On June 28, 2025, it will be 29 years since the Constitution of Ukraine was adopted. This year, we will once again celebrate the state holiday in the conditions of armed aggression by the Russian Federation against Ukraine.
Despite the horrors of war, life in Donetsk region continues: children continue to receive education, residents of the region have access to medical and social services, and conditions are being created for the development of creative abilities, etc.
On the occasion of Constitution Day of Ukraine, the regional state administration has launched a regional campaign "The Constitution of Ukraine through the Prism of War." The stories of the residents of Donetsk region once again prove that even in a state of war, the commitment to constitutional principles is important for the Ukrainian state – the affirmation of human rights and freedoms, compliance with universal and European values, which the Ukrainian people bravely defend in the current conditions, protecting freedom, territorial integrity, independence, and sovereignty of Ukraine.
Article 46. Citizens have the right to social protection, which includes the right to ensure their support in case of complete, partial, or temporary loss of working capacity, loss of the breadwinner, unemployment due to circumstances beyond their control, as well as in old age and in other cases provided by law.
Nataliya Karachor is the director of the Territorial Center for Social Protection of the Population in the Druzhkivka City Territorial Community and a former history teacher who did not betray her patriotic views even after inhumane torture and imprisonment.
Nataliya Karachor lived in Shakhtarsk, which has been under occupation for 11 years, teaching Ukrainian history to schoolchildren when the Russian-Ukrainian war began. After the Russian invasion, Ms. Nataliya did not hide her views and openly condemned the pseudo-referendums.
In 2015, she moved to Kramatorsk and worked in the education department – engaged in patriotic education, and volunteered in her spare time. In 2018, Ms. Nataliya had to return to Shakhtarsk – her ex-husband, who lived in the occupied territory, fell ill. In April 2018, Nataliya Ivanivna was kidnapped by the occupiers, accused of "espionage." After interrogation, she was sent to the torture chamber "Isolation" in Donetsk, where she was held for over a month. She was beaten, tortured, and subjected to mock executions.
Despite the inhumane torture, she refused to recognize Donetsk region as Russian. Then the occupiers staged a trial. The verdict – 12 years in prison. Nataliya Karachor spent 1 year, 8 months, and 26 days in the prison of the occupiers located in Snizhne, Donetsk region. On December 29, 2019, she returned to the territory controlled by Ukraine as part of a prisoner exchange.
Currently, Nataliya Karachor works as the director of the Territorial Center for Social Protection of the Population in the Druzhkivka City Territorial Community and helps elderly people with limited mobility survive the military aggression against Ukraine. She actively participates in the evacuation of her charges to safer regions of the country.
For the work of the Territorial Center, the Druzhkivka City Territorial Community was recognized at the social workers' forum "Drivers of Care in Communities," which took place in May 2025 in Kyiv, as the #Community of Heroic Service: a social support in times of trials.
Donetsk region is proud of its social workers! We believe that soon we will continue to develop the network of social institutions and support those who care for them.