts, which she will then deliver to the troops. The volunteer is also collecting donations to purchase vyshyvankas for the soldiers.

You can contact Marta Partem online or meet her offline in Lviv by prior arrangement.

• culture
• volunteers
• women
• Lviv

Before the full-scale invasion, Dariia and her husband were planning to buy their own home in the Kyiv oblast. Just as the couple was about to receive the keys to their new home, the great war began and an enemy shell landed near their house. The explosion damaged their new home, blowing out windows and shattering the roof and walls.

Dariia and her husband were forced back into renting. In addition, the woman lost her job, so she devoted all of her free time to decorating her temporary home. One day, she stumbled upon a video of crystal ornaments online. Inspired, she made her first piece and hung it in her window. As the sunlight danced through its prisms, the artisan came up with the name “sontselov” (meaning “sun catcher”). Soon after setting up a social media page, she received her first order. Today, Daria creates these luminous pieces with symbols of temporarily occupied cities — Mariupol, Berdiansk, Melitopol, Enerhodar. In three years, she’s made and sold more than 5,000 home decorations, eventually earning enough to buy a house with her husband.

You can speak with Dariia Terekhova both online and offline in the Kyiv oblast by prior arrangement.

• casualties
• culture
• women
• Kyiv

“I want my face to look like it did before the war” – these are the words of 43-year-old Oksana Serhiienko, a patient at the UNBROKEN Center, who was wounded while evacuating her children from the occupied part of Kyiv region during the early days of russia’s full-scale invasion.

russian troops shot Oksana in the face. The bullet shattered her jaw. She has since undergone multiple surgeries, including a procedure to reconstruct part of her lower jaw using a titanium plate. Though the operations saved her life, they left visible scars that she is now determined to erase.

Oksana is receiving treatment at the Aesthetic Medicine Center of the First Medical Union of Lviv, where doctors have already completed the first stage of laser resurfacing. She will require at least two more sessions to achieve the desired results.

For reference: Oksana Serhiienko’s care is part of a collaborative project between the UNBROKEN Center and L’Oréal Ukraine called “No Time for Beauty.” The initiative aims to help Ukrainian women heal by removing the physical marks of war from their faces and bodies.

The UNBROKEN National Rehabilitation Center operates under the First Medical Union of Lviv.

• casualties
• doctors
• russian crimes
• women

Vitalina “Baba Yaga” is a junior sergeant with the 208th Separate Territorial Defense Battalion. Every day, she prepares care packages for soldiers that are then airlifted by units of the 114th Brigade’s Strike Drone Company to the front lines where they’re needed most.

The drones deliver anything that can’t be sent by other means — as long as the payload doesn’t exceed the drone’s weight limit. Typical packages include medicine, sleeping mats and thermal blankets. Vitalina has also perfected special packaging techniques, such as freezing drinking water beforehand because bottles can break on impact during the drop, wasting precious cargo.

Sometimes soldiers make special requests, like one soldier who asked for birthday cake and milk. Thanks to the drone, his request was delivered directly to his position.

Vitalina is currently stationed on the Kupiansk axis. You can contact her online or in person, subject to prior coordination with the press officer.

• military
• women

After the beginning of the full-scale war, Viktoriia lost her job and turned to working with clay. The young woman created numerous pieces, including tableware. Her work caught the attention of a company that was looking for a craftswoman to make platters. The key feature of these plates is their pins, which help to secure food so that it can be cut with just one hand.

Viktoriia studied the necessary information, consulted with an occupational therapist, and created her first inclusive plate. Today, she donates her creations to restaurants, hospitals, and veterans who have lost an arm in combat. She doesn’t charge the military for her work – instead, her social media followers cover the cost.

You can contact Viktoriia Beliavska online or in person in Kyiv by prior arrangement.

• casualties
• culture
• military
• women
• Kyiv

Maryna Mirzaieva, 28, is a professional historian with expertise in the lives of women fighters in the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA). Following the onset of russia’s full-scale invasion, she began volunteering with the Ukrainian military, and by October 2022, she had officially joined the Third Separate Assault Brigade.

Her motivation was clear: “To have the right to write about the war.” Maryna carefully considered her role in the army, exploring options in combat medicine, drone piloting, and even completing a sniper training course. Ultimately, she chose to serve in the brigade’s moral and psychological support unit, where she delivers historical and motivational lectures to fellow soldiers.

She is also the author of Women of Freedom, a book that compiles biographies of women involved in Ukraine’s liberation movement. The work weaves together their stories with her own reflections and research on the ongoing russia-Ukraine war.

Maryna Mirzaieva continues to serve on the front line. Interviews with her are possible both online and in person, subject to prior arrangement.

• military
• women