Three years after raising $26,000 for Ukrainian refugees, Faina Podolnaya helps fund prosthetics for those wounded by the war in the country she grew up in

By Sydney Seymour, Ashland.news

Ashland violinist and music teacher Faina Podolnaya continues to support her home country three and a half years into the war with Russia by giving back to wounded Ukrainians in need of prosthetics. 

In the first year of the war, Podolnaya started a GoFundMe site for Ukrainian refugees, as reported earlier by Ashland.news. She raised $26,275. Much of that money, Podolnaya recently told Ashland.news, was from her students and donors in the Rogue Valley. 

Her sister in Nuremberg, Germany, helped distribute the money to refugee families in Germany and the Zaporuka Charitable Foundation — an organization that provides assistance to children with serious illnesses in Kyiv and Lviv. 

“When the war started, I couldn’t live without doing something because it was so painful. And so many people responded to my cry for help.” Podolnaya said. “That proved to me that Americans are very good people.” 

During an interview with Ashland.news inside her home, she continued to describe the results of the fundraiser as an “earthquake.” 

The “aftershock” occurred late spring of this year when her local friend Robert Bauman gave her $10,000 to support those in Ukraine. 

“It warms my heart to know that where I live, it’s just endless respect, appreciation and love,” she said. “I will never forget it.” Podolnaya expressed her appreciation for those in Ashland and Southern Oregon, especially her former students and their parents, who supported Ukraine.

Podolnaya lived in her hometown Konotop, where she made friends and went to music school, until she was 15. In 1999, Podolnaya immigrated to the Rogue Valley to join her daughter, who was then a university student. Soon after, she started working with students in her home studio and at Southern Oregon University — and eventually with her Siskiyou Violins ensemble and the Youth Symphony of Southern Oregon.  

When she found out about the war, Podolnaya said, “I was ballistic. I got crazy.” She constantly checked her phone to follow the news. “It’s my people. It’s unimaginable to think about what’s going on there.” She shared a message to everybody who has a say in this war: “Think of killed soldiers as if it is your own son or own grandson who is killed or wounded. How many great musicians, great poets, great scientists, how many people are killed that maybe would change the future of humanity?” 

The ‘aftershock’ 

Podolnaya donated the $10,000 to nonprofit Superhumans after connecting with a prosthetic surgeon in Kyiv through the President of Sisykou Violins. “It’s human nature to help people,” Podolnaya said. “People lose their limbs, and now they will be able to have some kind of normal life.”

The donor-funded organization with 300-500 staff provides prosthetics, surgeries, facial reconstruction, hearing restoration, psychological support and even targeted evacuation from the front lines to a Superhumans center. 

Their main facility in Lviv was built in April 2023 for military personnel, civilians and foreigners of all ages injured in the war. They have manufactured just under 2,000 prosthetics and provided prosthetic surgery and rehabilitation for 1,467 patients. A center in Dnipro opened in June and has manufactured just over 50 prosthetics with about 40 already received.

Director of International Partnerships and Collaborations Michele Poma said in a phone call to Ashland.news, “The goal was to provide Ukrainians injured in the war with the best, most modern care in Ukraine so that they did not have to travel.” 

According to the Ukrainian Health Ministry, Poma said, at least 80,000 people will need prosthetics due to ongoing war actions. About 23% of Ukrainian territory is contaminated with explosives, according to the United Nations.

Poma emphasized the resilience of their patients they call “superhumans.”  

She shared the story of Ruslana Danilkina who joined the Ukrainian armed forces at the age of 18. She worked as a communications operator and lost her leg when a cluster bomb hit the car she was traveling in. After receiving a prosthetic and rehabilitation at Superhumans, she now works at the organization where she supports patients with rehabilitation. Poma described her as “an inspiration to everyone who meets her.” 

The $10,000 donation was recently processed into the prosthetics fund and will go to helping someone who has lost a limb, Poma said. A prosthetic can cost anywhere from $10,000 to $100,000, according to Poma.

“When we get donations like that from Faina,” Poma said, “it really saves these people’s lives.”

Over three and a half years into the Russia-Ukraine war and with 27 families now living in Ashland, this is part one of a series highlighting Ukrainian voices. If you would like to share your story with Ashland.news, email Ashland.news reporter Sydney Seymour at sydneyseymourr@gmail.com.

Related stories: 

Ashland mayor recounts Ukraine trip (July 2, 2025)

‘Speaking one language through music’: Young Southern Oregon musicians to travel to Austria (June 14, 2024)

James M. Collier Siskiyou Violins play on the global stage (Sept. 29, 2024)

Rogue Valley-based youth violinists heading to world-class music competition in Vienna in 2024 (Sept. 6, 2023)

Dozens rally in Ashland to support Ukraine (March 25, 2022)

Ashland violin teacher raises funds to help Ukrainian refugees (March 21, 2022)