Tryzub: Ukraine’s first comprehensive national trauma program for frontline physicians

Published: November 5, 2026

Ukraine had not seen a training like this before. In one week, 16 physicians went through 3 courses that build on each other. They started with the initial assessment and stabilization of a trauma patient (ATLS). Then they moved to surgical decisions in severe injuries (DSTC) and the surgical techniques for stopping hemorrhage and performing emergency interventions (ASSET).

Razom co-organized Tryzub, Ukraine’s first comprehensive national trauma surgery and resuscitation program, initiated by the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine. We delivered it in collaboration with the American College of Surgeons, International Association for Trauma Surgery and Intensive Care (IATSIC), the Global Medical Knowledge Alliance (GMKA), NGO Chest!, Department of Health and SOF “A”. Razom for Ukraine and Expertise France provided the financial and organisational support.

“Strong trauma care depends on skilled medical professionals who know how to work together under pressure. Through Tryzub, we wanted to help Ukrainian teams strengthen their skills, build connections with international colleagues, and bring that experience back to their points of care. We hope this program will have a lasting impact on how trauma care is delivered across Ukraine,” said Yuliia Shama, Health Project Manager, Razom for Ukraine.

The 16 physicians were 8 surgeons and 8 anesthesiologists who trained together. They serve at stabilization points and in forward surgical teams near the front line. In the program, they practiced working as one team in critical situations.

The 3 courses:

ATLS (Advanced Trauma Life Support): initial trauma assessment, resuscitation and stabilization.
DSTC (Definitive Surgical Trauma Care): surgical decision-making and management of severe injuries.
ASSET (Advanced Surgical Skills for Exposure in Trauma): surgical exposure techniques for hemorrhage control and emergency interventions.

Together, the courses strengthened clinical decision-making, surgical skills, and coordination between surgeons and anesthesiologists.

“We had been dreaming of taking an authentic, ACS-certified ATLS course for several years. It provides the framework to structure knowledge and systemize the approach to care—directly impacting a patient’s chances of survival. If ATLS courses are conducted regularly in Ukraine, I am more than convinced that over time we will see significantly improved statistics regarding patient survival and injury outcomes,” said Dr. Kateryna Maslyak, anesthesiologist and Medical Director of the NGO CHEST!, who participated in the Tryzub program.

The Ministry of Defence plans to expand such courses so that all Defence Forces surgeons and anesthesiologists can train according to best practices from the United States and other NATO member states.

“When a service member goes into combat, they must know that if they are wounded, people nearby will do everything they can to save their life. That kind of trust matters enormously at the front. And that trust is built on training, experience, and effective teamwork. That is why we want our medical personnel to have the best possible knowledge and skills and to be able to work as one team.”, emphasized Evgeniy Khmara, Minister of Defence of Ukraine

Tryzub united international medical societies, nonprofits, and the Ministry of Defence to reinforce Ukraine’s trauma care system. It marks the start of a broader effort to provide more Ukrainian medical teams with this level of training.

Every life saved starts with the right training, skills, and teamwork. With your support, Razom can continue strengthening Ukraine’s medical teams and helping frontline healthcare professionals deliver lifesaving care when every second counts.

Support Razom and help save lives in Ukraine.

The Headlines Feel Familiar. What’s Happening in Ukraine Is Getting Worse.

Published: October 1, 2026

“Now, new jet-powered Shaheds are so fast that even the Telegram channels you rely on can’t warn you in time,” Hanna, Operations Manager for Razom’s mental health program, shares. “Before, there were a few hours of quiet. Now, non-stop exhaustion without sleep affects everything.”

Every day across Ukraine, people are still going to work, taking care of their families, running businesses, teaching children, treating patients, and helping their communities through another day of war. This is what keeps the country functioning, even as the conditions around them become increasingly difficult.

After more than four years of full-scale war, another headline about an attack on Ukraine can be easy to scroll past. Some of our colleagues have even heard people abroad ask whether the war is still going on.

The reality is the opposite of a war fading away. In the first eight months of 2026, the UN recorded more civilian casualties in Ukraine than during all of 2025.

But numbers tell only part of the story. What can look from abroad like another week of “war in Ukraine” is, in everyday life, a humanitarian crisis that reaches far beyond the front line. A destroyed business means more than a damaged building. A strike on a medical warehouse means supplies may never reach the patients waiting for them. When a school, hospital, communications network, or workplace is hit, the consequences continue long after the attack disappears from the news.

At Razom, we see those consequences through our own colleagues, grantees, and partners across Ukraine. They are treating patients, delivering aid, supporting communities, running organizations, and building for the future while navigating the same attacks as everyone around them. And over the past weeks, doing that work has become even harder.

The people behind the headlines

Kyiv has faced repeated attacks throughout September. On September 25, a Russian strike hit the Compass FM business center during the workday. Among those killed was journalist Mariia Ivzhenko, the wife of Danylo Ivzhenko, who is currently serving with Ukraine’s Third Army Corps. We know Danylo through his work with Razom on tourniquet training and other medical education initiatives in Ukraine. He is trained to save lives on the front line, yet this war reached his own family far from it. In a public post after Mariia’s death, Danylo shared that they had recently bought an apartment and were planning to start a family this winter. Our deepest condolences go to Danylo, Mariia’s family, and everyone who knew and loved her.

Three days later, on September 28, Russian attacks hit two more places at the center of civilian life in Kyiv. A Russian drone struck the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, killing people while they were at work inside. Later that day, another strike hit a Dobrobut medical center, damaging the clinic and injuring patients and staff.

A scientific institution. A medical center. A business. Homes, schools, warehouses, and communications infrastructure. These are not places on a distant front line. They are the places where Ukrainians work, learn, receive care, and try to live their lives.

For our colleagues in Kyiv, these are not distant news stories. They are people they know, streets they travel, workplaces they pass, and neighborhoods where their families and friends live.

The growing pressure on Ukrainian businesses

There is another part of this story that receives less attention: the growing pressure on the businesses and infrastructure that keep Ukraine functioning.

In August, the UN documented 32 attacks against facilities belonging to six major Ukrainian food, retail, and logistics companies, nearly three times the number recorded in July. Warehouses and distribution centers have been damaged, disrupting the systems Ukrainians depend on for food, deliveries, jobs, and everyday services.

For Razom, we see another consequence through our partners on the ground.

Ukrainian businesses have been important donors to civil society organizations providing essential relief and recovery services in their communities. Our partners are telling us that as businesses are hit and lose revenue, some of that support is disappearing too, putting funding for critical programs under pressure.

A damaged business affects its employees and their families, the local economy, the organizations it supports, and ultimately the people who depend on those organizations.

The same is true for humanitarian and medical infrastructure. In only three months this summer, airstrikes destroyed three warehouses used by the World Health Organization, including a Dnipro facility where half of the medical supplies and equipment intended to support approximately 225,000 people in frontline and hard-to-reach communities were lost. At least 20 attacks have affected warehouses storing humanitarian supplies in Ukraine so far this year.

This is what a humanitarian crisis looks like beyond the immediate moment of an attack: the systems designed to help people survive and recover are themselves placed under enormous pressure.

Oleshky: Hell on Earth Under Russian Occupation

The pressure on civilian life is not limited to the cities and infrastructure being hit by Russian attacks. In Russian-occupied Oleshky in Kherson Oblast, the same humanitarian crisis has reached an extreme.

Civilians, including children, are trapped without sufficient food, medicine, medical care, running water, or electricity. The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights has warned that residents face a high risk of death and called for humanitarian access and safe evacuation.

With conventional humanitarian access severely restricted, Ukrainian defenders are still trying to reach those trapped there. In one recent operation, Ukrainian forces used drones to deliver around four tons of food and medicine to 100 locations across Oleshky.

Oleshky shows the humanitarian catastrophe Russia’s war and occupation have created in its most extreme form: people cut off from the basic conditions they need to survive. And it is happening right now, alongside the attacks on homes, businesses, hospitals, schools, and infrastructure across Ukraine.

This is what gets lost when all of it becomes simply “the war in Ukraine.”

Ukrainians are still doing the work

And still, life continues. Doctors go to work after sleepless nights. Businesses reopen after attacks. Teachers keep classrooms running, volunteers keep aid moving, and communities continue taking care of one another. But Ukrainians should not be expected to endlessly adapt to destruction. Resilience is not protection, and it cannot replace the support people need to keep going.

For Razom, that is why responding to the immediate crisis and investing in Ukraine’s future have always been connected. We help provide urgent humanitarian and medical support while strengthening the people, organizations, and communities that will carry Ukraine forward.

The international community has tools to act. The recently enacted Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act gives the United States additional authorities to increase economic pressure on Russia and those helping finance its war. These tools must be used to their fullest extent. Contact your representatives in Congress and urge them to call on the White House to increase pressure on Russia and ensure continued support for Ukraine.

Ukrainians are already doing the work: saving lives, keeping businesses open, caring for their communities, and building a future in Ukraine. What they need now is not for the world to admire their resilience, but to stand behind it.

Join us. Support Ukraine.

Ukrainian Culture Takes Center Stage in New York

Published: September 28, 2026

A look behind the scenes of the Ukrainian Cultural Festival, and why showing up matters.

“October is Ukrainian culture month,” we’ve heard around New York City over the past few years. And for us, that is one of the clearest signs of what Razom’s Ukrainian Cultural Festival (UCF) has become.

This is our fourth year, and in 2026 we are reaching new stages, new audiences, and new partners across the city. As producers curating performing arts programming for Razom for Ukraine, we get to see the vision come to life each year, from our very first brainstorming sessions to the final moments when the theater and venues are restored to their original forms and everything gets quiet again.

This year, we have the privilege of partnering with the Alexander & Buono Foundation to open the festival at Carnegie Hall with the US premiere of Ukrainian composer Oleg Bezborodko’s Steel, Violet, Rage, performed by the Shelest Piano Duo (Anna and Dmitri Shelest) alongside the Brandywine Symphony Orchestra from the greater Philadelphia region.

The title of the piano concerto alone tells a story. Steel evokes Azovstal, the vast steelworks in Mariupol that became a place of extraordinary resistance during the siege of the city in 2022, and with it the endurance and heroism of its defenders. Violet comes from the final poem of Ukrainian poet and soldier Maksym Kryvtsov, killed in action in 2024. And Rage needs little explanation.

But this is not a concert about the war. It is Ukrainian contemporary music, including a piece by the Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov, performed alongside works by the legendary American composers Philip Glass and Samuel Barber.

By design, UCF is a rare opportunity to bring extraordinary Ukrainian talent to New York as artists whose work belongs in the city’s cultural life, without reducing it to the current devastation of war. This is one of the reasons we’re proud to work tirelessly on the festival each year and see it receive the recognition it deserves.

Over three weeks, starting October 18 through November 6, audiences will encounter Ukrainian cinema, literature, theater, and classical music performances. We are partnering with established cultural institutions such as QUAD Cinema, DCTV’s Firehouse Cinema, The Public Theater, Teatro LATEA, the New York Public Library, Poets House and more.

For us, this expansion in partnerships and locations is one of the most exhilarating parts. It proves the point: Ukrainian art should not exist only in Ukrainian spaces as it belongs in the wider cultural landscape of New York.

Stories On Stage

One of the performances we’re particularly looking forward to is The Reckoning: Selected Scenes and Conversation by Dash Arts, a New York preview of verbatim theater based on verified survivor testimony from russia’s war in Ukraine.

It tells the story of one man who remained in his village outside Kyiv when others fled. The performance will be followed by a conversation between London-based director Josephine Burton and Peter Pomerantsev, co-founder of The Reckoning Project, about the testimony behind the work and the documentation of war crimes.

Our festival becomes the springboard for further exploration and workshopping of this piece ahead of its US tour in 2027. Praised as “powerful and important” and “brilliant, sharp stage craft” in the UK, the production comes to UCF with US-based Ukrainian actors Petro Ninovskyi and Sasha Odesa.

At the festival, we not only bring Ukrainian artists’ work to New York, but also showcase American talent working on Ukrainian stories. Playwright Richard Nelson’s new play, More Beauty Than Sorrow, created in Kyiv, looks at Lesia Ukrainka and her family through their everyday lives rather than through the usual monumental portrait of a national literary figure. The festivalgoers will be able to see the production that was created in Ukraine in a film screening at The Public Theater.

A Full Circle

This year, the festival closes where it started – with a return to Carnegie Hall with Unbreakable Harmony, bringing together the Kyiv Lysenko State Music Lyceum Chamber Girls’ Choir and the Westchester Children’s Chorus.

They will perform Ukrainian and American music, songs about peace and community, and, finally, Shchedryk – the Ukrainian melody better known in the US as Carol of the Bells.

This carries a specific meaning: Shchedryk was first performed for American audiences at Carnegie Hall in 1921. More than a century later, Ukrainian children will sing it there again.

Artists need audiences and culture survives by staying alive in people’s minds and hearts.

Artists need not only donations and support, but also the chance to connect and be together in a room with audiences during these very challenging times.

You may come because you want to support Ukraine, but you may leave having discovered a composer, actor, filmmaker, or story you knew nothing about.

And that is the beauty of something we can’t live without: culture. And this year, we have some spectacular moments of Ukrainian culture to witness together.

We hope you’ll join us.

Rachel Shuey and Viktorija Mickute, UCF Producers

Ukrainian Animation Takes Center Stage at International Animation Conference in Pittsburgh

Published: July 29, 2026

From June 15–19, Pittsburgh became a gathering place for some of the world’s leading animation scholars, artists, and filmmakers during the 37th Annual Conference of the Society for Animation Studies (SAS). Supported by Razom, Ukrainian animators joined the international conversation to showcase their work, share their experiences of creating during wartime, and introduce global audiences to a vibrant animation industry that continues to thrive despite Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Organized by the Pennsylvania Expanded Animation Alliance (PA-XAA) and the Society for Animation Studies, the conference brought together more than 100 researchers, artists, and industry professionals to explore animation as a medium for storytelling, memory, trauma, and human connection.

Bringing Ukrainian Stories to International Audiences

One of the conference highlights was “Resilient Reels: Ukrainian Animation on Screen and In Conversation,” held on June 16 at Pittsburgh’s Harris Theater.

The evening featured a curated screening of contemporary Ukrainian animated films, followed by a discussion with acclaimed Ukrainian animation directors and animation artists Sashko Danylenko, Daryna Fes, and Sasha Ruban, who joined online from Ukraine.

The conversation explored what it means to create art during war — from documenting national trauma and preserving childhood in times of violence to building an animation industry under extraordinary circumstances.

More importantly, it gave audiences the opportunity to hear directly from Ukrainian artists.

Many attendees remarked that meeting Ukrainian filmmakers in person added an entirely new dimension to the films they had just watched. Others said the discussion helped them better understand both the realities of Russia’s war against Ukraine and the resilience of Ukraine’s creative community.

Art That Continues Beyond the Screen

The conference coincided with The Animate Experience, an exhibition presented by the Pennsylvania Expanded Animation Alliance, The Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh, and the Society for Animation Studies at Pittsburgh MuseumLab.

Among the featured artists was Razom Cinema grantee Daryna Fes, whose multimedia works were included in the exhibition. She attended the opening in person, introducing visitors to her work and engaging in conversations about contemporary Ukrainian art.

Visitors continued discussing her VR installation, Spheres, throughout the conference, making it one of the exhibition’s memorable works.

More Than Filmmakers — Cultural Ambassadors

For the Ukrainian delegation, the conference was about much more than presenting films.

“Our small Ukrainian team not only enjoyed the event as visitors but also advocated for Ukraine — you simply cannot be anyone but an ambassador at international events,” said director Sashko Danylenko. “Stand out, spread the word, fight russian narratives and propaganda, fill in the blanks, and most importantly, build empathy.”

Danylenko also noted that scheduling the Ukrainian screening at the beginning of the conference helped spark conversations that continued throughout the week, creating opportunities to connect with scholars, educators, and fellow artists.

For Daryna Fes, the event demonstrated how animation can foster meaningful dialogue.

“Many attendees were curious about the situation in Ukraine, and I believe events like this — screenings of Ukrainian animation, Q&As, and informal conversations — help people better understand what’s happening in Ukraine. Alongside traditional animation, the festival also embraced a more artistic dimension, offering both the platform and the technical setup to show even technically demanding works. “

Why Representation Matters

For the conference organizers, introducing Ukrainian animation to an international academic audience was a long-term investment.

While Ukrainian animation remains underrepresented globally, professors and researchers attending the conference help shape future film and animation curricula. Increasing their familiarity with Ukrainian works means more students around the world may encounter Ukrainian stories in classrooms for years to come.

The event also extended beyond the conference itself. By hosting the screening in a public cinema rather than inside the conference venue, organizers welcomed members of the Pittsburgh community, creating another opportunity to raise awareness about Ukraine through culture.

Building Connections Through Culture

Throughout the week, conversations continued well beyond scheduled panels.

Audience members praised the diversity of Ukrainian animation, discussed their favorite films with the filmmakers, and asked thoughtful questions about working during wartime. Others expressed appreciation for hearing multiple perspectives from artists living through the same historical moment.

One particularly memorable interaction came after the screening, when an audience member approached Sashko Danylenko to share that he had long admired his work and could hardly believe they were finally meeting in person.

These are the connections that cultural exchange makes possible — especially in spaces like SAS creates.

“Academic community is important in this regard, because instructors who teach courses on film and animation, make choices which works they include in their syllabi, and their familiarization with Ukrainian animation can potentially result in Ukrainian animated films being seen by their students in the future.” — noted the conference organizers.

By supporting Ukrainian artists at international events like the Society for Animation Studies conference, Razom helps ensure that Ukrainian voices are not only heard — they become part of the global cultural conversation.

Because culture is more than art. It is memory, identity, and a powerful way to build understanding across borders.

Neurosurgical Mission by Razom: U.S. and Ukrainian Doctors Perform 37 Complex Surgeries

Published: July 22, 2026

Just one day after the large-scale attack on Kyiv, the medical team witnessed the aftermath of russian strikes firsthand, including the area around the Lukianivska metro station. It was the beginning of another surgical mission. Yet beyond the destroyed buildings, the American doctors saw something that inspires them to return to Ukraine time and again — the extraordinary resilience of the Ukrainian people.

Razom for Ukraine organized the international CO-PILOT NEURO neurosurgical mission, which took place on June 12–20 in Kyiv, Dnipro, and Lviv. Over nine days, Ukrainian and American specialists jointly performed 37 free, high-tech surgeries for patients at four medical institutions.

Leading U.S. interventional neuroradiologists and neurosurgeons Dr. Maxim Shapiro and Dr. Kim Nelson traveled to Ukraine to take part in the mission. Working alongside Ukrainian medical teams, they performed some of the most complex endovascular procedures while sharing their expertise directly in the operating room.

A key focus of the mission was the exchange of surgical knowledge between American and Ukrainian neurosurgeons. The program covered three cities — Kyiv, Dnipro, and Lviv — where U.S. and Ukrainian doctors worked side by side to provide care for patients with the most complex cerebrovascular conditions.

“This is what true systemic change looks like — the very change we aim to achieve by organizing our surgical missions. We receive not only support from American doctors, but also valuable knowledge that remains in Ukraine and continues to strengthen our healthcare system after each mission concludes,” said Yuliia Shama, Head of the Razom Health Co-Pilot project.

During the mission, doctors performed a wide range of complex neurointerventional procedures, including treatment of cerebral aneurysms, arteriovenous malformations, dural arteriovenous fistulas, venous sinus recanalization and stenting, as well as interventions for traumatic vascular injuries of the head and neck. Patients from various regions of Ukraine, including both civilian and military patients, received specialized care.

In Dnipro, the team worked at the Mechnikov Dnipropetrovsk Regional Clinical Hospital, where 12 complex neurointerventional procedures were performed in just three days. During the mission, doctors spent hours in operating rooms, carrying out advanced interventions while simultaneously providing continuous emergency care, including treatment for patients with ischemic stroke.

“We worked from morning until night, putting all our energy, knowledge, and inspiration into solving highly complex and unusual medical challenges. It was a true team effort, and we all worked together toward one goal — saving Ukrainian lives and improving the quality of medical care in Ukraine,” said neurosurgeon Yurii Cherednichenko.

Throughout the mission, Dr. Maxim Shapiro and Dr. Kim Nelson worked alongside Ukrainian neurosurgeons as part of CO-PILOT NEURO. This collaborative approach enabled Ukrainian specialists to gain hands-on experience with modern endovascular treatment techniques and exchange knowledge while managing complex clinical cases.

The final stage of the mission took place in Lviv, where, alongside surgical procedures, a lecture titled “Modern Aspects of Endovascular Treatment of Central Nervous System Pathologies” was held. The educational session was attended by 26 Ukrainian physicians. The training program was also organized by Razom for Ukraine, as strengthening the professional skills of Ukrainian medical workers remains one of the organization’s key priorities in supporting the country’s healthcare system.

Despite air raid alerts and new attacks, the mission continued. Teams traveling to Ukraine do not abandon their plans — they know their assistance is needed. It is the resilience and courage of Ukrainians that gives them the strength to continue.

7th Face the Future Mission by Razom: How world-class surgeons rebuild Ukrainians’ faces after trauma

Published: July 7, 2026

In May 2026, Ivano-Frankivsk hosted the seventh international medical mission “Face the Future,” organized by Razom for Ukraine. Surgeons from Canada, the United States, and Ukraine carried out 68 surgical procedures on 24 patients with severe facial injuries.

At the center of every mission is a person — and a very personal dream. For Andrii from Ivano-Frankivsk, it was simply being able to breathe again. For Roman from Khotyn, it was restoring his facial structure after captivity. For Mykhailo from Stryi it was removing a scar and correcting a nose fractured in an FPV drone strike.

Different stories, but one shared path to recovery. All three were among 24 patients treated in Ivano-Frankivsk during the seventh “Face the Future” mission organized by Razom for Ukraine.

Dozens of surgeries in just a few days

From May 3 to 8, the Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Clinical Hospital became a center of intensive surgical work. Teams from Canada, the United States, and Ukraine performed 68 surgical procedures on patients with severe facial trauma — both military and civilian.

“This time, 13 specialists from North America joined Ukrainian colleagues. The team included six surgeons and seven nurses from Canada and the United States, five of whom have Ukrainian roots,” said Peter Adamson, President and Founder, Face the Future Foundation.

Razom as a core partner of the mission

Beyond the operating room, Razom plays a key role in making the mission possible. The organization handles logistics, coordination, and part of the medical supplies, allowing doctors to focus entirely on patient care.

“Razom is a bridge between North America and Ukraine. We take care of all on-site coordination — logistics, organization, and communication with the hospital. This allows doctors to focus on patients and reduces the burden on the hospital,” said Iryna Matsiuk, Razom Coordinator in Ukraine.

This was also confirmed by Natalia Komashko, the Ukrainian lead of the mission and an otolaryngologist:

“I am especially proud of our Ukrainian team, whose work begins long before the international teams arrive and continues long after they leave. We are sincerely grateful to Razom for Ukraine – not only for helping bring expert teams to Ukraine, but also for providing essential medical supplies that significantly strengthen our hospital’s capacity to deliver care”

Partnership that restores quality of life

These missions are made possible through close cooperation between doctors, bioengineers, and volunteers working toward one shared goal — restoring function and quality of life for patients in even the most complex cases.

The program is implemented by Razom for Ukraine, Face the Future Foundation, Still Strong, and the Charitable Foundation “Patients of Ukraine,” in partnership with the Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Clinical Hospital and with support from Materialise.

“I am deeply grateful to everyone involved. They are doing important work and providing real support, and I am thankful that such help and missions exist,” said patient Mykhailo Vovchyna.

How international missions transform Ukrainian surgery

While the types of injuries remain largely similar from mission to mission, the capacity of Ukrainian medical teams continues to grow significantly. This was emphasized by Anthony Brissett, a U.S. surgeon and medical director of the Face the Future mission, who has taken part in the program four times.

“Doctors and nurses are becoming better prepared and expanding their skills. This is reflected in the complex procedures we performed this week, including cases involving leading international experts in nasal reconstruction. This is the level of care Ukrainians deserve,” he said.

The mission is part of a broader long-term effort that goes beyond individual operations. It is not only about treating patients with the most severe injuries, but also about strengthening surgical capacity in Ukraine. Ukrainian doctors, anesthesiologists, and nurses work side by side with international teams, gaining experience and taking on increasingly complex cases. According to Razom Health Co-Pilot Project Lead Yuliia Shama:

“Over the past 3 years, Razom’s medical missions have helped provide life-changing surgeries to more than a thousand patients with complex injuries. Through the Co-Pilot Project, we are strengthening Ukraine’s long-term surgical capacity by training specialized surgeons, expanding international partnerships, and advancing modern reconstructive care so that critical expertise remains and grows in Ukraine.”

Training and knowledge exchange

Alongside the procedures, more than 200 nursing leaders from across Ukraine gathered for the VII International Nursing Symposium. Half of the presentations were delivered by international speakers, and half by Ukrainian nursing professionals. The symposium was supported by Razom for Ukraine, marking an important step in strengthening nursing education and professional development in Ukraine. The hospital also received simulation trainers for hands-on training, provided by Razom.

In addition, the VII Symposium on Reconstructive Surgery of the Head and Neck was held in Ivano-Frankivsk as part of the Face the Future Ukraine mission. A key highlight was the visit of Frederick J. Menick, one of the world’s leading experts in nasal reconstruction. He delivered lectures and hands-on sessions, sharing advanced approaches to complex reconstruction and clinical decision-making in surgery.

The humanitarian program “Face the Future Ukraine” was founded by Face the Future Foundation, Razom for Ukraine, and Still Strong to provide free reconstructive surgeries to Ukrainian patients and train Ukrainian surgeons. It is implemented in partnership with the Regional Clinical Hospital of the Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Council, Healing The Children North East, Materialise, the CF “Patients of Ukraine”

How Six Counseling Sessions Can Change a Life: Inside the “Razom z Toboyu” Psychological Center in Dnipro

Published: March 30, 2026

During wartime, psychological support becomes just as essential as medical care. In the city of Dnipro, the “Razom z Toboyu” Psychological Center, run by Razom for Ukraine, offers free counseling sessions to those in need. The center supports soldiers, their families, and civilians who are going through difficult life situations.

Natalia, the center’s senior psychologist, has been working on the project since 2023. She says that for many people, access to free counseling can make all the difference.

“I always say a big thank you to those who support this project. Many of our clients simply cannot afford mental health care,” she explains.

According to Natalia, the war has dramatically increased the psychological strain people are living under.. Constant tension, air raid alarms, and everyday challenges build up over time.

“I see how exhausted and irritable people are now. And that’s natural—we are all living in extremely difficult conditions. That’s why psychological support is so important right now,” she says.

The center offers both individual consultations and group sessions where participants learn about emotional wellbeing and coping strategies.

“When people begin to understand what they are experiencing, things start to feel more manageable. They start to see how they can help themselves and support others,” Natalia adds.

A Soldier’s Story

Natalia recalls the story of a soldier who came to the center after being injured.

At first glance, his injury was barely noticeable, but he had serious difficulties with hand mobility. After returning to civilian life, he struggled to adapt.

“He came to me because he struggled to find his place in civilian life again. There was a lot of tension, conflicts at home, and his relationships with loved ones had deteriorated,” Natalia says.

At the center, clients can receive a series of six counseling sessions. The goal is to stabilize a person’s condition and help them take the first steps toward recovery.

“We worked on self-regulation techniques — ways he could calm himself and better understand his emotions. ” she explains.

Over time, things began to improve. His sleep got better, and there was less tension at home.

“He even brought his wife to one of the sessions. It’s very important when family members become part of the process,” Natalia adds.

After completing the six sessions, the man decided to continue therapy.

“When he first came, he felt that nothing would ever change. But little by little he saw that things could actually improve,” Natalia says.

The First Step Toward Change

According to Natalia, six counseling sessions cannot solve every problem , but they often become the starting point for meaningful change.

Sometimes clients return months later when they face a new challenge or simply need someone to talk to again.

“Sometimes people call and say, ‘Can we talk again?’ And we continue working together,” she says.

Often, helping one person opens the door for others to seek support as well.

“First one person comes, then they bring their spouse, their children, or friends. People share their experience, and that’s how others learn that support is available,” Natalia explains.

She believes that centers like this play an important role not only today, but also in the future.

“All of this is aimed at helping Ukraine remain as mentally resilient as possible.,” Natalia says.

Sometimes change begins with a simple step—the courage to come in and ask for help.

Caring for the Country by Caring for its People: Lessons from the Razom z Toboyu Forum in Bucha

Published: January 15, 2026

In October 2025, the city of Bucha became a place of collective listening and forward-looking action. There, more than 70 practitioners, community leaders, public servants, educators, veterans, and partners gathered for the Mental Health Forum “Models of Resilience. Partnerships. Innovations,” organized by RAZOM z Toboyu, a project of Razom for Ukraine, funded by Direct Relief.

The forum asked a question that feels urgent across Ukraine today: How do we strengthen a mental health system that can meet people where they are – during war – and endure for the long recovery ahead?

A convening rooted in place-and purpose

Holding the forum in Bucha was deliberate. The city has become a symbol of profound loss and resilience, and a reminder that mental health is not an abstract policy goal – it is part of daily survival. Bringing the conversation here underscored a shared commitment to building support systems that are grounded in communities, responsive to trauma, and capable of scaling. Participants traveled from more than ten regions – from Kyiv Oblast (including Bucha, Irpin, Borodianka, and Boryspil) to Lviv, Vinnytsia, Khmelnytskyi, Ivano-Frankivsk, Zakarpattia, Zaporizhzhia, and Mykolaiv – alongside partners from the United States. Psychologists, social workers, medical professionals, veterans, educators, representatives of local government, and civil society organizations filled the room. For those unable to attend in person, the forum was also livestreamed, expanding the dialogue beyond the walls of the venue.

What the forum explored

Across panel discussions, presentations, and a Speed Networking roundtable, the forum focused on practical questions-and practical answers:

How can communities support the mental health of service members, veterans, their families, and civilians living under constant stress?
Which innovations-digital tools, evidence-based interventions, new service models-are helping psychologists work more effectively today?
How do we move from fragmented efforts to systemic cooperation among government institutions, local communities, and the nonprofit sector?

Opening remarks from project leadership and partners emphasized that durable solutions depend on partnership. “This forum is not just an event—it is an effort to create a shared space for action, partnership, and responsibility. Together, we aim to identify models that truly work and to lay the foundation for a joint roadmap for the development of mental health services in our communities.” – said Iryna Gudyma, Head of the RAZOM z Toboyu project.

Other speakers shared lessons learned from building psychosocial support models that prioritize trust, coordination, and local ownership-while remaining aligned with national policy and international best practices. Throughout the day, the conversations were candid. Participants named gaps in coordination and capacity, but they also shared what is working: community-based models, professional support for frontline specialists to prevent burnout, and tools that help measure outcomes rather than intentions.

From dialogue to a roadmap

A central outcome of the forum was the creation of a “roadmap” for intersectoral cooperation – a practical guide communities can use to develop and strengthen their own local mental health ecosystems. The roadmap that emerged from the Bucha forum translates dialogue into coordinated action. Developed on the basis of discussions, panels, and participant surveys, the Roadmap of Mental Resilience for Kyiv Oblast outlines how communities, professionals, and institutions can move from fragmented responses toward a coherent, people-centered system of psychosocial support.

At its core, the roadmap recognizes a simple truth: since the full-scale invasion, mental health has become inseparable from community resilience. Veterans, families of the fallen, internally displaced people, and civilians alike are living with prolonged stress and trauma. Addressing these needs requires more than isolated services – it requires sustained cooperation across sectors, shared standards, and trust.

The roadmap defines intersectoral partnership as the foundation of an effective system. Local governments, healthcare and education institutions, civil society organizations, and psychological centers each play distinct but interconnected roles. Communities are positioned as the first point of contact – places where people seek help and where trust is built – while specialized centers provide deeper clinical support, supervision, and methodological guidance. A third layer of organizations strengthens social cohesion through education, integration programs, and community-based activities.

Another central pillar is quality and accessibility of care. Forum participants identified stigma, low public awareness, and a shortage of specialists – especially in smaller or remote communities – as major barriers to care. The roadmap responds by prioritizing psychoeducation, clear referral pathways, and professional development for specialists. Regular supervision, peer support, and burnout prevention are not treated as optional add-ons, but as essential conditions for sustainable care.

Innovation and digitalization form a third key direction. The roadmap emphasizes that technology is not a goal in itself, but a tool for expanding reach and continuity of support. Online consultations, digital case management systems, telemedicine platforms, and emerging tools such as chatbots or AI-assisted follow-up can help ensure that people do not fall through the cracks – especially when in-person services are unavailable. At the same time, the roadmap acknowledges the need to invest in digital literacy and trust-building so these tools can be used effectively and ethically.

Importantly, the roadmap centers care for the caregiver. The sustainability of any mental health system depends on the well-being of those delivering support. Training, supervision, fair working conditions, and recognition of professional expertise are framed as investments in the resilience of the entire system.

Finally, the roadmap is not a static document. It calls for memoranda of cooperation, shared trainings, mutual referrals, joint advocacy, and continuous feedback between partners. Its ambition is practical: to ensure that no person facing the consequences of war is left alone, and that communities have the structures, partnerships, and tools they need to support recovery today and in the long term.

Ukrainian resilience-shared with the world

The Bucha forum is part of a broader conversation. In 2025, the RAZOM z Toboyu team also presented Ukraine’s experience at the Heal Ukraine conference at Harvard, sharing a model of psychological resilience shaped by the realities of full-scale war.

That model emphasizes four interconnected levels of resilience-individual, family, professional, and social-and pairs them with evidence-based individual support that tracks progress and adapts care plans over time. It also centers professional resilience, offering psychoeducation to specialists working in “human-to-human” professions, and family-based approaches that address transgenerational trauma among military families and veterans.

As Iryna Gudyma put it: “Ukraine’s experience is not only about endurance; it is about innovation under pressure. The systems being built today are meant to be accessible, measurable, and scalable-relevant not just for Ukraine, but for any society facing prolonged crisis.”

Why this moment matters

Since 2022, RAZOM z Toboyu has been working to build a national system of psychological support based on trust, evidence, and partnership. A team of 40 psychologists – 12 with academic degrees – has delivered more than 28,500 individual consultations, 2,500 hours of group work, and over 440 psychoeducational trainings.

The Bucha forum marked an important milestone in that journey. It demonstrated what becomes possible when communities, professionals, and public institutions come together-not to compete for resources, but to align around people’s needs.

Resilience, the forum made clear, is not an abstract trait. It is something we build-deliberately, collectively, and in collaboration. In Bucha, that work continued, with eyes firmly on the future and a shared understanding that caring for mental health is essential to caring for the country itself.

“You Did Not Leave Us Alone”: Inside a Mission Where Every Gesture Matters

Published: December 12, 2025

In Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Hospital, the echoes of the full-scale invasion feel both far away and impossibly close. Outside, life hums along: deliveries come and go, local residents walk their dogs while chatting, people carry home warm loaves of bread and other groceries. But on the ninth floor, inside the otolaryngology wing, the consequences of Russia’s invasion are etched into the faces of the people waiting quietly in the hallway.

Most are veterans, but some are also civilians caught in the wrong place at the wrong moment. Many have lived for months and years with injuries that no one in peacetime imagines: shattered cheekbones, torn eyelids, fractured eye sockets, burn scars, and the emotional burden of carrying an altered face through the world. This fall, a team of surgeons, anesthesiologists, and nurses from the United States and Canada returned again to offer what Ukrainian patients describe most simply and most poignantly: hope.

This is the “Face the Future Ukraine” mission, and many hands took part in making it happen: the Face the Future Foundation, Razom for Ukraine, Still Strong , Patients of Ukraine, Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Hospital, Materialise, and Humanitarian Nova Post – as well as dozens of individual doctors, nurses, and other professionals.

Khristie Morell, a Canadian nurse who has been volunteering in Ukraine since the earliest days of the full-scale invasion, reflected on what she sees in every patient she meets: “Being here in Ukraine, I see that every single contact from the outside world – people really take that to heart.” She added, almost as if speaking to every Ukraine supporter around reading this: “Every single donation, every single time you think of Ukraine or spread the word, is extremely valuable.” Her words are not abstract, but rather reflect something you can only understand when you stand at the bedside of a patient waking from anesthesia while air-raid sirens sound in the distance: the world’s presence really matters to Ukrainians, especially after four years of the full-scale war.

One of the patients waiting for surgery was a Ukrainian defender named Viktor Hrytskevych. Viktor has deep wounds on his face, a missing right arm, and almost no sight in both eyes – and requested not to be photographed or have video taken of him.

He was guided into the room by his wife Natalka, who hasn’t left his side since he received his injury – walking him around the hospital and helping him with daily tasks. Somewhat reluctantly, Viktor spoke of the injuries that he carried through multiple hospitals and across regions. He recounted how he was evacuated through Pokrovsk, then Zaporizhzhia, then Dnipro, then Kyiv, and finally Odesa. Specialists restored a small amount of vision there.

He now sees light, shadow, and some shapes – “але не більше” (“but not much more”). Months later, during rehabilitation, doctors told him there was a visiting mission that might be able to help further. He didn’t hesitate. “The doctors told me there is a program offering surgery… I agreed right away.” He squeezes Natalka’s hand as he says it, sharing that his biggest dream is to see his beautiful wife’s face again.

Another patient is Andrii Dyachko, a defender who spent a year undergoing treatment in Latvia, but even going abroad was not enough. He described his injuries in raw detail: “My face was asymmetrical, the cheekbone was shattered, my eye was sunken.” Previous surgeries helped restore some symmetry, but he hoped this mission could take him further – restore function, expression, the ability to meet the eyes of loved ones without self-consciousness. For him, surgery is not cosmetic, it is truly about recognition of the self he once was and the self he hopes to be again.

To understand the scale of this hope, you must also hear from those who make it possible, including the Ukrainian doctors who have worked tirelessly to bring this mission to the Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Hospital. Dr. Natalia Komashko, an otolaryngologist at the regional hospital and the founder of Still Strong Initiative, is the Ukrainian lead for the mission. She recalls the earliest days of the partnership, describing how the first mission was challenging and overwhelming, but also a breakthrough: “We carried out such a large-scale mission in Ukraine for the first time… It was difficult, but it succeeded.” That success opened the door to Face the Future’s ongoing collaboration. About the international team, she says: “We saw that their values align with ours, and that we can learn a great deal from each other.” For Dr. Komashko, this mission isn’t just about surgeries – it’s about building a medical community across borders, even under war.

Dr. Matthew Brace, a facial plastic and reconstructive surgeon from Ontario, has volunteered on multiple missions. His voice is calm but charged with purpose when he explains why he keeps coming back: “There’s nothing more satisfying as a doctor than helping somebody who’s in acute, dire need – when they can’t get help anywhere else.” His path to this mission began with a desire to combine trauma expertise with humanitarian care. When he first heard about Ukrainian patients waiting months or years for specialized procedures, he felt a pull he couldn’t ignore. But it wasn’t only the surgeries that kept him returning – it was the people. The Ukrainian doctors were eager to learn. The local teams who arrive early, stay late, and absorb every detail. The patients who endure what no one should.

As he put it: “To help 30 people in one week is extraordinary. But the impact doesn’t stop with them – it ripples outward to their families, their communities, their children.”

“I have four daughters and my wife, and so being away from them for ten days is probably the hardest part. They’re all very understanding. When I first told my wife about the invitation to come, she said, ‘I don’t want you to go, but I think you should.’ And my kids have been the same… we talked about it a lot as a family. I said, ‘If we were in the same situation Ukraine is in and I was injured, I would hope somebody would be brave enough to come and help.’ And my kids are totally on board with that, and they say, ‘Yeah.’”

And the patients are certainly grateful for the ones brave enough to come and help. One patient, after speaking with the mission leads, took the interviewer’s hands and said: “ [I wish] prosperity to you and your organization.” It is gratitude not for charity, but for presence and for solidarity. For the knowledge that he – and Ukraine – have not been forgotten.

Nurse anesthetist Andrew Kosteniuk, a Ukrainian-Canadian member of the team, certainly understands the importance of letting Ukrainian people know that they are remembered by the global community: “It’s vital that people here don’t feel alone, don’t feel abandoned, don’t feel forgotten. We’re here to give them hope that there is a better future, a brighter future. Hope is the most important thing.” In wartime Ukraine, hope is not abstract – it emerges through the smallest gestures and moments. It looks like surgeons huddled over CT scans at 7:00 a.m, sounds like quiet Ukrainian spoken to a patient emerging from anesthesia, and feels like a promise that there are people in the world who care enough to come.

Dr. Peter Adamson, founder of Face the Future, reflects on these small moments and gestures that have a big impact through the mission’s butterfly logo: “The butterfly flaps its wings… and the impact grows.”

During the Face the Future Mission, this flap of wings looks like dozens of life-changing reconstructive surgeries, over 200 nurses trained in a single symposium, Ukrainian surgeons mastering techniques they had never performed before, and veterans regaining function, symmetry, dignity. In the middle of a war, small things are not small – they are everything.

None of this – not one surgery, not one training, not one moment of connection – happens without a vast chain of people who believe in Ukraine’s right to heal. Razom helps coordinate logistics, secure supplies, support patient vetting, and build long-term relationships between Ukrainian medical teams and their international colleagues. The support of our donors and partners ensures that defenders with shattered faces receive world-class care and patients hear a message that matters as much as the medicine: you are not alone.

As one patient said, with a tired but grateful smile: “Я з вами заодно.” (“I am with you.”) And because of supporters like you – Razom is with them too. Together, we keep the butterfly’s wings in motion, carrying hope across a country that refuses to lose its face – and its future.

Ukrainian Resilience Takes the Global Stage at Harvard: How “RAZOM z Toboyu” Is Building a New Model of Mental Health Support

Published: November 24, 2025

At a time when the world is searching for answers about how societies survive — and grow — through war, Ukraine is offering not theory, but evidence. This November, the team behind “RAZOM z Toboyu” (“Razom With You”) presented Ukraine’s emerging model of psychological resilience at Harvard University’s Heal Ukraine 2025 Conference, joining more than a hundred experts from the U.S., Canada, Europe, and Ukraine.

It was more than a presentation. It was Ukraine’s voice — steady, thoughtful, and grounded in lived experience — showing the world what it means to care for a nation living through trauma and still choosing to build a better future.

Thanks to Razom’s supporters, this program has grown into one of the largest, most practical mental-health networks operating inside Ukraine today. And at Harvard, it became clear: Ukraine is not only enduring. Ukraine is innovating.

A Ukrainian Model of Resilience — Born in War, Built for the Future

For three years, the “RAZOM z Toboyu” team has been developing an integrated model of psychological support rooted in the real experiences of communities, families, and the specialists who serve them.

At Harvard, speakers Iryna Gudyma, Tetiana Kril, Larysa Zahray, and Nataliia Chorna introduced a comprehensive system built on four interconnected layers of resilience:

Individual resilience — strengthening awareness, emotional regulation, inner resources, and spiritual grounding.

Family resilience — rebuilding trust, communication, and support networks within households carrying the weight of war.

Professional resilience — supporting teachers, psychologists, medics, social workers, and volunteers so they can continue helping others without burning out.
Social resilience (post-traumatic growth) — transforming collective trauma into collective strength, where communities become engines of healing.

“Ukraine is a symbol of resilience. Ukrainian specialists are creating a modern, accessible, and scalable mental-health system. This experience matters not only for us — but for the world,” said Iryna Gudyma, RAZOM z Toboyu program director.

Evidence-Based Care That Reaches Thousands

Behind this model are tangible results — made possible by donors who believe in Ukraine’s long-term recovery.

As of October 2025:

28,570+ individual counseling sessions
1,157 group sessions
442 resilience trainings
Over 2,000 specialists trained across 155 organizations
Six psychological support centers operating in Ivano-Frankivsk, Lviv, Bucha, Khmelnytskyi, Dnipro, and Kharkiv
All services provided free of charge for people impacted by war

These are not statistics — they are thousands of lives stabilized, supported, and strengthened.

The team also unveiled a six-session individual support model that helps clients quickly experience measurable improvement. Using standardized assessment tools, psychologists track symptoms of anxiety, depression, and trauma. After six sessions:

Depression levels (PHQ-9) drop by 17.5%
Anxiety (HADS) decreases by 18%
79% of clients develop personal self-regulation and recovery plans

A digital platform, Health Suite, enables automated monitoring of progress and program effectiveness — a rare achievement for mental-health interventions during wartime.

“We help people who continue living in war. Our task is not only to stabilize, but to cultivate skills that allow clients to restore balance on their own,” said Tetiana Kril, RAZOM z Toboyu MHPSS lead.

Strengthening Those Who Support Others

One of the program’s most profound impacts has been among Ukraine’s “human-to-human” professionals — psychologists, teachers, medics, social workers, and volunteers who form the country’s emotional and social backbone.

In 2025 alone:

2,100+ specialists completed training
Participants’ knowledge levels rose by 22.9% on average
Workshops on communication with service members and preventing professional burnout saw gains above 25%

“Training for the ‘human-to-human’ system must be continuous. We create a space where people can reflect, recover, and continue helping others without burning out,” emphasized Larysa Zahray, RAZOM z Toboyu senior psychologist.

Her Harvard presentation also highlighted how the war is transforming psychological education in Ukraine: universities are redesigning curricula around trauma-informed care, crisis response, and emotional regulation, preparing a new generation of specialists who understand the reality their country faces.

Healing Families, Breaking the Cycle of Trauma

War impacts every household touched by service, displacement, injury, or loss. That is why the “RAZOM z Toboyu” team dedicates a major part of its work to family rehabilitation, especially for families of veterans and active-duty service members.

Nataliia Chorna presented evidence that structured family therapy:

Rebuilds trust
Reduces secondary trauma
Strengthens communication
Creates durable patterns of mutual support

Her work also addresses transgenerational trauma — how wartime experiences can echo into the future through family beliefs, memories, and behaviors.

“Rehabilitation is not only about overcoming trauma. It is about creating new systems of mutual support. Family is the key resource capable of transforming pain into strength,” noted Nataliia Chorna, RAZOM z Toboyu supervisor.

Ukraine’s Experience as a Guide for the World

For many at Harvard, the Ukrainian team’s presentations were not simply reports of progress — they were a glimpse into the future of trauma-informed recovery in conflict-affected regions.

“Today, Ukraine demonstrates how a nation living through war can not only survive, but build a modern mental-health system rooted in evidence, ethics, and accessibility — and show post-traumatic growth even in the hardest times,” said Iryna Gudyma.

The Heal Ukraine 2025 Conference included leading organizations such as Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute, Scholars at Risk, Heal Ukraine Group, Razom for Ukraine, MedGlobal, Doctors United for Ukraine, Nova Ukraine, and others. But it was the Ukrainian specialists who brought something irreplaceable: lived expertise.

Their message resonated deeply: Resilience is not an abstraction. It is daily work — work made possible when families, communities, and supporters stand together.

Why This Matters — And What Comes Next

In the face of daily air-raid sirens, displacement, and unimaginable loss, Ukraine continues to invest in dignity, recovery, and hope. Donor support has allowed Razom to nurture a program that is now shaping global discussions on mental health during war.

Ukraine is teaching the world how to heal while fighting for survival — and how to turn shared trauma into shared strength.

Together, we’re building a future where every Ukrainian can heal, rebuild, and rise stronger.