April 13, 2023
50,094 people evacuated from danger to date
217 people evacuated from danger this week
23 trips into the deoccupied and frontline territories
Early months, panic. Evacuations teams were moving people across the country, often spending multiple days at the wheel. Pavel’s team had a massage therapist that worked full time to keep 40 people at the wheel. At that time evacuation from Russia-controlled territories was possible, and thousands of people were being evacuated weekly. Sometimes people had to stand for hours in cargo vans, losing consciousness, vomiting but happy to keep moving. Thousands were fleeing Kharkiv and on many days we supported 4 buses running round the clock bringing aid and medicine on the way in and taking hundreds of people with them on the way out.
Our volunteers fed people at the overfilled train stations meanwhile, where crowds at times stormed incoming trains to get on. As the initial wave subsided we supported weekly evacuations from the besieged Mariupol. These kept going until Russia started seizing vehicles and tortured one of the drivers we supported. Then a trickle of evacuations continued from East and South through the summer.
In the fall the evacuations almost stopped, but as soon as the Ukrainian offensive liberated the Kherson and Kharkiv regions a new wave of evacuations began as people from liberated territories were trying to reunite with their loved ones in Ukraine and abroad or fleeing the territories they thought might come under the occupation again. The evacuations once again came to a halt by January. Over the last two months we have seen them pick up again as there are continued shelling of smaller cities along the eastern frontline.
This week marks UTC teams’ rescue of 50,094 people through evacuations. Each of these evacuations as we described above and throughout our past 56 newsletters happened through layers of hardship and grief, sacrifice and fear. They happened with great personal risk to volunteers. And they also happened through strategic planning and deep insight. They happened across multiple journeys and dangerous terrain, through tears and sharing stories. Evacuations shifted and transformed as the war did. Every one of these 50,094 evacuations is evidence of heroism in its rarest form, and embodies a collective, unifying spirit of resistance and love.
Ukraine Team Milestones
Ihor’s Team — Dobra Sprava “Good Cause”
14 trips this week by the Dobra Sprava trip resulted in 181 people evacuated from danger zones of Konstantinovka, Drizhkivka, and Kherson.
Kseniia’s Team - NGO Livyj Bereh
Livyj Bereh resumed house restoration projects around Kharkiv after a week and a half hiatus. Last week, seven roofs were renovated.
Meanwhile Olga and Svitlana, the volunteers in the Kherson region we support through Kseniia, continued their almost daily trips in the Kherson region. The villages they helped were on the right bank of Dnipro, west of Kherson. Their proximity to Russian positions make these villages a frequent target for Russian artillery terror. 260 families received help in the villages of Oleksandrivka, Komyshany, Veleten’, Honcharne and L’vove. The teams also provided help to families in Kherson itself.
Even though Svitlana’s Instagram account had primarily been dedicated to reporting on their humanitarian work and collecting requests from people, it has been suspended and closed off most likely based on fake abuse reports - a technique often employed by Russia-supported bot farms. If you have any personal contacts that could help get this case reviewed by Facebook and Meta we will appreciate your help.
Anastasia’s Team
Anastasia spent the last week preparing for the expedition to villages around Kupyansk in the liberated parts of Kharkiv region, miles away from the active frontline. As we write this report we received confirmation that the team delivered 300 packages and made it back safely, but the details of this trip will be provided in our next week’s after we have a chance to speak to Anastasia about her experience.
Inna’s Team - Krok z Nadiyeyu
Week in and out, Inna’s volunteers visit the most dangerous of the Eastern front. On Saturday and Sunday they went to Druzhkovka and Konstantynivka, which only two days later became the site of terrorist strikes on civilian areas. The volunteers constantly need to balance risks to people receiving aid outside of bomb shelters, but so far all of Inna’s distributions have occurred without major incidents.
Two more trips were taken to Berislav and Davydiv Brid in Kherson region, by a fearless father and son team based in Kryvyi Rih. Food security is a major issue in these villages, as vegetables from last year's harvest are coming to an end, while stores aren’t operational. Simple goods such as salt, yeast, and crackers are in short supply, which makes this aid particularly meaningful.
The team brought aid packages to Nikopol and many other locations across Kharkiv and Dnipro regions. Overall 8,244 people received food packages and 11,000 people received bread.
Meanwhile the mighty wheels of the agrarian project are turning with 2,500 more families receiving seeds, and thousands more families getting a total of 27.5 tons of potatoes for planting.
Natasha’s Team - Vysnia Volunteer Center
Tetiana Pasenko who heads the Kryviy Rih branch of Natasha’s organization made the third trip to the Northeast of Kherson region to deliver potatoes, onions and seeds for the ongoing planting season. 83 families in Old Osokivka received seed packages. The village streets in this region are still without power, so Tetiana distributed candles as well. But what was particularly moving is that, during the last two trips, people asked Tetiana for flower seeds, too, so as to beautify their often-shattered homes and backyards. They brought asters, matthiolas, and marigolds which have a symbolic significance as marigolds are flowers often mentioned in songs about traditional village life in Ukraine.
Pavel’s Team — Touch of Heart and Dawn of Hope
Pavel’s team continues their mission in the Mykolaiv region and beyond. From the Mykolayiv headquarters, 2,139 packages have been distributed to refugee families with children. The focus continues to be on the villages between Mykolayiv and Kherson where people are attempting to return to their destroyed homes, and begin rebuilding. 3,262 packages have been distributed in the villages of Prybuz’ke, Kotliarovo, Novomykolayivkа and to some residents remaining in the nearby Kherson villages.
Pavel’s team also traveled to the Zaporizhzhya and Kharkiv regions with humanitarian missions.
Pavel’s team continues to take active part in the agrarian project. Having distributed potatoes for planting, they have procured seeds and fertilizer that they are beginning to distribute this week as well. Recent weeks were unseasonably wet and muddy, and snow remains in the fields. Ukrainian villagers are waiting for the snow to melt to “go to the land” - a Ukrainian expression used in Kherson meaning to start working in the field.
Oleksandr’s Volunteer Network
Pavlo W’s team in Dnipro brought 700 kg of grocery packages to Druzhkivka, 700 kg to Kramatorsk and 1,500 kg to Sloviansk. All these cities receive constant shelling. Two rockets arrived during the team’s deliveries, though fortunately a little distance off. There was also a delivery of bread to Obukhivka and to House of Mercy (in Horyanivka) in the Dnipropetrovsk Region, where there are disabled and homeless migrants.
Oleksandr S’ team in Boyarka delivered 2.5 tons of groceries to the Sumy Region border areas (Krasnopilsky and Velikopysaryivky Districts), where shelling is carried out daily. The team also delivered four 12kW generators to the Boyar humanitarian hub in Dnipro for further distribution to beneficiaries.
Vladyslav K’s team brought 28 tons of drinking water to Mykolaiv. Additionally, six tons of food products (213 food rations) were distributed.
Sandra S’ kitchen in Odessa fed more than 1,300 people, including bedridden patients (twice a week).
Vilis N from Chernivtsi delivered 20 tons of produce from "Samaritan's Purse" and 400 blankets to the Kharkiv Region.
Oksana K, working out of Lutsk, provided aid to a family where the mother is sick, visually impaired, and the aunt is bedridden. Oksana also sent a package to a grandmother in Slovyansk who has ten grandchildren. This woman requested diapers for all the children, even the oldest who is 13, because they constantly wet themselves from fear during shelling. A food delivery was also handed over to the military in the Donetsk area and to 16 families in Lutsk whose children are disabled.
Oleksandr Z’s NGO "Star of Hope" in Lutsk held art therapy sessions for children with cerebral palsy, children with locomotor disabilities, and IDPs with disabilities. Seven children with disabilities also received groceries. Inmates and staff at the Lutsk pre-trial detention center received 38 pairs of eyeglasses and 32 sunglasses. Finally, six child residents of the Adrenaline Hostel for IDPs participated in a new candle-making art therapy workshop.
Natalia B distributes dairy products to Kherson families with disabled children every Tuesday, including milk, sour cream, cheese, butter and cottage cheese. This week 11 families received assistance.
Oleksiy H also in Kherson, delivered seeds to four villages in the Kherson Region: Myrne (61 families), Posad Pokrovsk (97 families), Lyubomirivka (68 families) and Novogrigorovka (72 families) for a total of 298 families.
Tetiana’s Team - Dopomoha Poruch
This week Tetiana’s team distributed aid in the villages of Revivka, Rebedajlivka, Zhabotyn, Myhajlivka and Rajhorod. Her team also distributed food packages in Smila proper. In total, Tetiana’s team distributed 343 food packages this week.
Karina’s Team - We Save Dnipro
There was a tense moment this week when Karina couldn’t reach one of the evacuation drivers for over 24 hours and we were fearing the worst. However, we’re happy to report that it turned out to be happy news in the end. The driver took a day off to attend his daughter’s wedding to a soldier in the armed forces.
36 people were evacuated from Kherson, Druzhkovka, Kramatorsk. There are 92 people living in Karina’s shelter, which has now marked one full year of supporting displaced Ukrainians.
Alena’s Team - Virgo Volunteer Center
Alena came back from her trip attending to family and jumped back into action. The windows that she ordered are ready and the crew is heading out to Kisilevsky to install them next week. Alena arranged for food and lodging for the crew while they stayed in town to do the work. She also ordered some traditional Easter cakes to bring to the towns in her care, thinking that without electricity or running water and only wood-burning stoves, it would have been difficult for people to celebrate, and she had wanted to brighten their days.
Angelia - Mobile Clinic
On March 30, the mobile clinic went to Kaharlyk in the Kyiv Region. The town is quite calm, but many immigrants from Donetsk and Zaporizhia Regions live there. The clinic included a family doctor, ENT, ECG and equipment for blood, urine, sugar and lipid testing. 71 patients received 292 services. Among the patients treated was a woman in whose thyroid gland a possible cancer was detected, several patients with hearing and ear problems, and one woman suffering from a non- functioning lung due to long COVID.
Marina’s Team — Good Give Ukraine
Marina’s team distributed another 150 food boxes for displaced people in their communities last week. Children from the first grade of their local school in Zhovty Vody drew pictures to include with Easter baskets giveaway.
Andriy’s Team - BF Pomahaem
81 people continue to live in Andriy’s shelter in the village of Volos’ke with new people arriving and going each week. Most of the new arrivals come from the bombarded Eastern cities. The warehouses began distributing clothing to single mothers, families with children with disabilities, and others in need.
We’ve also received a preliminary report on the distribution of generators. Andriy’s team played a major role in logistics within Ukraine to ship generators to their warehouses and then distribute them to other teams and qualified aid recipients. So far Pomahaem has provided 130 generators mostly to large vetted foster families across Ukraine.
Timur’s Team – Timur and Team
Timur’s team distributed aid to 55 elderly with disabilities in Saltivka, Kharkiv. The group traveled to Izium where they delivered 100 packages, as well as to Kivsharivka and Novosinovo where they delivered 250 packages each. Many of the people they meet expressed that they have felt forgotten and left behind. While food is important, hygiene products and especially adult diapers remain a major need in the area.
Dina’s Team - Vilni Liudy – Vilna Krayina
Dina’s team distributed 713 packages of aid at the distribution centers this week. Additionally, the volunteers in Krasnokutsk and Kremenchuk distributed medicine, pet food, and diapers to displaced families in need. The Dnipro team mailed out 67 packages to hard-to-reach places and also distributed 1 ton of pet food that was donated to them. The team in Kharkiv brought diapers and baby food to an orphanage still operating in the city. Finally, Sergey T and his church group delivered some much needed medicine to Mala Rogan’.
We heard from multiple teams this week that a sickness is going around; this might be Covid, but no one tests for it, so we don’t know for sure. The distribution center in Kremenchuk went back to requiring masks in the building. Dina’s team is collecting money to buy medicine for places where the pharmacies are not operating.
Bogdan - Vse robymo sami
In addition to regular weekly distributions to about 40 children that we support, Bohdan’s organization had an Easter event for kids under their care. Children painted and decorated Easter cakes and egg-shaped gingerbread cookies - an old Ukrainian Easter tradition. Bogdan's center is not limited to art, psychology support and physiotherapy; last week their math, chemistry, and biology clubs had meetings as well.
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