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For the second year in a row, HUG (Help Ukraine Gothenburg) took part in Almedalen Week. This year, we came with an important mission: to bring greater attention to the experiences and needs of Ukrainian veterans while sharing what we have learned through our work with veterans and their families.

To strengthen these conversations, we invited our friends and partners from Ukraine to join the HUG delegation in Visby. The delegation brought together Ukrainian veterans and participants of HUG for Heroes, combat medics, military professionals, and civil society leaders with first-hand experience of war, veteran recovery, and life after service.

Among them were:

Oleksandr Tereshchenko - People’s Hero of Ukraine, former Deputy Minister of Veterans Affairs of Ukraine, and civil society leader.

Viktor - veteran of the 95th Air Assault Brigade.

Ivan - Lieutenant Colonel, National Guard of Ukraine.

Oleksii - drone unit commander, National Guard of Ukraine.  

Oleksandr Borys - combat medic, tactical medicine instructor, and evacuation systems specialist.

Throughout the week, members of the delegation took part in panel discussions, lectures, meetings, and conversations with Swedish decision-makers, defence professionals, researchers, veterans, and civil society organisations.  

Oleksandr Tereshchenko joined the panel “Ukrainian veterans and democratic resilience: lessons for reintegration”, organised by the Swedish Defence University and the Folke Bernadotte Academy. Drawing on his experience as a servicemember, policymaker, and civil society leader, he brought a first-hand perspective to discussions on veteran reintegration, democracy, social inclusion, and trust.

Our delegation also brought practical experience into discussions on preparedness and resilience. Combat medic Oleksandr Borys shared the latest realities of medical evacuation in Ukraine and presented HUG’s work to transform civilian vehicles into evacuation vehicles. Together, HUG and Oleksandr are now developing reinforced armoured casevacs to respond to the growing threat from drones and improve protection during evacuation.

Beyond the panels, our Ukrainian guests met with Swedish leaders and senior representatives from the defence and security community, including Pål Jonson, Benjamin Dousa, Ann Linde, Michael Claesson, Jonny Lindfors, Mattias Ardin, Mikael Frisell, Micael Johansson, and others. The conversations covered modern warfare, UAV technologies, total defence, veteran reintegration, and the lessons Ukraine’s experience can offer Sweden and Europe.

For us at HUG, Almedalen is about more than bringing people together for a week. It is about creating opportunities for people with very different experiences to meet, listen to one another, and learn from each other.

We are grateful to everyone who welcomed our Ukrainian delegation, shared their time and knowledge, and helped make these conversations possible. We look forward to continuing the dialogue and to make steps forward for future partnerships and collaborations. 💙💛

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How can support systems for veterans be built in a way that reflects their real experiences and needs?

This was one of the key questions at the panel "Ukrainian veterans and democratic resilience: lessons for reintegration", organised by the Försvarshögskolan - Swedish Defence University and the FBA (Folke Bernadotte Academy), presenting new research on Ukrainian veterans' attitudes toward democracy, equality, social inclusion and trust.

The findings challenge the idea that veterans can be seen as one single group. Instead, factors such as war injuries, demobilization and gender play a bigger role in shaping attitudes - showing that veterans have different experiences and needs that must be reflected in support systems.

The panel brought together:
🔹 Erik Melander, Swedish Defence University
🔹 Emma Mihlzen, Folke Bernadotte Academy
🔹 Oleksandr Tereshchenko, representative of HUG’s Ukrainian delegation, People’s Hero of Ukraine and former Deputy Minister of Veterans Affairs of Ukraine
🔹 Patrik Oksanen, moderator, Swedish Defence University

With his background as a servicemember, policymaker and civil society leader, Oleksandr connected research and policy discussions with the realities of veteran transition.

At HUG, we believe that effective solutions start with understanding the people they are designed for. We are glad to contribute to the discussion by connecting Ukrainian experience with Swedish institutions and helping ensure that veterans’ voices are part of shaping the policies that affect them.

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Veteran reintegration is not simply about returning to civilian life. It is about recognising the experience, skills, and potential veterans bring with them, and creating the conditions for them to find a new sense of purpose and belonging.

For the past two years, HUG has been working with Ukrainian veterans and their families through the Hug for Heroes programme. More than 350 participants have taken part in our initiatives, giving us practical experience and a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities within veteran recovery and reintegration.

At Almedalen, HUG hosted a panel discussion at Svenska Soldathemsförbundet where we presented the Hug for Heroes programme model and shared lessons learned from our work. Most importantly, we gave the stage to those who have experienced the programme firsthand.

Hug for Heroes participants shared their perspectives on rebuilding civilian life, finding new purpose, and applying the leadership, resilience, and decision-making skills developed through military service to new challenges.

Their stories showed that reintegration is also about recognising the value, skills, and contribution veterans bring to society.

We are genuinely glad to see veteran reintegration receiving increasing attention from organisations and institutions internationally. Supporting veterans is our shared responsibility and an important part of building stronger, more resilient communities.

June was an eventful month for HUG, and one of its highlights was meeting Benjamin Dousa, Minister for International Development Cooperation and Foreign Trade, at our stand in Visby.

Last year, Benjamin Dousa, together with the Svenska institutet, presented HUG with the Government's Award for Voluntary Efforts in Support of Ukraine. This year, our team had the opportunity to share how this recognition has been transformed into real impact through our continued work.

We presented HUG’s different areas of activity and shared more about HUG for Heroes - our recovery and reintegration programme for Ukrainian veterans and their families.  

We introduced the programme model, highlighted the importance of a family-centred approach to veteran recovery, and gave participants the opportunity to share their own experiences from the programme.

Thank you, Benjamin Dousa, for your visit, openness and attention to our work. We look forward to future opportunities for collaboration and creating long-term impact together. 💙 💛

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One of the most memorable moments HUG experienced during the #Almedalen Week was getting closer to Swedish defence innovation - the full-scale replica of the JAS 39 Gripen E fighter aircraft presented by Saab in Visby.

The HUG team, together with our Ukrainian guests, could not miss the unique opportunity to step inside the aircraft, explore it firsthand, and learn more about its capabilities during an insightful guided tour. Seeing the Gripen up close and hearing about the technology behind it was a truly impressive experience for our delegation.

Later during the week, we were honoured to welcome Johansson Micael, CEO of Saab, at our joint event with the Embassy of Ukraine in Sweden. Micael shared a few words with our guests and joined a meaningful conversation with Ukrainian veterans and military experts from our delegation.

Thank you, Johansson Micael and Saab team for incredible experience and interesting conversations. We look forward to continuing this dialogue and welcoming you to a future HUG for Heroes programme.

The future of Ukraine depends on understanding the realities created by the war today.

HUG co-founder Kateryna Aleksandrova joined the European Commission’s panel “The Road to Peace in Ukraine - At What Cost?” together with Kajsa Ollongren, Calle Håkansson, PhD, Christian Danielsson and Erik. von Pistohlkors to share insights from HUG's work on the ground, addressing Ukraine's current needs and long-term recovery, with particular attention to the role of veterans in strengthening society.

Since the first day of Russia’s full-scale invasion, HUG has worked directly with communities in Ukraine, responding to humanitarian and frontline needs and building practical expertise in recovery and reintegration. This experience helps us develop solutions based on the real needs of people affected by war.

One of the key topics Kateryna highlighted during the panel was veteran reintegration - a challenge that will shape not only Ukraine’s recovery, but also the strength of its future society.

Through our work with veterans and their families, we see the importance of creating opportunities for veterans to continue contributing to society after service. Veterans represent a unique source of knowledge, skills and experience that can strengthen communities and contribute to strengthening our society.

Thank you to Kajsa Ollongren, Calle Håkansson, Christian Danielsson and Erik von Pistohlkors and everyone who joined us at Almedalen during this discussion. We appreciate the opportunity to bring the perspective of civil society into important dialogues about the future of Ukraine and Europe.

‍Medical evacuation in Ukraine has been transformed by the realities of modern warfare. Drone threats, constant surveillance and precision strikes require new approaches - including evacuation vehicles that can adapt quickly to the conditions on the ground.

During Almedalen Week, our friend, combat medic and volunteer Oleksandr Borys shared Ukraine’s experience in medical evacuation and discussed the importance of rapid adaptation and preparedness with representatives of Swedish Civil Defence and Resilience Agency.

For several years, HUG together with Oleksandr has been transforming used minibuses into life-saving evacuation vehicles. Ordinary civilian vehicles receive a new life and a critical mission: to help evacuate wounded soldiers, civilians, and provide first aid.

This work is an example of how society can respond to new challenges by adapting existing resources and finding practical solutions to urgent needs.

Thank you to Mikael Frisell and Cecilia Hull for meeting. We are grateful for the opportunity to share our experiences, learn from others and contribute to the important conversations around preparedness and resilience. 💙 💛

HUG (Help Ukraine Gothenburg) team met with Pål Jonson, Sweden’s Minister of Defence, to discuss Ukraine’s frontline realities and defence cooperation during Almedalen Week.

This year, HUG is joined at Almedalen by a delegation from Ukraine, including veterans, combat medics, and military professionals with firsthand experience of war, recovery, and reintegration. The discussion focused on modern warfare challenges, battlefield experience, and the rapid development of UAV technologies.

The exchange brought together policy and practice — combining Sweden’s defence perspective with direct operational insights from Ukrainian veterans and military professionals. It created a meaningful dialogue on how real-world experience can inform future cooperation and defence development.

During Almedalen Week, the HUG (Help Ukraine Gothenburg) team had the opportunity to meet and speak with Ann Linde, former Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden.

Ann Linde took part in a panel discussion, organized within the Ukrainian Hubben, focused on veterans’ experiences and their reintegration into civilian society. The discussion highlighted how veterans, including those returning from Ukraine’s frontline, are often defined not only by their military service, but by the lives and professions they are rebuilding afterwards.

We appreciate that important conversations about veterans' experiences and their reintegration into society are being brought to the forefront. It is valuable to exchange perspectives on how their skills and lived experience can contribute to Ukraine's recovery and long-term societal development, while also offering important lessons for Europe as a whole.

A heartfelt thank you to Ann Linde for your time, engagement, and the meaningful conversation about an issue that matters not only for Ukraine, but for Europe's shared future.

During Almedalen, Hug (Help Ukraine Gothenburg) and The Migration Studies Delegation (Delmi) organized the panel Mental Health as a Bridge to Integration, exploring how mental health and integration are connected in the daily life of displaced Ukrainians in Sweden.  

HUG’s findings show that integration barriers and mental health challenges reinforce each other: around 70% of participants reported integration-related difficulties, while 77% reported worsening mental health. Conversely, mental health support can strengthen people’s ability to learn, work, build relationships, and take part in community life.  

These findings point to mental health as an essential part of integration. They also align with Sweden’s national strategy for mental health and suicide prevention, which frames mental health as a shared societal responsibility. But what does this responsibility mean in practice?  

During the panel, we discussed that it requires a long-term perspective, as well as shared action, coordination, and accountability among all actors involved. This responsibility does not disappear when we fail to act; it only reappears as the shared costs of inaction.  

At HUG, through four years of supporting displaced Ukrainians, we have seen how important civil society is in this process. Community-based organizations are often close enough to people to create a sense of belonging, identify needs early, and build trusted pathways to further support. But this role requires sustainable partnerships, predictable funding, and long-term cooperation with public institutions.  

We believe that mental health can become a bridge to integration when institutions and communities work together. When we invest in mental health, we invest in integration. When we invest in integration, we invest in the future.  

Warm thanks to our speakers: Anna Hammarstedt, Viktoriia Svidovska (Thander), Måns Fellesson, Sofia Breitholtz, and Alla Tangstad 🇺🇦.

This morning, together with our guests from Ukraine and the Commander-in-Chief of the Swedish Armed Forces, Michael Claesson.  

An inspiring and highly important exchange.  

At Hug (Help Ukraine Gothenburg), we are dedicated to fostering a powerful ecosystem of collaboration between Ukraine and Sweden. We connect frontline experience with strategic structure, ensuring that impactful cooperation happens directly between people, organizations, and key institutions.  

Through our Hug for Heroes program, the value of these insights is clear. Sharing real warfare experience doesn't just build knowledge - it strengthens our collective security and deepens the bond between our countries.

Somewhere in Ukraine, a steel container stands not far from the frontline. Inside, instead of stored supplies, there is a working professional kitchen — stoves, ovens, prep surfaces, and a team in uniform turning out the kind of meals you would not expect to find in a warzone.

This is "Dragobrat," a project that grew out of an idea: with the right equipment and the right people, a container can become more than shelter or storage. It can become a kitchen capable of serving restaurant-quality meals to the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Chefs in uniforms

The kitchen is run by a serviceman with the callsign "Yogurt," together with his team. In civilian life, they worked as professional chefs. In the military, they have transformed that experience into a structured cooking system designed to improve daily nutrition for troops. The menu draws on standard army supplies, but the difference shows in the hands behind it: familiar ingredients, treated with care, become meals that feel like home.

The team is not stopping where they are.

"Right now we cook for our soldiers from our own brigade, but it should be set up so that more soldiers can eat this way — and eventually, more units across the Armed Forces," says "Yogurt," operational coordinator of the project.

A simple idea that works

What makes "Dragobrat" stand out is not only the quality of the food, but the concept behind it. Instead of relying solely on standard field rations, the team is showing that with the right infrastructure, basic supplies can be turned into full, high-quality meals — even in frontline conditions. The container-based kitchen is now serving as a working model for how military food systems can be improved: practical, scalable, and adaptable to different units.

For HUG, this is another example of how targeted support — equipment, infrastructure, and partnerships — can be turned into something that directly improves daily life for soldiers on the ground, built by people across countries and roles who came together around a shared idea of what is possible.

For years, HUG has been delivering CASEVAC vehicles to the front lines. A CASEVAC — is a vehicle built for one purpose: to save lives. It carries no weapons, fights no battles. Its mission is to pull wounded soldiers out of danger and give medics the time and conditions they need to keep them alive on the way back. These vehicles are the fastest, most effective way to bring the wounded out of the fight.  

But the battlefield has changed. Medics and evacuation vehicles are under constant attack. Rescue transport is deliberately hunted — because stopping the evacuation means more lives lost. With the rise of FPV drone activity, the journey to safety has become the most dangerous part of a rescue.

Even vehicles already serving on the front are not immune to these strikes. Every lost vehicle means harder access to the wounded, greater risk for medical crews, and fewer chances to bring someone home.

That is why, together with our partners in Ukraine, we began reinforcing our CASEVACs — building them to keep crews and patients moving when others can't.

Meet Babai — our first armored CASEVAC

Babai was the callsign of Serhiy — a Ukrainian defender who gave his life for his country. He was a soldier, a brother-in-arms, a fighter.

The idea to give this vehicle his name came from Serhiy's wife — so that his memory would keep living. We couldn't do anything but say yes. Because we believe, deeply, that remembrance and gratitude are not just words. They are something we do.

What goes into an armored CASEVAC

In Ukraine, these vehicles are re-equipped to meet the realities of modern warfare:

• External anti-drone cage protection — reduces the impact of FPV drone strikes by absorbing the hit away from the cabin.

• Kevlar interior lining — soft armor that protects medics and patients inside from shrapnel and fragmentation.

• Medical equipment — built-in for fast evacuation and emergency care while the vehicle is moving.

• Independent power and heating systems — keep the vehicle functioning even in the most critical conditions.

Babai is the first, but we need more

Babai is on its way to the front — but one armored CASEVAC is only the beginning. Medics keep working under fire. Wounded soldiers keep waiting for the ride that will get them out alive. Every new armored vehicle we send is another life-saving evacuation that has a better chance of finishing safely.

Support our fundraising campaign today and help us protect those who are saving others.

AC vehicles to the front lines. A CASEVAC — is a vehicle built for one purpose: to save lives. It carries no weapons, fights no battles. Its mission is to pull wounded soldiers out of danger and give medics the time and conditions they need to keep them alive on the way back. These vehicles are the fastest, most effective way to bring the wounded out of the fight.

Co-founders of Help Ukraine Gothenburg (HUG), Mariya Melnyk and Kateryna Aleksandrova had the honour of meeting General Michael Claesson, Commander-in-Chief of the Swedish Armed Forces, Andreas Sveningsson, President of Volvo Defense, and our big friend Yuliia Popova during the General's visit to Volvo Defense in Gothenburg.

General Michael Claesson was recently awarded the Cross of Special Merit of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine — a recognition of his leadership and of Sweden's steadfast support for Ukraine. We are deeply grateful for the chance to see first-hand the close cooperation between Swedish defence and industry that underpins the country's total defence capability.

During the meeting, we shared HUG's mission with the General — the practical, hands-on work we lead from Gothenburg in support of Ukrainian veterans, active-duty military, and civilians whose lives have been profoundly affected by the war.

Thank you to General Claesson and Volvo Defense for the warm welcome, the genuine interest, and the thoughtful conversation.

As part of the FRID project, Learning Circles provide a dedicated space for facilitators of peer support groups to come together, reflect, and grow.

Sharing the Knowledge

These sessions are designed to support facilitators in their role by creating opportunities to exchange experiences, share challenges, and learn from one another. While each peer support group is unique, many facilitators encounter similar questions around group dynamics, boundaries, and participant engagement. Learning Circles enable us to explore these topics collectively.

A key strength of the programme is the diversity of groups. Facilitators work with children, teenagers, adults, and seniors — each group bringing different needs, perspectives, and energy. This diversity makes the exchange especially valuable: insights from one context often inspire new approaches in another.

Creating a Safe Space

Through these conversations, facilitators:  

• reflect on how their groups affect them emotionally and professionally  

• share practical strategies and activities that have worked well  

• discuss challenges in a supportive and understanding environment  

• co-create a growing “bank of ideas” that others can draw from  

Expanding Support Networks

Learning Circles strengthen a sense of community among facilitators, reducing isolation and reinforcing resilience in their work. We believe that by learning together, they are better equipped to support their groups – ultimately contributing to stronger mental health and social integration outcomes for displaced Ukrainian in Sweden.