December 21, 2022
48,503 people evacuated from danger to date
76 people evacuated last week
15 trips into the frontline zones and liberated areas
1 new heating center established
This week on December 16th, massive Russian strikes rained down across Ukraine once again. Odesa and Kryvyi Rih were hit especially hard. Two of our volunteer teams based in those cities were en route at the time of the airstrikes delivering aid to Kherson region, while their own cities were being destroyed.
Over the 300 days we’ve gotten used to this incredible tapestry of heroism and horror. Every week there is a new place needing help and every time the volunteer networks are able to adapt once again to meet the new challenge, while continuing to support those who already rely on their help. Following the work of our volunteers week after week only reinforces our conviction that supporting volunteer networks is one of the most efficient ways of supporting Ukraine. Thanks to your donations from all over the world, we have been able to provide consistent, predictable funding to our trusted teams.
One of our volunteers Alena Prizhebolska from Odesa told journalist Trudy Rubin how instrumental UTC has been in volunteers’ efforts: “Ukraine TrustChain funds ‘are the most important help we receive.’” Here is the link to the full article if you’d like to read more from Rubin’s thoughtful and compelling piece about Ukraine TrustChain in The Inquirer.
For this holiday season, consider the vital, life-saving gift that you could offer by continuing to support UTC volunteers in their selfless work.
Ukraine Team Milestones
Inna’s Team
Inna’s teams distributed 25.8 tons of aid, feeding and sustaining 9,118 people.
They took two trips to the Kherson region — to Berislav and Davydov Brod. These towns to the East of Kherson suffer the most from incessant Russian bombardments. While there and searching for people to whom to distribute aid, Inna’s volunteers established a relationship with the manager of a local heating center. Although these towns have been deoccupied, the stores are still closed, and supplies are limited. Because of this, volunteer aid is a critical source of aid in those towns.
Four tons of aid were delivered into the frontline zones of the Donetsk region around Bahmut and six tons into the liberated zones of Kharkiv region. Inna continues to push forward large scale projects of outfitting fully functional heating centers at her distribution points, as well as collaborating with Oleksandr Davydiuk’s teams on pushing aid into the front line zones.
Natalia’s Team
The Kryvyi Rih chapter of Natasha’s organization is headed by Tetiana and Andriy Pasenko. Last week Kryvyi Rih was hit by Russian rockets, killing multiple residents including an infant. However, the very next day Tetiana and her team traveled to the village of Kniazivka in the remote part of the liberated Kherson region delivering packages to 150 people (food, clothing, candles, some presents for children). They arrived to Kniazivka to find the village gathered at a funeral of a young Ukrainian fighter who had just been killed in the battle for Bahmut. Only in Ukraine now do a funeral and the distribution of humanitarian aid follow each and merge without dissonance. Tetiana told us how one of the men, who had seen and survived the Russian occupation, was moved to tears after getting a clean white towel. Next week, the Kryvyi Rih team is planning another trip to this region. The locals asked for fruit and vegetables that are in particularly short supply there.
Meanwhile, Natalia is making the final preparations for her trip to Lyman next week. Along with aid packages, she is planning to bring in reinforced glass and repair materials to fix a home for a large family who has been stranded in Lyman in tough conditions.
gifts "from St. Nicholas" for children in Lyman
Oleksandr’s Team
Oleksandr continues to coordinate an interconnected subnetwork of Ukraine TrustChain volunteer organizations across Ukraine:
Pavlo Vystratenko’s teams once again traveled along an ice-covered road to deliver 1.5 tons of aid to Slov’yansk, Kramatorsk and Druzhkivka. The towns sit along a road 20 miles or so away from Bahmut where the most ruthless battle of the war rages day and night.
Yuri S - travelled 1,800 miles to Siversk a city further north along the same road and also close to a very active frontline. Yuri began the delivery of wood stoves, distributing five heavy stoves to the bomb shelters in Siversk. Additionally, Yuri distributed 150 packages of aid weighing more than 2 tons.
Andriy P traveled from Chernivtsi to deliver a large truck of aid to Kherson, containing more than 20 tons of humanitarian aid. The delivery included 16 tons of packaged food, fruits and vegetables, 38 wood stoves and 110 boxes of blankets and warm clothing. The aid was collected by other organizations and delivered to Chernivtsi earlier.
27 tons of drinking water were delivered to Mykolayiv. Generators are vital for this operation too as water pumps shut down during blackouts.
Sandra S continues to operate a volunteer kitchen in Odesa feeding 350 people, among them 70 immobile elderly refugees.
Oleksandr Zhalovaga runs art therapy classes for 30 kids. Working with Inna’s group, he provided glasses to 80 refugee families.
For the seventh month in a row, we continue to support people behind enemy lines, helping about 120 people weekly with meager but much- needed supplies. Last week the package our volunteers were able to put together consisted of bread, rice, beets and toilet paper.
Timur’s Team
Plagued by bitter cold and electricity outages, the team is battling sickness and vehicle issues. Shortly before writing this letter, we found out that Timur is sick. We wish him a quick recovery.
Before becoming sick, Timur’s team delivered close to 600 blankets and 1,000 hygiene kits to Kozachya Lopan, Tishki and Saltivka. The team has also organized a massive family event in Kharkiv bringing over a 1,000 gift bags for kids for the holiday. The smiles and gratitude received this week keeps each volunteer pushing ahead.
Karina’s Team
How do we just pass this along when after reporting on the details of our running projects, our volunteer concluded with the following information:
Last week, we spent a lot on moving dead bodies, focusing on kids. We brought the bodies of those who lived locally around Bahmut. 21 children ranging from 3 to 19. We were very selective on which ones we picked, only those that were at the morgue for a while and had nobody to bury them, because their relatives are in Dnipro or Poltava. The total costs are still unclear, I gave XX (I know that’s a lot), but part of the cost was covered by a funeral home.
Their team also evacuated 16 people out of Kurahove, three families with kids suffering from cerebral palsy. 119 people continue to live in Karina’s shelter. She organized a holiday celebration for shelter residents.
In the meantime, Karina continues to prepare significant shipments of gas and wood stoves that will be delivered shortly to frontline regions.
Alena’s Team
Alena’s team brought a truck of aid from Odesa to the village of Novokyivka in the liberated Kherson region. She distributed food and warm clothing to 200 families there. Additionally, something we are particularly happy about is that Alena managed to deliver a generator to establish a so-called invincibility point - a relatively safe space that is warm and has electricity, where anyone can stay to charge up phones, do homework, or prepare food.
There is a special art to establishing these points, as the space needs to be secure and at the same time accessible. Usually churches, schools or local clinics are suited for this goal. Along with many other organizations, we are facilitating deliveries and funding dozens of such points across Ukraine to help people survive the winter.
Kseniia
Kseniia’s team drives back and forth between Kharkiv and Kyiv, repairing roofs in the villages north of Kharkiv. To accelerate the process, they have hired locals from nearby villages. We, along with other benefactors from all over the world, continue to contribute to this incredibly important work supporting Livyj Bereh’s winterization efforts.
While the volunteers work on rebuilding the villages they meet incredible ordinary people. Last week, they met a teacher who created an improvised school in a semi-destroyed house for local children. This week, Kseniia collected donations and purchased iPads and books and delivered them to the children at that school. Next on their agenda is to repair the roof. Currently the holes from Russian shelling are simply covered by plastic film.
Kseniia maintains support to a team in Kherson that is mostly focusing on delivering essential supplies into the surrounding villages and a team in Kharkiv, pushing aid into the frontline zones in the liberated areas of Kharkiv region.
Pavel’s Team
Pavel’s team evacuated 60 people from Mykolayiv, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhya, but the team’s focus remained on distributing humanitarian aid. Last week, 5,300 people received aid through Pavel, mostly in Mykolayiv and in the villages between Mykolayiv and Kherson.
Andriy’s Team
117 people continue to live in Andriy’s shelters. After the power supply to the warehouse was stabilized, it has been working non-stop, servicing an average of 700 families a week in September. In addition, we have partnered with Andriy on a project to deliver large boxes of gifts to children which Andriy calls Kiddybox. He has a wonderful video on his page, where with great love and care Andriy spends 17 minutes unpacking the Kiddybox and its rich, exciting contents.
Last week, Andriy’s team also traveled to Lubymivka and Dibrova, small towns of Dnipro region where they delivered large aid packages to 23 families with multiple children. Andriy‘s packages, complete with a space heater, blankets, and pillows, are exceptionally comprehensive and meant to provide tangible help to a family for multiple weeks.
Tetiana’s Team
Tetiana organized distribution for 60 families and is preparing a holiday celebration event for local children as well as for a boarding school for displaced children that is currently based near Smila, where Tetiana’s team operates.
US Team Updates
We want to thank Project Kesher for supporting critical aid to the newly Liberated Kherson region.
We would also like to thank Dan Schreiber from Belgium for raising funds through his network and then entrusting them to Ukraine TrustChain. We are deploying these funds to the various projects described in this newsletter, aimed at helping people across Ukraine to survive this winter.
How to Help
Donate - The money goes directly to teams providing aid on the ground, who respond dynamically to the most urgent needs.
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Fill out this form if you’re interested in volunteering with us, and we’ll let you know when opportunities come up.
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