Media Center Ukraine Producer Department

Nazari Krasovskyi signed a contract with the 12th Azov Brigade of the National Guard of Ukraine in 2020. The soldier was in Mariupol when the full-scale invasion began; he defended Azovstal and, alongside his brothers-in-arms, followed command orders and surrendered into captivity in May 2022.

Nazari spent 3.5 years in captivity. To keep his spirits up, the serviceman wrote poems, scratching the lines onto a piece of soap, and whenever the opportunity arose, he transferred the texts onto scraps of paper. He was returned home in August 2025 during a prisoner exchange.

Since then, Nazari has been undergoing rehabilitation at the UNBROKEN National Rehabilitation Center in Lviv. The soldier suffered a severe spinal injury while in captivity.

The serviceman shared that Ilona had been his friend for 15 years. During his rehabilitation, she immediately came to visit Nazari, and he realized he wanted to marry her. Ilona said yes to his proposal.

Interviews with Nazari Krasovskyi can be arranged either online or offline in Lviv by prior agreement. Photo and video materials of the marriage proposal moment are available for journalists upon request.

• casualties
• military
• prisoners
• russian crimes
• Lviv

If you are interested in this topic, you can obtain the subjects’ contacts from the Producer Department of Media Center Ukraine.

On June 21, the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War (Museum of the War) will host a meeting with released prisoner of war Mykyta Markitanov, poet Oksana Stomina—the wife of Dmytro Paskalov, a released defender of Azovstal—and artist Maryna Sochenko, who depicts prisoners of war in her works.

Despite health issues, Mykyta volunteered for the war in July 2023. He fought in the Avdiivka direction and was captured in February 2024. According to the soldier, he and other POWs were “sold” to Chechnya for forced labor. Mykyta Markitanov spent nearly two years in captivity, finally returning home on April 24, 2026. During his time in russian dungeons, he wrote a series of poems dedicated to the war and captivity, which he managed to smuggle out by hiding them in his shoes.

Oksana Stomina is a poet and public activist from Mariupol, as well as the author and editor of numerous poetry collections about the war, which have been translated into German, Italian, English, Spanish, Lithuanian, and Czech. In May 2026, her husband Dmytro Paskalov, an Azovstal defender who had been held in captivity since May 2022, was finally released from russian captivity.

Maryna Sochenko is a well-known artist, volunteer, and Honored Artist of Ukraine, whose son Lyubomyr volunteered for the front line and was killed in action. She created a gallery of works, dedicating many of them to her sons—the defenders of Ukraine.

Since the beginning of the war, she has been active as a volunteer. She drew wounded soldiers in ATO hospitals and visited the front lines several times, bringing back more than a hundred portraits of Ukrainian heroes and defenders. Among her works, those dedicated to the captured defenders of Azovstal stand out significantly.

At the meeting, Mykyta Markitanov and his family will share the story of his life and military journey, and read his poetry written in captivity. Oksana Stomina and Maryna Sochenko will speak about their creative experiences inspired by the stories of Ukrainian prisoners of war.

• culture
• prisoners
• Kyiv

If you are interested in this topic, you can obtain the subjects’ contacts from the Producer Department of Media Center Ukraine.

On June 21, Kyiv will hold the KyivPride March—a peaceful march for equal rights for all, regardless of who they love or who they are. This year’s KyivPride March marks a jubilee, being the tenth one. The main demand of KyivPride this year is the recognition of LGBTIQ+ families, an issue that has become critically urgent for many during the full-scale war.

Right now, a new Civil Code is being adopted in Ukraine—and instead of finally recognizing same-sex families, it introduces new forms of discrimination.

Therefore, the KyivPride March will put forward four demands to the authorities:

1. Reject the draft of the new Civil Code, as it contains discriminatory provisions and contradicts Ukraine’s European integration commitments. Instead, ensure the implementation of transformation roadmaps involving LGBTIQ+ organizations as full partners in the reform process.
2. Recognize civil partnerships for both military personnel and civilians as a step toward marriage equality, alignment of legislation with European standards, and the fulfillment of Ukraine’s obligations under the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights.
3. Introduce fair criminal liability for hate crimes, specifically homophobia and transphobia, by amending the Criminal Code of Ukraine.
4. Implement legal gender recognition based on self-determination, without mandatory hormone replacement therapy (HRT) or psychiatric diagnosis.

This year, the march will feature several organized blocs, including a transgender bloc, a KharkivPride bloc, and a bloc of LGBTIQ+ military personnel, veterans, and their families.

Invited guests include diplomats, ambassadors, representatives of international missions, and lawmakers. The KyivPride March will be the culmination of Pride Month, which has already gathered thousands of people at KyivPride Park.

The march will move through the center of the capital. At the final stop, the community will enjoy a dance performance by the ballroom community.

Media accreditation is required to attend the event.

Background: KyivPride is a non-governmental organization working to promote equality and human rights in Ukraine, and to strengthen the impact of civil society and the LGBTIQ+ community on the country’s path toward European Union integration.

• culture
• Kyiv
• LGBT

If you are interested in this topic, you can obtain the subjects’ contacts from the Producer Department of Media Center Ukraine.