Ukrainian artists MONATIK, ROXOLANA, Michelle Andrade and Positiff performed for the military and medical staff of the RECOVERY center in Kyiv on the occasion of its first anniversary. This innovative rehabilitation center was founded by Victor and Olena Pinchuk to help the Ukrainian Security and Defense Forces as part of the national RECOVERY network.
The center was opened at the end of May 2023, and its second branch was opened in October. At the Kyiv RECOVERY, 50 defenders of Ukraine can receive free medical rehabilitation services at the same time. Both patients who have already completed their rehabilitation and military personnel who are currently undergoing rehabilitation gathered at the center’s birthday party.
“It is a great responsibility to speak to our defenders. Every time I want to see each of them smile, because I realize that it can be difficult for them. During rehabilitation, our defenders recover not only physically but also psychologically – this process is a crucial stage that helps them return to everyday life and find inner peace. Supporting our guys and girls during their recovery is a crucial task for us as a society,” said MONATIK, an artist and volunteer.
In their free time, the RECOVERY team hosts movie screenings and meetings with well-known public figures, politicians, and cultural and sports stars at the Kyiv center. During the year of its operation, the center has been visited by, among others, Boris Johnson, Timothy Snyder, Andriy Shevchenko, Svyatoslav Vakarchuk, and Jamala.
“The strongest people of Ukraine are recovering in the Kyiv center. The life stories of our Dima, Olya, Sasha, Rostik… This is a textbook through which the courage and freedom-loving Ukrainians are sewn with a red thread. Gathering here a year after the opening is a symbolic opportunity to remember what we have gone through together with the center’s team and the military during this time. I am extremely glad that today our former patients have come to visit us even from other cities. Such meetings give us the strength to move forward,” said Svitlana Grytsenko, head of the all-Ukrainian RECOVERY project.
The birthday celebration was made possible by Starlight Media. Over the course of the year, the media company organized a MasterChef road show, Pole and eQuestions games, movies, stand-up with Vasyl Baidak and Anton Tymoshenko, and a picnic with performances by TAYANNA and Karta Svitu for the patients of the Kyiv center.
RECOVERY is a national network of rehabilitation centers for wounded soldiers. The project was founded by Victor and Elena Pinchuk to help the Security and Defense Forces of Ukraine. Today, 12 RECOVERY rehabilitation centers provide free services in Kyiv, Lviv, Rivne, Vinnytsia, Cherkasy, Poltava, Khmelnytsky, Odesa (two facilities) and Dnipro region (three facilities).