On June 5, at 11:00 a.m., we invite journalists, representatives of central executive bodies, public organizations, and everyone who works with veterans — current and future — to the event “Veterans and the military: respect vs discrimination.”
As part of the event, the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation of the Ministry of Veterans Affairs of Ukraine together with the Independent Anti-Corruption Commission — NAKO and the sociological group “Rating” presents a study: “Discrimination of different social groups in the Armed Forces: views of military and civilians.” And there will also be a discussion of complex and important topics.
Venue: Media Center Ukraine, Ukrinform (8/16 Bohdana Khmelnytskyi St.)
Participants:
Ruslana Velychko-Trifonyuk is the first deputy executive director of the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation
Svitlana Musiyaka is the head of research and policy making at NAKO
Lubomyr Mysiv — Deputy Director of the Rating Sociological Group
Oksana Grigoryeva is an adviser on gender issues to the Commander of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
Maria Berlinska is a veteran, volunteer veterans representatives of the Ministries
Moderator of the event: journalist Nataliya Sokolenko, host of the National Marathon of the leading Ukrainian TV channels and radio stations “#UArazom”
Questions for discussion:
Veteran policy is one of the Government’s priorities. More than 15% of the population of Ukraine will be connected to veteran services after the end of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Is the state ready?
Discrimination of the military in the ranks of the Armed Forces. Which categories are most vulnerable and why is it important to study them?
Respect for veterans as the key to productive communication between the state and society
How the attitude towards military women in the Armed Forces and society has changed since 2014. Is “positive discrimination” a challenge?
Fighters with wounds: to the rear, battle or home. Military response.
The study and the event were implemented together with the Independent Anti-Corruption Commission – NAKO , an organization that works to reduce the level of corruption in areas important for the national security of Ukraine and with the support of The Office of the United Kingdom’s Special Defence Advisory Team.
During her speech, Ruslana spoke, in particular, about the UVF financing of veteran businesses in Ukraine and public organizations that work with veterans, military personnel and their relatives.
“War requires new approaches and joint efforts. The need for solidarity between state institutions and civil society has never been more urgent, and we have been observing this for more than a month. It was the synergy of citizens and the state that saved us from occupation. Caring for veterans returning from war is urgent and should be at the top of the nation’s agenda. It demands immediate action from all of us. This question cannot wait “after the victory”, because the veterans are already here. After the victory, there will be much more of them,” our colleague emphasized.
Ruslana emphasized that civil society can influence state policy in the field of providing social services and state guarantees for family members of veterans and family members of the fallen (deceased).
“According to the latest data from the Institute of Demography, 28 million people live in Ukraine today. According to the government’s calculations, the number of veterans and their family members will be 5 million people. Therefore, it will be impossible not to notice 17% of the entire population. Their problems will turn into a colossal challenge. That is why state institutions, such as the UVF, and civil society should have started working yesterday in order to solve it at least in half a year,” Ruslana stressed.
“We must stand side by side, work together and focus our efforts on supporting our veterans. They deserve our full respect, understanding and support. And this is our joint duty – to provide them with a friendly and safe rear,” our colleague summed up.
Coming soon! Online course for veterans created by the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation together with the Ukrainian Catholic University.The course will prepare and help those who defended Ukraine to return to civilian life more easily.14 lectures on the following topics are waiting for veterans in the course:
🔹 Working with the body: the primary health care and the path to physical rehabilitation
🔹 Mine-explosive injury
🔹 How to get a job in civilian life?
🔹From choosing a specialty to compiling a resume and passing an interview
🔹 Work with consciousness. Basics of understanding different emotional states.
🔹 PTSD. Post-traumatic growth
🔹 Prosthetics, repair and replacement of prostheses
🔹 The status of a participant in hostilities (UBD): what is it, how to get it and what rights does it grant?
🔹 Own business: where to start? Portrait of a veteran businessman.
🔹 Business from registration to implementation: practical instructions
🔹 Opportunities for business from the state and international organizations.
🔹 Peculiarities of funding from the state budget. Funding of the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation
🔹 Basics of project management
🔹 Basics of communications
Each lecture is conducted by a specialist with practical experience. Veterans will have unlimited access to the course – 24/7. During the course, they will have an online meeting with lecturers.
On June 7, 2023, American University Kyiv and the Ukrainian Veterans’ Foundation of the Ministry of Veterans Affairs of Ukraine signed a Memorandum of Cooperation regarding the support and comprehensive protection of the interests of veterans of Ukraine, their family members, family members of fallen (deceased) war veterans and family members of fallen (deceased) defenders of Ukraine.
AUK is the first private university that brings the strength and experience of the first-class American education system to Ukraine thanks to a partnership with Arizona State University (ASU), the largest and most innovative university in the USA.
Education at AUK is:
Ukrainian and American diplomas;
Educational programs based on Arizona State University programs;
American standards of education;
Teachers from all over the world;
Teaching exclusively in English.
To support veterans, children and spouses of fallen heroes, AUK offers individual full scholarships for bachelor’s and master’s programs for individuals who meet the admission criteria.
The training will take place in a mixed format: part of the courses will be conducted offline at the university campus, the other part will be online.
AUK’s academic programs are developed in partnership with Arizona State University and offer a high-quality curriculum. They focus on career needs with a particular focus on practical learning combined with real-world experience of the chosen industry and include international study opportunities. Students can earn dual degrees: a bachelor’s/master’s degree from AUK and a bachelor’s/master’s degree from Arizona State University by choosing to study online or directly on campus in Arizona, USA.
In 2023, AUK offers the following bachelor’s programs:
Data Science is a program that equips students with the necessary knowledge and skills to become critical analysts and proficient users of data.
Software Engineering is a program designed to help students become experts in software development, building information systems and basic cybersecurity concepts with a solid foundation for innovative approaches to solving modern problems.
Marketing Science is a program that will provide comprehensive knowledge and skills in consumer behavior, market research, communications and digital marketing techniques, as well as an understanding of business strategies and entrepreneurship
Business Administration is a program designed to prepare students for multiple roles in today’s economy with the skills and knowledge necessary to manage business processes.
Global Management is a program that will provide practical experience and skills for working in international companies, governments and non-profit organizations with a significant international component.
Master’s programs:
Technology Leadership&AI – for those who want to think strategically and create innovations in the field of artificial intelligence and data technology at the highest level.
Software Engineering – for those who seek independent planning, organization and implementation of projects in the field of software development.
Global Technology & Development – for those seeking to prepare for roles at the intersection of globalization, international politics, technology, and global development, and build a career in technology and economic development in Ukraine.
Global Management – for those who seek to develop innovation within the organization and be prepared to perform managerial, business an
These are non-governmental organizations that will implement projects for veterans and their families. The Ukrainian Veterans Foundation will support them financially — NGOs will receive from 500,000 to 1 million hryvnias. So, who won the competitive program?
🔹 Non-governmental organization “Union of Volunteers” – assistance to veterans and demobilized persons from small communities of Lviv region to adapt to civilian life;
🔹 Non-governmental organization “Association of Private Employers” – center for supporting business initiatives of veterans “New Countdown”;
🔹 Non-governmental organization “NOMADLIV” – implementation of mentoring support and consulting of veteran entrepreneurs from the very start to the development of their business;
🔹 Non-governmental organization “Association for Promotion of Physical Rehabilitation of Persons with Disabilities “Victory of the Invincible” – sports rehabilitation project “Mobile application “Trainvet”;
🔹 Non-governmental organization “Vinnytsia Center of Educational Technologies” – VinOK – support classes for children and adults of the veteran community of Vinnytsia;
🔹 Non-governmental organization “GROW UP, UKRAINE!” – informational support of the Defenders of Ukraine “CompassVeteran”;
🔹 Non-governmental organization “UNION OF VETERANS OF THE ANTI-TERRORIST OPERATION” – legal support for veterans of the Russian-Ukrainian war and their family members.
🔹 Non-governmental organization “SOCIAL CENTER OF VINNYTSIA” – support of micro-entrepreneurship of war veterans and their families from idea to real life implementation in Vinnytsia.
More competitions are expected ahead. In 2023, we plan to hold seven more programs. Therefore, we encourage you to take the chance and do a good deed for those who protected.
Talking to US Army Major DJ Skelton, you feel the calm strength of a person who has gone through a lot of difficult situations in his life, but overcame them and learned to live in new life circumstances.
Such people have a special communication style and outlook. They will not promise anything extra – but what they promised, they will definitely fulfill their promise. And they also know how to help wounded veterans: Skelton is one of the co-founders of Paradox Sports, an organization that helps veterans adapt to a peaceful life through active, sometimes extreme sports.
DJ is a multi-faceted man: fluent in Chinese, well-read, and the bookshelves in his home in Monterey, California, would be the envy of many book lovers. And instead of Skelton’s lost eye, there is an image of the pirate Jolly Roger, a vivid testimony of his reluctance to give up and an irresistible sense of humor.
-DJ, after you and your company were attacked by Iraqi insurgents during the Second Battle of Fallujah in November 2004, two grandes hit the concrete next to you, one of them exploded, and the bullets hit his left arm, right leg and breast. To make matters worse, the fragment that entered your right cheek damaged the upper part of your mouth and exited the left side. You were evacuated by your fellow soldiers and then you passed out at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, where doctors told you that you would never be able to climb mountains, never be able to run. DJ, did I quote an exact quote from one of the posts about you?
Yes, it is quite accurate.
Tell me, and in the following weeks – were your thoughts more focused on your comrades-in-arms and your inability to be with them now? Was it thinking about what you would do now with one working eye and multiple injuries?
This is a great question. You know, my injuries were quite serious. So when I got out of the hospital – and I spent a lot of months there at Walter Reed and I really didn’t want to be there – my first emotions were like this: I wanted to go back to my unit and continue to serve. So part of me as a young army officer in the infantry felt like I had abandoned my brothers on the battlefield.
I am sure that doctors and psychologists have a special term for this.
– I’m sure there is, too, but I didn’t stay there long enough to talk to them. So, I tried to get out of there as quickly as possible. But, you know, I didn’t want to believe how seriously I was injured. And I didn’t want to believe and accept this reality that I would have obstacles like brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder. And more practical consequences. I have physical limitations. I have no left eye. I still don’t have full use of my left hand. So, you know, we have to go through this process to figure out how to do what we love to do in life. Within this new state with these new restrictions. I haven’t even started this journey yet. Therefore, it was simply important for me to return to the army, to my unit and continue my life as if nothing had happened, as if I had not been wounded. Like, just take me for an adaptation and I’ll be back! But it did not happen that our armies are very large organizations. They have a lot of bureaucracy and make a lot of decisions.
– As, unfortunately, in all armies.
– Yes, and in each country, the army has a procedure that wounded soldiers go through to determine whether they are able to continue serving. So I went through a process called a medical board and the Army declared me unfit for duty. At that time, I had no opportunity to return to the battlefield and join my soldiers. But they found places in the army where I could work and contribute.
– Are you talking about your further experience in Afghanistan?
– Not at all. Yes, after being discharged from the hospital in 2005 and until 2010, the army assigned me to non-military positions. I was stationed in Alaska where I worked in the operations division. I also worked at the Pentagon, was involved in politics, worked on documents that contribute to improving the care of wounded soldiers that the Pentagon provides. I have had the opportunity to work in various organizations and centers helping to influence legislators and help them better understand the wounded servimen experience and the needs that should have been met, but for whatever reason, that wasn’t happening.
– In the hospital and the first year outside of it – who supported you?
– I had my family, who were the first to come to the hospital and helped me in the initial stages of recovery. My mom, my dad, my sister, and my cousins, aunts, and uncles who really helped. I have also had members of the military community from my previous life come to see me; they also helped in different ways. This is very important, this is the brotherhood and sisterhood that we have in the army. I served for several years and the leaders I served with came to the hospital and helped me transition to a new life. I was very fortunate to have the opportunity to study at the United States Military Academy at West Point, and even the instructors from the Academy would come, call or write letters and help. Also, I grew up in nature, in a climbing community. Many people from this community came and supported in any way possible. So I was very fortunate to have these communities that I belonged to. And people, some of whom had no connection with the armed forces, but nevertheless came with their support.
– They say that in the USA, church communities quite often help people, but this, of course, depends on whether a person is religious or not.
– Churches are a great resource here in the United States. There are many veterans’ organizations and non-profit organizations in the US that provide assistance. People from our society, from local communities, they help even those whom they have never met. But if you know, trust, and love someone, you will do everything you can to help that person. A lot of these relationships mostly happen in universities when you’re studying. Or in schools, as well as at work and in other areas of life. So I was very fortunate to have these relationships that were already established when I was injured and people could come and help. Churches are certainly a big part of this process.
One of the Ukrainian veterans I interviewed was (and still is) a basketball fan; he himself played and watched tournaments on TV. And then he was injured, his left arm was amputated, and he was depressed. But here’s what his wife told him: Yes, you may not be able to play basketball with your friends anymore – but that right arm will stay and hug our three-year-old daughter and me and be able to do anything else. And it was this phrase of his wife that brought him out of depression. And what comforting words affected you? – Regarding your story, I can tell this Ukrainian soldier, now a veteran, that this does not mean that he will never be able to play basketball again. It’s just that now he will play a little differently. He will have a slightly different look, but there will always be a way if he wants to play.
– By the way, I do not rule out that he is already trying to play basketball. It was just that there was a situation when he was desperate.
– I like to say that life should be lived according to one’s own rules, without living the life of other people. One thing that I have struggled with for years and it took me a long time to understand is that I will not be the person I was before the injury and I will not be able to act and function the same way if I were on 100% healthy mind and body. Therefore, you need to find a way to accept it for yourself, to build your dignity and life on the basis of a new norm, a new state. It requires painstaking work, and the sooner we can rebuild this foundation for a new chapter in our lives, in which we will have to revise some old principles that no longer exist, the stronger we can build it, surrounded by people we trust and who help us in this. This is what has allowed me to move forward in life, to get the medical care I need to enable me to work in positions that make me happy and feel like I’m contributing and a valued member of a team, and it is not a charity. To be able to return to the community and participate in activities that make me happy. I like rock climbing, I like to go to the sea, I like to go hiking. And I won’t be able to do it at the speed, pace, or ability of people of normal physical health in society. But that’s normal. So you’re finding your new boundaries and figuring out how to implement that in this new space. And when you look at it that way, it’s not, “I’ll never do that again,” but “Okay, I still want to do what makes me happy. How can I do it now within these new constraints?” – this is a new attitude to life. And to be honest, if people have a problem with that, that’s their problem, because in society there can be conflict with any type of people.
– Another key moment from that stage of your life: when you were psychologically very bad, your rock climbing friends “kidnapped” you into nature, into the sphere of their occupation. And this, as I understand it, turned out to be a real therapy session. Am I understanding correctly?
– Yes, there were people in my life who saw potential in me and did not pay attention to my appearance or physical limitations. It was important to them to just spend time with me, do interesting things and maintain communication and community. At that period of my life, when I looked at myself in the mirror, I did not see high self-esteem and self-worth in myself. In my eyes, there were a thousand reasons why I would never be able to have a quality life. But at the time, I didn’t fully realize how important it was. It will forever remain in my memory as the moment I realized how many veterans return from war without such support and community. When we are too weak and worried, trying to understand the new life, there are people around us who inspire and motivate us, remind us that there is an amazing life full of possibilities out there. It made a huge difference in my recovery, was a luxury, an important milestone.
And it was very important to me that this support did not come from the military, but from the local community, who did everything possible to make me feel part of the group again. This has always been a foundation for me, regardless of whether I worked in public organizations or in the army. I don’t care what the federal government does. I don’t plan to spend the rest of my life in a government environment. I want to live in a small town or a big city, interact with people and have a happy life. I’m glad that there were opportunities and that they felt comfortable talking and working with me.
The Ukrainian Veterans Foundation of the Ministry of Veterans Affairs of Ukraine invites you to the forum “Respect. Experience. Perspective”, which will take place on June 27 at 1 p.m. at the Ukraine-Ukrinform Media Center (Kyiv, 8/16 Bohdan Khmelnytskyi Street).
Registration is required: https://forms.gle/tkJkteMwuP3oib6AA. The main goal ia to develop the dialogue with the veteran community about the opportunities for veterans in their path of reintegration, education and employment.
The event will consist of three panels in the areas of:
Veteran policy: challenges of Ukraine
Retraining and education
Employment
More than 15 experts in various fields will take part in the forum: from business to educational opportunities. Each of them is working for the future today, not by words, but by actions and decisions. Everyone keeps the current requests of veterans in focus.
Speakers of the first panel “Veteran Policy: Challenges of Ukraine”:
Yulia Laputina — Minister of Veterans Affairs of Ukraine
Nataliya Kalmykova — Executive Director of the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation of the Ministry of Veterans Affairs
Taras Chmut – the director of the Come Back Alive Charity Foundation, a member of the Supervisory Board of the UVF
Moderator: Oleksiy Tarasov is the editor-in-chief of Radio NV.
Speakers of the second panel “Retraining and education”:
Ruslana Velychko – First Deputy Executive Director of the UVF
Representative of American University Kyiv (AUK)
Roksolyana Voronovska is the head of UCU-online
Tetyana Zhukova – VMGO “Social Vector”
Svyatoslav Nikolaychuk – NGO “Podilska Development Agency”
Victoria Shynkarenko – veteran, NGO “Regional Veteran Union of ATO Participants of Rivne Oblast”
Moderator: representative of civil society
Speakers of the third panel “Employment”:
Andriy Remizov – director of the State University “Office for the Development of Entrepreneurship and Export”
Ilya Shpolianskyi is a veteran of the Movement of Veterans of Ukraine
Tatyana Rozumiy is the wife of a veteran, owner of a shoe store
Representative of Ukrzaliznytsia
A representative of Ukrposhta
Moderator: Vladyslav Hryzev — CEO Lobby X, coordinator of TEDxKyiv
The participants will be treated to a performance by a special guest, as well as the veteran’s wife Oksana Makarova, veterans Denys Dudnyk, Volodymyr Skosogorenko and Taras Yakobchuk, who will share their stories of the path to the dream and its realization.
The main information partner is Radio NV.
Organizer: Ukrainian Veteran Foundation of the Ministry of Veterans Affairs of Ukraine.
After the end of the war, Ukraine is waiting for the return of more than a million veterans. They will have unique skills, knowledge and career aspirations. How can companies prepare for a meeting – so that both sides win? The team of the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation asked the American veteran employment leader Maureen Casey about this.
In 2022, JP Morgan ranked 95th in the ranking of the most veteran-friendly companies, which has been compiled by Forbes USA for three years. Their best solutions?
The company has 270,000 employees and mentoring support programs for ex-servicemen. Veterans are offered to try themselves in different departments to find an opportunity to make an ideal career.
The recruiting team has hired more than 10,000 veterans since the readjustment began in 2011, helping them retrain, gain new qualifications and ease their transition back into civilian life. Another direction is the Veteran Jobs Mission campaign. JP Morgan and other organizations have pledged to employ 100,000 veterans over 10 years. This mission brought together 200 companies and quickly exceeded commitment, employing more than 240,000 veterans in less than three years.
Maureen Casey is behind these programs. She headed the military department of the company. Since 2015, Casey has been theChief Operating Officer for the D’Aniello Institute for Veterans and Military Families – IVMF at Syracuse University.
What were the main conclusions she made while working with veterans in the private sector – and what can be useful for Ukrainians from the experience of American companies? Forbes spoke with Casey in cooperation with the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation.
JP Morgan has been working on veteran onboarding for over 10 years. What did you learn during this time?
JPMorgan’s Military and Veterans Affairs Initiative began in 2011. At that time, the unemployment rate among veterans in the United States was almost twice as high as it is now.
JPMorgan Chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon decided to assess the problem and spoke to several company executives. He concluded: we can create tangible employment opportunities for veterans. They have many valuable skills: adaptability, problem solving, leadership, teamwork.
Thus, the Veterans Job Mission was born. We have come together as a group of national corporations to realize and carry this trend across the organization.
We realized that it was more than just attracting and hiring them. How to train them when they come to the company, how to develop and how to retain them?
Not sure what experience the Ukrainian army has, but in the US army you change positions every two or three years. We needed not only to transfer veterans to the private sector – we had to prepare companies. Talk about military culture, what veterans can bring, and their expectations.
We recruited a group of veterans for a summer internship. They cooperated with civilians. One of the veterans asked why other employees were constantly in the chief’s office. He said: “It’s usually very bad in the army to be under a boss or commander all the time.” We had to explain to him and others that part of the opportunity for future employment was to build a relationship with a supervisor. So we had to train on both sides of the equation.
Another task is to help veterans describe their own contribution to teamwork. They, in a sense, give up individuality and function as a team because life depended on it. The main idea is to convey to them: success in the private sector requires explaining to people what your individual contribution to the general effort is.
One of the biggest takeaways for me is that onboarding veterans is about more than engaging and hiring them. We must give them the tools to succeed. Once we do that, they will surpass their colleagues in values and skills.
Why should companies hire veterans? What skills and qualities do they differ them from other workers?
Leadership, teamwork, and adaptability skills are valued in companies. This is what military personnel have been doing all this time. They are very flexible. They know how to communicate well. The US military operates in 100 different countries, so part of their military training is understanding how to function in unique and diverse environments.
We have to teach them to transfer these skills to the corporate culture. On the other hand, we have to teach this adaptation to managers. It was especially difficult at first because less than 1% of the US population served after 9/11. People did not have a common understanding of the nature of military service. If someone describes their military experience on their resume, many hiring managers don’t understand it. It is difficult for them to understand how this person who served in the combat infantry will fit the company. Helping both parties understand technical and other skills is important.
The company has a mentoring program, JPMorgan Chase’s Pathfinder Mentoring Program. Why is the mentoring institute important for adaptation of veterans?
The program came about after I left JPMorgan, so I’ll talk about it in general terms. Having a mentor familiar with how the company works and being able to ask questions can be critical to a veteran’s success. Questions may arise – sometimes such that he would be embarrassed to ask a manager or a colleague. It’s important to have a trusted peer mentor outside of whatever line of business you’re in that you can brainstorm with, talk to, and ask questions to help set you up for success.
After the victory, one and a half million Ukrainian soldiers will return to peaceful life. What should every Ukrainian company do for the comfortable return and work of veterans – regardless of profile and field of activity?
First, they need time. The transition from military service cannot be underestimated. Life in a rhythm of incredible stress, high pressure and risk – how do they transition from this to civilian life? Second, employers can analyze where they need to hire. What skill sets are required? How can we help veterans in transition know and understand the opportunities available to them?
I’ve been doing this job for 12 years, and our biggest challenge is still ensuring that transitioning military personnel and veterans see all the opportunities available to them.
What is the most non-obvious thing to pay attention to when preparing a program for the reintegration of veterans?
It is to have the ability and desire to learn. Spend more time understanding the skills and aspirations of military personnel transitioning to civilian life. Just because someone was a tank driver in the military doesn’t mean they want to drive a truck when they get back. We need to understand what skills they need to acquire, what their employment goals are, and offer tools to upskill or reskill them and make a smooth transition to work. One of the things we do at IVMF (Institute for Veterans and Military Families) is training programs from JPMorgan and other companies that focus on successful employment. We have to have an end-to-end solution and it doesn’t have to be complex. The key is to understand what the veteran wants from a career perspective. What programs can we offer to help them achieve their goal? At the same time, we can say to employers, “Look, we have a pool of talent interested in cybersecurity or infrastructure recovery opportunities.” We create a clear path from the transition period to new employment opportunities. Read the rest of the interview at this link (https://forbes.ua/leadership/virishennya-problem-adaptivnist-komandna-robota-jpmorgan-naymae-veteraniv-u-ssha-vzhe-12-rokiv-yaki-instrumenti-mozhe-zapozichiti-v-nikh-ukrainskiy-biznesu-intervyu-12062023-14127?fbclid=IwAR0ezE7kRdX6FiwJXpk0QKM1pohJRFVLQuFTAoGs9Ot_qHmcEOml54MIvaA).
Today, a great meeting of the representatives of American and Ukrainian veteran communities was held! The American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), The Union Veterans Council Syracuse University’s Institute for Veterans and Military Families – IVMF , the Syracuse University Institute for Security Policy and Law, the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs in Washington, D.C. and other veteran experts participated in the meeting on the American side.
From the Ukrainian side were present: Public Union “Veterans Movement of Ukraine”, “Hero of Ukraine” Foundation, the Council of Veterans of Ukraine under the Ministry of Veterans Affairs of Ukraine, the NGO “VeteranHubOdesa”, the NGO “Bazuka”, the NGO “Movement of Veterans of Transcarpathia”, the Council of Veterans of Ukraine from the Rivne region, NGO “Veteran Brotherhood, Khmelnytskyi”, other veterans and representatives of veteran organizations.
Veterans who have suffered severe injuries continue to live fulfilling lives. Sometimes even more fulfilling than before. These are strong individuals with complex experiences. They dream, work, raise children, achieve new goals, and live.
Expressing gratitude to a veteran when you meet them is always a great idea.
It’s very simple to share the warmth and add confidence to a veteran. The successful adaptation of disabled military personnel depends on us, so can we really stay aside?
Strong individuals are at the center of the social video “Respect” by the Ukrainian Veterans Foundation:
Olga Benda is an ATO veteran. She joined the service in Avdiivka as part of the 72nd Separate Mechanized Brigade in October 2016. Olga lost her leg in May 2017 due to shelling of Ukrainian positions. As early as 2019, the veteran completed the Marine Corps Marathon. She is raising two sons.
Oleksandr Filippov is a serviceman of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. He participated in the liberation of Chernihiv Oblast, battles in the Zaporizhzhia and in Donetsk Region. In July 2022, he suffered multiple shrapnel wounds near Siversk, resulting in the loss of his arm. Later, he adapted to a bionic prosthesis. In March 2023, he returned to service. Oleksandr is raising a son.
The video was created with the support of the Independent Anti-Corruption Commission (NAKO) – an organization that works to reduce corruption in areas crucial to Ukraine’s national security, and with the support of the Office of the United Kingdom’s Special Defence Advisory Team
