Late September, we had a thought-provoking discussion with Maria Berlinska, creator and producer of the project “Invisible Battalion” and Yevgen Turchak, Ukrainian “Cyborg” who defended the Donetsk Airport and later started a veteran’s movement in Ukraine. The core rule of our Razom Community discussions is openness: ask any questions – receive honest and direct answers. We talked about the current state of Ukrainian army, about women in the army, rehabilitation of injured soldiers, air intelligence, funding, volunteering and Ukrainian politics.
Yevgen Turchak is in charge of the Ukrainian Union of ATO Veterans, and shared the numerous projects and activities that the Union provides for veterans and families of fallen soldiers. Among other projects, they provide support in creating a business plan, if a veteran has come up with an idea for a business. They also lobbying certain laws and amendments that support ATO veterans, including one that provides veterans with a piece of land.
Yevgen shared information about the fund Revived Soldiers Ukraine, which helps Ukrainian injured soldiers come to the USA for rehabilitation: “Our Ukrainian doctors are not incapable, but they lack certain medical equipment for surgeries and medical procedures, I won’t even talk about rehabilitation in Ukraine – neither physical, not psychological – it doesn’t exist”. The Fund has already brought 20 injured veterans from Ukraine to the US for rehabilitation and surgeries. There are tangible results, and Yevgen hopes that the work of Revived Soldiers Ukraine will only expend year after year.
Maria Berlinska described her main activity at the Center of Air Intelligence, which teaches professionals to work with military drones, and with the project “Invisible Battalion”, which showed the reality of women’s roles in Ukrainian army. “I do what I believe in. So I’m working on issues which are the future of Ukrainian Army: military professionalism, gender equality and drones” – said Maria.
Learn more about the current state of the Ukrainian Army and the veterans movement – watch the full video stream on the Razom Facebook page.
We are grateful to Shevchenko Scientific Society for hosting the event, and to Revived Soldiers Ukraine for supporting Yevgen’s trip to the USA.
Learn more about the Razom Community and the upcoming events on our Razom Facebook page.
