December 14, 2022
48,427 people evacuated from danger to date
104 people evacuated last week
As we write this letter, we sometimes worry whether the repetitive nature of the heroism we describe in our reports will keep the attention of our supporters. But it is this consistency, getting up week after week, getting iteratively better at helping tens of thousands of people, and showing up weekly in areas of greatest need is what makes our volunteers’ mission vital to sustaining Ukrainian people in this horrific war. We are grateful that all of you, our supporters and followers, understand and continue to find resources to support our trusted volunteer teams.
Thanks to your support in the last few weeks we have not only sustained our existing volume but also started a number of larger, additional projects proposed by our existing volunteer teams. Executing these projects required not only careful planning of operations but substantial redesign of our communication and internal reporting - something that was particularly challenging with intermittent power outages. However, we continue to be able to drive these changes with zero additional overhead expenses within UTC. We will be reporting on the progress of these projects in the coming weeks, but here are the major projects currently in the works:
We are partnering with multiple teams on major deliveries of heavy wood stoves, firewood, blankets and gas stoves for cooking into the red zones of the war mostly along the Donetsk region frontline and into the liberated areas of Kharkiv. Our initial focus zones are devastated rural areas and the bomb shelters in the Donetsk region high rises that often serve as communal homes to 20-30 people. These people are trapped by gunfire and overwhelming fear, sticking together to survive. They need to be protected from the winter cold.
We are collaborating with Kseniia’s team to patch up as many roofs for the elderly in Kharkiv region as possible as the frost is setting in.
We are ensuring a steady stream of humanitarian aid, food and other products into the liberated territories. As part of these efforts, volunteers are identifying suitable location where we can establish additional heating centers, with independent sources of electricity.
We intend to support our teams’ efforts to provide Ukrainian children, particularly those in refugee families, with gifts for the holidays.
A number of other projects are in the works, and we will be covering our progress and new initiatives in the upcoming letters. Our goal is to make sure that everything donated to Ukraine TrustChain is deployed to Ukraine as fast and efficiently as possible.
Ukraine Team Milestones
Kseniia’s Team
Kseniia’s team continues repair roofs in Charkiv (Kseniia’s preferred spelling) region. With the temperature in Ukraine dropping below -10°C (10°F), the locals work extremely hard to cover up their homes and the homes of their neighbors. As we were writing this report we did not get the final count but are aware of at least 12 roofs repaired.
In the meantime Svetlana, whom we have supported through Kseniia, traveled to the liberated villages of Vesele and Tyahynka, distributing two trucks of aid, including food and medicine. Another team of Daria continued to bring aid to the liberated but nearly destroyed village of Dvorichne north of Kupiansk.
Natalia’s Team
Natasha is currently preparing two expeditions. One is going this week out of Kryiviy Rih into Kherson region and another one is planned into the East.
Meanwhile, in a somewhat unusual twist of events, our post about Natalia’s last expedition into Snihurivka has attracted a lot of attention online. Along with tens of thousands of sympathetic views, we were also unexpectedly attacked by an organized online mob of pro-Putin forces making fun of the devastation that Natalia so candidly captured in her images. Please visit our Facebook page to see these pictures first hand.
Oleksandr’s Team
Oleksandr continues to coordinate an intricate network of volunteers across Ukraine, working with them on ongoing needs as well as larger projects:
Maksim L who oversees volunteering in the Donetsk region brought aid to Slovyansk, Nikolayevka, Siversk, Lyman, Kapitolishka (Izium region). In addition to helping more than 600 people, he managed to run a three day program that provided holiday presents to 200 children from low-income families.
Yuri is part of our major wood stoves project. He prepared the mission last week and is on his way to Siversk to deliver 45 warming stoves in Siversk and Soledar.
Oleksandr S. distributed food and other aid packages to the people in Chernihiv region, whose homes had been completely destroyed and who currently live in cellars, basements, and summer kitchens.
In Mykolaiv, Vladislav continues to deliver drinking water. They made 11 trips totalling 595 km into the region, bringing in 33 tons of water.
Sandra S. continues to feed 200-300 people a day arriving to Odesa by train mostly from Kherson region.
We assisted Victor in delivering 408 kg humanitarian aid to Izium.
Yuri Shuliak brought 400 kg of aid to a Zhitomir hospital where one of our volunteers is undergoing treatment.
Lutsk-based Oksana K sent help to Bakhmut with the help of Poland UA Future organization.
Oleksandr Zhalovaga continues to conduct art-therapy classes seeing about 20 children a week. Twice the classes had to happen in the darkness due to outages. He continues to distributed glasses to low-income and refugee families, distributing a total of 172 pairs last week.
We continue to provide help in the occupied territories. Our capabilities are extremely limited. Here is an excerpt from the report we received: “Today, despite the rain, again there was a big room full of people. The team distributed 120 humanitarian aid packages consisting of butter, salt, and bread. People come for food and also for words of comfort, though outside it is so loud. Every day in the city, there is continued shooting by the Russian Army of residential homes where people are currently living. The Army wants Ukrainian residents to leave their homes so they could move in… We all thank you for your support! May the god protect you as well.”
Timur’s Team
To say that the week has been tough for the team would be an understatement. The bitter cold and darkness is hitting everyone hard. The team has been able to deliver 500 packages of aid to the villages north of Kharkiv and 300 packages around Buchma and Saltyvka. Their vehicles have sustained damages from untreated roads. The latter part of the week has been spent procuring much needed aid as well as long awaited blankets for future deliveries. The vehicles are undergoing repairs and the team will be getting back to long-distance drops soon.
Karina’s Team
43 people were evacuated from the Soledar and Bahmut areas. This week the number of people in Karina’s shelter increased to 119. The number of people doubled last week as one of the shelters in Dnipro closed down forcing almost 60 people to scramble to find a place to live. It is fortunate that Karina’s team was able to take on this challenge and welcome the new residents to her shelter. Many shelters have closed in Dnipro, as organizations running them depleted their resources.
Dina’s Team
Dina’s foundation distributed 965 packages last week. Her volunteer Serhiy Tiora has been working non-stop to prepare major shipment of about 100 wood stoves into the deoccupied territories. This required sourcing metal and manufacturing custom chimneys for the stoves. Yulia in Kremenchuk is getting the presents ready for the holidays. Dina herself is also purchasing gifts for displaced children in Dnipro. Her organization continues to source blankets, pillows, and bedding as well as children’s hygienic packages for distribution to registered refugee families her foundation supports.
Inna’s Team
Inna’s organization delivered 26 tons of aid providing help to 7,690 people at 18 different locations. There were two trips helping 80 families in the liberated villages in the northeast of Kherson region: Arhanhelske, Velyka Oleksandrivka, Davydiv Brod. In the city of Nikopol that suffers from daily bombardments - Inna’s team identified and distributed aid to 170 elderly who are unable to leave their homes due to health condition. In another, particularly daring expedition , 1.2 tons of aid was delivered to Bahmut vicinity, Druzhkivka and Slaviansk - cities only miles away from the fiercest combat zone of the war.
Pavel’s Team
As evacuations continue to subside, Pavel evacuated 61 people from Zaporizhzhya and Mykolayiv.
In the meantime, his team has brought in 20 tons of aid and distributed it among his warehouses. In Mykolayiv and surrounding villages, Pavel and Olena’s team fed 5,400 people. Additionally, they delivered 450 packages to the Kharkiv region and to Zaporizhya. Pavel also received generators and distributed them to large families with children across Ukraine. Last week, they delivered 14 generators.
Other projects included bringing in 1,200 liters of antiseptics to a Kyiv hospital and a truckload of medical items that his team was able to source from the West.
Andriy’s Team
Andriy organization continues to help thousands of people. Their operations were hampered by Dnipro region power outages at first, but last week they installed two large generators that will ensure the functioning of Andriy’s distribution center. Last week the aid distribution continued daily, distributing roughly 300 packages a day or 2,100 packages a week.
His team traveled to Novomoskovsk where they distributed aid to 350 refugee families in Novomoskovsk. Also Andriy’s team traveled to the village of Kushhum, immediately south of Zaporizhzhya, where they distributed 80 packages to refugee families with children. Andriy’s NGO Pomahaem shows moving pictures from this trip, including a picture of a brave mother of seven (five of them adopted), Valeria, who fled Melitopol vicinity after the invasion. Andriy’s packages are exceptionally comprehensive, they include food, warm clothing, blankets, heaters and toys for the kids
Andriy’s shelters continued to house 119 people to whom his organization provides three meals a day.
Alena’s Team
Our Odesa volunteer Alena is preparing another trip to Kherson region, where we are planning to establish warming centers with access to generators this week. We hope to report on this trip next time in the meantime, Alena was able to upload photos from her trip a week earlier.
Tetiana’s Team
As promised, Tetiana delivered sweets and candy to children this week. Many families came for aid distribution, and she nearly ran out of sweets for the children. They ended up distributing aid to 200 people, with 10 packages left. The group tried to be strategic and distribute aid very quickly as people had arrived two hours prior and stood in line for all that time.
US Team Updates
In addition to our collaboration with volunteer teams, since the first day of the war our team has run a direct help service where we vet and provide direct assistance to Ukrainians in need. This week we wanted to share one of many such stories from last week:
This child, Zhenya, has epilepsy. His family fled Kharkiv at the beginning of the war, and after all that he had been through, Zhenya's seizures became much worse. His mother turned to UTC for help, because the necessary medicine was very difficult to find, and very expensive. "He was very scared on February 24, I pulled him out into the street, we still managed to get on the subway (it was only later that he was stopped) and right at the station, the little one had an attack from stress. That time was a living hell." His mother said that he was missing and worrying about his toys that they had to leave behind, are they still alive and ok? She asked us maybe we can send any type of "plush friend" for him.
After they bought medicine for Zhenya, there was enough left to buy a car and... a stuffed moth. Now Zhenya has at least some toys and an unusual plush friend of his choice.
How to Help
Donate - The money goes directly to teams providing aid on the ground, who respond dynamically to the most urgent needs.
Fundraise - Organize fundraisers at your school, work, place of worship, with friends and family, etc.
Spread the word - Share our website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or LinkedIn with your friends, family, and colleagues.
Fill out this form if you’re interested in volunteering with us, and we’ll let you know when opportunities come up.
Download and print our flyer. Ask your local coffee shop if you can add it to the bulletin, or use it as part of your fundraiser.