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A Miracle Story from the Front Lines in Ukraine

by Amber Edwards
After meeting Oleksandr ‘Sasha’ Bazylevych on the front lines in Ukraine, ELYSIAN Publisher Karen Floyd never thought she’d see him again. He had lost an arm and both legs in an ambush, and Floyd briefly visited him in a Kiev military hospital while filming Ukraine: For the Children, which premiered this year. But after an unpredictable and highly unlikely series of events, the two would reunite in the United States.
Sasha’s heart-wrenching story is detailed in Ukraine: For the Children. Floyd has recounted how his resilience and quiet strength touched her and, through their unique bond, revealed the message of hope that became the throughline of the latest Ukraine film.
It was at a screening of an early, abbreviated cut of Ukraine: For the Children at Drayton Mills in Spartanburg, South Carolina, this past April that Floyd happened to meet Nadia Tofan, a Ukrainian woman living in Greer. Tofan wanted to work together; Floyd told her, “Find Sasha.”
It seemed to be an impossible task. But only three days later, Tofan called to say that Sasha was already in the United States, at a rehabilitation center for Ukrainians in need of prosthetics in Minnesota. She rushed there to be with him.
“It was like a miracle,” Sasha said.
Sasha’s story is emblematic of the larger message of hope woven through Ukraine: For the Children, which has already amassed four accolades: Best Documentary at the Rome International Movie Awards, Best Documentary  at the New York International Film Awards, Best Documentary  at the London Independent Film Awards, and Best Documentary at the Eastern Europe Film Festival. It has thus far been selected for numerous other festivals, including the Touchstone Independent Film Festival, the Red Dirt Film Festival, the Life Film Fest – Park City, the Melbourne Lift-Off Film Festival, the World’s Independent Film Festival – San Francisco, the Beijing Lift-Off Film Festival, the London FFI, and the Sydney Lift-Off Film Festival.
Ukraine: For the Children will make its European debut at ELYSIAN’s Peace on Earth Winter Issue Launch, just outside Vatican City, on Monday, November 25, 2024. To learn more, click here.
Ukraine: For the Children is the sequel to ELYSIAN Production’s ten-time award-winning documentary Fight for Ukraine: 12 Women’s War.
Spartanburg-based ELYSIAN launched in 2015 and has evolved into a comprehensive multimedia brand that includes print, digital, film, social media, and commerce.
ELYSIAN Impact, the brand’s philanthropic arm, has disbursed more than $16 million over the past nine years to charities in five areas: women, children, animals, service, and the environment. Click here to learn more.

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