Blue Sky Ukraine is starting a new direction of work – to help families with underaged children of seriously wounded and/or dead defenders of Ukraine.
Denys
This is Olena – 36 years old, her husband Denys – 34 years old, their daughter Victoria – 7 years old, and their son Vladyslav – 14 years old. They are from Lysychanks.
After a full-scale Russian invasion in 2022, their lives turned into a struggle for survival. They lost their house, apartment, all their possessions and their jobs. The family survived a month of shelling, which greatly affected the psychological state of children. They often had to sleep in basements .
They were able to evacuate with only one document at the end of March 2022. Thanks to the help of volunteers, Olena and her children have reached “Bila Tserkva”, where they still rent an apartment.
Denys, Olena’s husband, as a participant of the anti-terrorist operation in March 2022, stood up for the defense of the Motherland. But in December 2023, in the Bakhmut direction, he received serious injuries: burns to his entire body and internal respiratory tract. He’s been through a lot: five days in the intensive care unit in Dnipro, then treatment in the Kyiv Intensive Care Burn Center, and now in Germany. Currently there is no threat to life, but the wounds are in the healing stage, and the mobility of the limbs (especially the upper ones) is limited. There is still treatment and long-term rehabilitation ahead.
The eldest son has serious vision problems, named complex myopic astigmatism in both eyes and amblyopia in both eyes. This diagnosis requires constant medical, hardware, corrective and expensive treatment.
The income from government institutions for their family is not big at all. Olena tries to earn as much as she can but these funds are not enough for her husband’s medicine, son’s treatment, rent, utility bills and food.
Blue Sky Ukraine takes this family under their care and will provide monthly financial assistance, and the fund will also pay for the treatment of son Vladyslav.
We ask you to join our team and help the defender’s family! It is extremely difficult for them without our help.
SERHIY
Serhiy is from Lysychansk, now actually lives in a veteran hospital. Unfortunately he cannot move but has a devoted wife Yulia who is always by his side and helps in everything.
The previous life of the couple was completely different: like all ordinary people, they were quietly working and raising their children.
But everything changed on February 24, 2022. Shelling forced them to leave their hometown and seek refuge. At first they fled to friends in Izyum, but they did not find peace there either. After difficult events, they ended up in Ternopil. And from there Serhiy went to the front line, and Yulia volunteered and worked at school.
In 2022 Sergyi was seriously wounded, which leaded to mutilation and disability. He was paralyzed, and lost interest in life. But Yulia did not let her husband give up, she became his psychologist and rehabilitator.
Yulia’s efforts brought results: Sergey believed in himself, and his condition improved. He is undergoing rehabilitation in the hospital, where doctors notice progress. The man already has certain movements in his hands, he feels touches.
Unfortunately Sergiy doesn’t receive any financial support from the State. They live on their father’s $300 pension funds. Those money barely enough to pay for a rent of a small room and food. At the moment, Yulia does not work, because she constantly takes care of her husband.
The family lost their apartment in Lysychansk. First, the Russians ransacked the apartment, taking even family photos and filming it on video, and then smashed it.
Despite the loss of their home, lack of financial resources and difficult trials, the family does not despair. They believe in good and look to the future with great hope.
To help this family, make your donation today!
VALERY
Valery and Olena together with their children lived in a small town in the Rivne region. But in February 2022, they gathered the children and went to the husband’s parents with the idea that it would be calmer there. The man, in turn, was already preparing his backpack to appear in military unit, as he had been in the reserve since 2021, as a member of the anti-terrorist operation (ATO).
“Finding meaning and maintaining optimism, feeling unity and supporting each other even at a distance is what we actively learned while Valeriy was still in the ATO zone,” says Olena.
The husband was sent to Severodonetsk, and from then on the most difficult days in the life of the family began. Valery didn’t appear on the network for a long time. Periodically there were short calls. The wife only had time to tell that their daughters were missing and waiting for their father.
One day after returning from the front line, coincidentally, while on a short vacation, he received a severe injury – a fracture of the thoracic spine.
Doctors said that Valeryy would never be able to walk again, but his wife refuses to believe such a prognosis. And fortunately, the long-term rehabilitation of the body began to give encouraging results – the man began to feel his toes.
So several times a year Valery must undergo rehabilitation to improve his results. Each rehabilitation course costs about $1,500, which is a lot of money for the family. Valery does’t receive any financial support from the state, and his wife does not work, because she constantly takes care of her husband, accompanies him during treatment and takes care of two small daughters.
The family is in a difficult financial situation, barely enough for medicine and food. Lives in the village in an old rented house without amenities. But despite all the difficulties, they dream of the peace in Ukraine and their own home.
BSU takes this family into monthly custody and will pay the rehabilitation bills.
If you want to be one of those who will support this family, please donate now!
OLEKSANDR
We want to tell a first story of the family of the badly wounded soldier Oleksandr.
At the beginning of a full-scale russian invasion after receiving the summons, Oleksandr went to defend the Motherland without hesitation, despite the fact that his wife and five children needed him.
In May 2022, in the Donetsk region, during enemy mortar shelling, while rescuing his military brother, he received severe injuries to the spine, abdominal cavity and an open fracture of the iliac bone.
The man barely survived, underwent many surgeries and went through a difficult and long road to recovery. And even now it is very difficult for him, because the convulsive attacks are extremely strong, and drugs often do not help to relieve the terrible pain. But despite everything, his family is happy that he is alive, the children do not leave their father for a single step, especially the smaller ones.
Oleksandr moves only in a wheelchair, has the first group of disabilities. He receives a small pension, which did not allow the family to pay for eye surgery for the youngest son. So Blue Sky Ukraine covered the costs of lens replacement surgery for our defender’s son. Fortunately, everything went well, and the son has already returned home happy.
It would seem that everything is over, and grief will no longer knock on the door of their home, but… this month, Oleksandr has received another bad news about the loss of his older brother, who died during the fighting while the retreat from Avdiivka.
Despite all life’s difficulties, the family shows incredible resilience and indomitable spirit. They are a vivid example of courage, kindness, devotion and love.
If you want to help families like this one please donate today!
