February 6th, 2025
66,941 people evacuated from danger to date
86 people evacuated from danger this week
34 trips into deoccupied and frontline territories this week
The Ukrainian military is stepping up conscription. This is of course necessary to meet the needs of an army that is defending Russia who has a far larger population. While it is a necessity, it also has an impact for everyone in Ukraine and our volunteers are not spared from the impact. The aid missions are complex, but in the end the final deliveries are often done by a small team of one to several people. When a person is conscripted, they can no longer help the hundreds or thousands that they did in their civilian volunteer role. As a number of volunteers have been conscripted recently, we wish them success in their new role defending Ukraine directly. Above all we wish them and hundreds of thousands of others in the Ukrainian military, victory and a safe return home to their loved ones.
Stories
Rescue to Safety
Ihor from the Dobra sprava team shared a story that shows just how far Dobra sprava will go to save every life.
This week, we finally completed a difficult evacuation from Kostiantynivka. Two months ago a woman from Kyiv asked us to evacuate her sister Valentyna, as well as their mother, and Valentyna’s two daughters, aged nine and 16. We made repeated attempts to reach the sister, but she either ignored our calls, or made excuses, delaying [her relatives’] departure. Concerned for the children, I traveled to Kostiantynivka multiple times, but Valentyna kept avoiding me, and I never saw the girls.
Last week, while knocking on Valentyna’s gate yet again, a window cracked open. An elderly woman, trembling, whispered that Valentyna was hiding the children at her partner’s house and gave me the address. [I went to the specified address and knocked.] Soon, Valentyna appeared with her partner, both clearly suffering from some sort of intoxication. When asked about Valentyna’s daughters they claimed that the children had already been evacuated.
[I could tell they] were lying, so I spoke to the local police and figured out a plan. That evening, the police intervened, swiftly taking the grandmother and both girls to a safe shelter in Druzhkivka.
The next morning I met with the [older girl]. She was thin with red-rimmed eyes. She astonished me with her strength, assuring me that she had been responsible for her younger sister Ivanka since childhood and would continue to take care of her and their grandmother. The evacuees face challenges with missing documents, but we are actively resolving these issues.
When Going from One Neighborhood to Another is a Heroic Mission
Excerpt from a report by Sasha Ushkan who leads our Kherson operations:
The eastern microdistrict is the most dangerous place in the city of Kherson. This area is right next to the Antonivskyi Bridge — the narrowest point between the left and right banks of the Dnipro River in the Kherson Region. Recently, enemy drones have been flying there constantly. There is no electricity, water, heat, or gas.
The Krok z nadiyeyu team in Kherson installed several generators in this area, and we help people refuel them, so they can cook food, charge gadgets, and get a little warmth. We have constant conversations with everyone about the need to evacuate, because at some point it might become impossible.
A family of four did agree to evacuate. We had to wait for the right moment to meet them. We came under the cover of bad, windy weather. After helping the family gather all their necessary belongings, we started waiting for a window when the anti-drone radar wasn’t signaling approaching drones, and one of our Kherson Telegram channels could confirm that no drones were detected.
When this moment came we quickly started the evacuation. We chose only passenger cars, because they are more maneuverable, divided people between three cars, and departed with intervals to avoid forming a convoy. Everything was done very quickly and without delays.
After leaving the eastern district one of the cars started smoking because its wiring had burned out. We were very lucky that this happened when the car was already in the safe zone. Everyone made it out alive and whole. We settled the family in a safer area and continue to keep in touch with them. If needed, our team is always nearby, and people know this. People know they are not abandoned and can always ask for help.
Improvising Dinner While Sappers Demine Train Station
"Such are the adventures of volunteers in Odesa these days," wrote a member of Sandra Spars' kitchen to us in her report. Last Wednesday, the dedicated team, which runs a kitchen in Odesa came as always to offer freshly prepared meals to the hungry at the train station. On this occasion, however, the station was surrounded by police and military personnel who informed the team that the station was mined and that sappers had been called in. Everyone had to wait outside. The team couldn't even retrieve the tables from which they normally serve their food and which were locked inside the pantry at the station.
The volunteers waited around for half an hour, but the food was starting to get cold and the regulars had come hungry, hoping for a meal. So the team improvised. They found a relatively flat surface at the base of a large column where they set up their makeshift cafeteria and began distributing the food. It was awkward, but in the end the people were fed and the volunteers came away happy.
Emergency Assistance for Dnipro Shelter
Thanks to our partners in Dnipro, Pomahaem Foundation, we were able to provide emergency assistance to a large Dnipro shelter, housing 248 people. Despite their best efforts, the shelter’s inhabitants just couldn’t put together enough money to pay for the utilities, even after running on-site emergency fundraisers. They risked losing water and electricity in the middle of winter. The situation had been developing for some time. By the time we found out about it, the shelter was about $1,500 behind on utilities. We offered to help. After Pomahaem inspected the premises and performed a thorough audit to ensure that providing this assistance made sense, we paid the bill. We were happy to offer the shelter this assistance — it seemed a small price to keep 248 people warm and comfortable in the middle of the winter.
Help in Occupied Territories
Firewood was delivered to six families. Among them, low-income pensioners, including a grandmother with four small grandchildren, and a family with two disabled people. The volunteers also purchased medicine for pensioners and a few packages of sweets for children. 70 people received aid in two other occupied towns.
Team Summaries
Alina’s Team – Dobra sprava (Good Deeds)
14 trips, evacuating 82 people from Rodyns’ke, Bilyts’ke, Serhiivka, Dobropillya, Kostyantynivka, Druzhkivka, and Lyman.
Inna’s Team – Krok z nadiyeyu (Step with Hope)
21.4 tons of aid distributed.
86.4 tons of firewood delivered.
Provided aid in high-risk areas, including Kherson, 5 Donbas towns, Izyum, Balakliya Nikopol and Marhanets’.
Delivered aid to 40 towns in total.
Delivered firewood to Kharkiv shelter housing 100 people.
Kherson work:
Rat extermination in 8 buildings.
10 equipment maintenance tasks (generator repairs and equipment transfers).
Evacuated a family of 4 from a red zone to a safer Kherson neighborhood.
Distributed pillows and blankets in Nikopol.
Oleksandr D’s Volunteer Networks
Vladyslav K (Mykolaiv): delivered 35 tons of drinking water to Mykolaiv.
Andriy P (Mykolaiv): brought 2 ambulances filled with 1,300 kg of humanitarian goods from Germany to Mykolaiv.
Sandra S (Odesa): kitchen fed over 800 people. On Wednesday, the team couldn’t get into the station because there was notice that the station had been mined, so they fed people outside on an improvised surface (see story).
Serhiy A (Kharkiv): delivered 605 food kits (3 tons) to people with visual disabilities in Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipro, Kramatorsk, Sumy, Kryvyi Rih, Odessa, Mykolaiv (Lviv Region), Rivne, Lviv, Vinnytsia, and two other cities. Blind people in Kramatorsk were particularly grateful for the fuel briquettes they had received earlier.
Vitaliy Z (Kharkiv): distributed 500 loaves of bread to the poorest population in Kramatorsk. Also visited and brought 1 ton of feed to a farm with evacuated horses. Brought 3.5 tons of humanitarian kits, medicines, clothing, and animal feed to Lyman and 2 tons of aid to Druzhkivka. Evacuated 2 older people from the village of Derylove near Lyman to the Myrhorods'kyi District of the Poltava Region. Began pumping drinking water from a newly created well in Malotaranivka.
Oleksandr D (Lutsk): received 65 boxes (about 1 ton) with children’s gifts at an elementary school and the distribution point at the church base in Lutsk. The gifts and children’s boxes will be distributed to children at the elementary school, as well as to internally displaced (IDP) children, children with disabilities, and children from large families.
Oksana K (Lutsk): handed out clothes and adult diapers to 10 people. Sent diapers for bedridden elderly people to the hospital in Irkliiv (Cherkasy Region). Collected and sent out 5 aid packages. Donated 140-150 kg of soups and sauces to fellow volunteers for distribution. Gave a baby box to a large family in Varash.
Oleksandr Z (Lutsk): provided therapeutic interventions and aid to internally displaced (IDP) children and adults, children with disabilities, and children from military families – held 3 art therapy sessions for a total of 96 children. Visited a museum with 58 families and IDP students.Distributed bread and other food to 380 students and 80 children living in IDP assistance centers. Picked out glasses for 30 adults and children. Conducted 93 medical procedures to improve the health of children with disabilities from Zaporizhia. Helped newly arrived children from frontline areas with prevention and physiotherapy.
Karina’s Team – My ryatuyemo Ukrayinu (We Save Ukraine)
136 people in the shelter.
Natasha’s Team – Volontersʹkyy tsentr Vyshnya (Cherry Volunteer Center)
Natalia and Tetiana are prepping for trips expected to take place later this week.
Timur’s Team — Komanda Teymura Alyeva (Timur Alyev’s Team)
Delivered aid packages to 233 families in the Kharkiv region.
Delivered aid to 18 disabled WW2 veterans. Imagine how these people feel, living through a second devastating war on their home soil.
Pavel and Olena’s Teams – Dotyk sertsya (Touch of Heart) & Svitanok mriy (Dawn of Dreams)
Delivered packages to 320 families in Prybuzke and Novohryhorivka.
Vegetables delivered to 40 families caring for children with disabilities.
24 tons of fuel briquettes delivered to 80 families in Pravdyne village.
Pomahaem Foundation (We Help Foundation)
Provided emergency assistance to a large shelter in Dnipro, housing 248 people. The shelter inhabitants couldn’t collect enough money to cover utilities. The team audited the shelter’s situation and were able to fill the gap in their funding to ensure people stay warm during winter.
24 tons of water delivered to Nikopol.
Vetted 539 cash aid recipients in Dnipropetrovsk and Mykolaiv regions.
243 packages provided in Dnipropetrovsk and Mykolaiv regions.
Marina’s Team – Daruy dobrо Ukrayina (Give Good Ukraine)
150 food and hygiene packages were distributed to solitary elderly individuals in Pyatikhatky.
Medical aid, such as equipment and medicine, was sent to hospitals in the Kherson and Donetsk regions.
Dina’s Team — Vilʹni lyudy, vilʹna krayina (Free People, Free Country)
Distributed 645 packages in Kremenchuk, Poltava, Kanev, and Dnipro. Also mailed 100 packages from Dnipro.
Traveled to Zmiiv delivering 50 sets of shoes and jackets as well as 200 packages of aid to people displaced from Kup’yans’k.
The soup kitchen in Kharkiv served 1,287 people.
Bohdan’s Team — Vse robymo sami (We Do Everything Ourselves)
43 families in Zhytomyr received food and hygiene kits.
At the Club for Children with Disabilities, kids learned how to prepare herring salad and participated in psychological relief games.
Theater classes for children have resumed. Soon, kids will start computer classes using newly donated laptops.
Alena – Diva (Virgo)
Distributed 4,000 liters of fuel to the residents of Beryslav, Novoberyslav, Shlyakhove, Zmiivka, and Tomaryne. This will service 200 generators, or about 600 households for a month, helping ~1,500 people.
Liza and Katya continued to provide assistance to 14 wounded in Odesa hospitals.
Anna’s Team – Nezalezhna natsiya (Independent Nation)
Last month Anna’s water delivery services near Pravdyne delivered 181 tons of water to 41 households.
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, LinkedIn, or Bluesky Social 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.