Children of Independence. 24 Faces of Defense: Stories Bringing Victory Closer

In fact, there are many more of these faces: there are not tens or hundreds of them, but thousands of them. These are the faces of people who defend the country, doing at least something for our victory every day. It is the face of a soldier on the front line. It is the face of a mother, wife, and daughter. It is the face of a doctor, a cook, a fireman. It is the face of a pensioner who sheltered displaced persons in his home. It is the face of a volunteer who, risking his life, takes to the front lines what our boys need. It is the face of a child who learned the word "war" even before coming out of age.

There is no ordinary face of a Ukrainian. And today, on the Independence Day of our country, we decided to make a special material as part of the special project Face of Ukrainian Defense. We will tell the stories of children who, together with their mothers, help the Armed Forces of Ukraine and remember our heroes, about whom we have talked for the past six months.

5-year-old Maria and her brother fundraised for a thermal imager for the Armed Forces

Daria Makeeva is the mother of 9-year-old Oleksandr and 5-year-old Maria. When the full-scale war began, she and her children moved from Kryvyi Rih to Lviv. Daria's family constantly sends money to funds supporting the army. But the children really wanted to do something themselves.

"One day, we were walking in the city center, and the children began to think how they could help. Our Sasha is the youngest illusionist in Ukraine. He offered to show tricks. But I convinced them this was not the time now: people have a different mood, and we didn't have the props with us.

And then Masha said that she wanted to sing the national anthem. Sasha learned how to play the song "Oy u luzi chervona kalyna" on the saxophone. The children got ready, and we chose a date for the performance — Vyshyvanka Day."

Daria says that it was extremely crowded that day. Many representatives of foreign mass media approached them. People willingly gave money to the Armed Forces.

"At first, we were near the Opera House, but the street musicians asked us to leave — they said that all the places here were booked. So we moved to the Town Hall and continued there," Daria recalls in a comment for Rubryka.

Masha and her brother collected 35,492 hryvnias in 9 hours and 54 minutes. Thus, Mariyka became a record holder – the youngest volunteer who collected more than 35 thousand hryvnias in one day.

Daria says that after the funds were collected, they began to think about where to send them. It was important for the children to see exactly what the money they had so diligently collected went to. Therefore, the family decided to purchase something useful for our military. They thought about bulletproof vests and helmets. But one of the charitable foundations offered to add a significant part to the collected amount and purchase a thermal weapon sight. They handed it over to the fighters in the Kherson direction.

"Before sending the sight, the children drew pictures and wrote letters for the soldiers. And when the volunteers took the gift to the front line, they recorded a video of thanks for Masha and Sasha. When I saw it, I couldn't help but cry," Daria recalls.

"Our volunteering started back in 2014" 

The story of a family of activists from Transcarpathia

The Tomashevsky family consists of mother Olha, eldest daughter Victoria, and triplets – Petro, Pavlo, and Maria.

Olha Tomashevska is an activist and volunteer from Uzhhorod. She says that children joined the volunteer movement at the beginning of the war with russia in 2014.

"Our volunteering started back in 2014. I really wanted to help and found such a way for myself by volunteering. Then the children were still young – they drew for the military – Olha recalls. And later, I brought them to our organization – "Movement to support Transcarpathian military." We organized a lot of promotions and events. Children also wove nets and helped in win-win charity lotteries.

And in 2022, this volunteering could not but continue. When the full-scale war began, we ran to the office of "Movement" — there was a lot of work there. Everyone did what was necessary. The children helped a lot: some ran errands, some wove nets. We were all so scared and nervous. Everyone took on the work available to them."

Now Olha's team organizes actions in support of the Armed Forces of Ukraine – one of them is "Music on a cap." During the performances of musicians, children collect charitable donations for the military.

"When the children were small, I made it a goal to discuss our day in the evening. What everyone did today, the achievements and plans. It became a tradition. And in the evening, we try to mark for ourselves what useful things we did today," Olha shares with Rubryka.

The woman says she does not limit children in choosing the type of activity: some like volunteering in the "Gastronomic Battalion," some weave camouflage nets, and some help in the office. Children must understand Victory's value and price and be proud that they are Ukrainians.

They sell lemonade, pastries, and cucumbers: how friends from the Cherkasy region are helping the Armed Forces

The children of the Cherkasy region are also collecting money to help the Armed Forces. 10-year-old Sofia and 13-year-old Kateryna are friends, and they also sell vegetables, pastries, drinks, and ceramic products. Two friends decided they could help the military – they collect vegetables in their yard, bake homemade cookies, make lemonade – and sell them.

Their neighbor, Olena Pochtaryova, is a volunteer. That is why the girls give her the proceeds from their volunteer shop.

The initiative is not new but is effective. The girls have buyers and supporters. And they learn not to be shy and communicate with people. They collected a thousand hryvnias in a week and will not stop there.

A game of checkers and the help for the army. 

How the world champion collected money for the military in Kyiv 

Rubryka already reported on this, and we cannot but include the story of Valeria Yezhova in the "Face of Ukrainian Defense" list. Valeria is ten years old and already a world champion in checkers. She decided to monetize her skills to support the Armed Forces.

The girl periodically arranges open matches. Usually in crowded places – so that as many people as possible could join and become participants in her checkers charity competitions.

Valeria plans to become a master of sports candidate — for this, she actively participates in competitions and collects points.

"I wanted to help our army, and my mother and I started thinking about how and what we could do. And we decided that since I play checkers quite well, we would do it this way.

We collected more than 6,000 hryvnias in three days. Many people just give money to help, without playing, but many also play checkers, it's interesting. I won all the games. I hope no one gives in to me," the girl commented.

"Mom, when you come home from work, will you be exhausted?"
Daughters and mothers bake cupcakes to help the Armed Forces

Natalya and Iryna are the mothers of Khrystyna and Natalya. The girls are in the 6th grade of the Yavorivska gymnasium in the Lviv region. They decided to devote their holidays to baking cupcakes to help the Armed Forces.

Of course, mothers help them bake goodies. Maria Khmaruk, Khrystyna's mother, says that baking is her hobby. She likes to come up with something new and bake sweets for the family.

"We have been volunteering since the first days of the full-scale war," says Maria. "There was no work then, so we cooked for those who ran away and stood in long queues at customs. Children always helped.

Now it's the holidays — children want to do something useful for our country. At first, there was an idea to make products from beads. And then my daughter calls me and asks: "Mom, when you come home from work, will you be exhausted?"

I say: "Say it," the woman recalls with a smile.

"Well, they proposed this idea. They decided to sell cupcakes to help the Armed Forces. Me and Natalya's mother, of course, supported the girls and decided to help them.

Khrystyna and Natalya are so satisfied that they don't want to stop at just cupcakes — now we think we can come up with more."

Natalya says she wants to try baking and sell bread with the girls. "This is a symbol of goodness and peace," the woman says.