Kharkiv women’s organization shows off 12 stories of female volunteers assisting Ukrainian soldiers

The Kharkiv Women's Association "Sfera" launched the project unveiling stories of women from this region helping Ukrainian forces during the war.

Heroes of the stories are female students and elderly women, those who are fighting abroad and those living close to the enemy border.

What is the problem?

Ukrainians are united by their faith in victory and pool joint efforts to assure it.

Many Ukrainians experience guilt while the military defends the land at the front and risk their lives. The "Sfera" team is convinced that this project can motivate everyone who sincerely believes in victory, but for some reason, it still does not do enough.

What is the solution?

The team unveiled 12 stories of women who make a unique contribution to Ukraine's victory. Designer Marichka Ruban illustrated each story.

The project lifts up an important question: can volunteering and social activities make you feel like you're not doing enough?

The project's answer from their own experience is that it is unlikely. Yet, it will make one feel part of something important and encourage others to contribute to the common cause.

How does it work?

"I am Victory. Stories of Women of Kharkiv Region" highlights stories about a wide variety of women who contributed to the victory.

Valeriia Holovanova is the Svora NGO co-founder and an animal volunteer. During the war, she had to become a veterinarian despite her expertise in psychology. Over the course of the hostilities, about 200 animals settled in her home, from dogs and cats to owls and barren.

Some were rescued from Kharkiv's outskirts, while others were from frontline towns. Then, her family took them in later. The animal volunteer and her family care for all the animals independently. Once, Valeria even had to perform artificial respiration on a turtle when it started choking. The turtle was saved.

"Animals need people. We can take care of ourselves, but they need someone to help them."

Veronika Adamenko is a military volunteer and digital marketer. In the first weeks of the all-out war, she tried to mix her activities with her job and evacuated with her friends and parents to Ukraine's west.

In March 2022, she returned to Kharkiv, quit her job, and devoted herself to volunteering. In the summer, Veronika was on a mission to Kherson twice, and now she is focusing on helping the army.

Veronika delivered a generator to one of the de-occupied villages that were left without electricity to at least recharge phones. One man brought the volunteer a jar of raspberry jam – he was preserving it so that he could thank her when the village was liberated.

"No shell tubes or other 'artifacts of war' are as important to me as this jam. I will open it after the victory."

Tetiana Honcharova is an organizer of the village humanitarian center and artistic director of the local house of culture. After six months of occupation, Tetiana and an initiative group organized a humanitarian center near Kupyansk.

She attracted help from citizens and charitable foundations. The center was to provide the necessary supplies to the villagers, refugees, who number more than 650 families, and neighboring communities. The community also used the center to help the military.