February 24, 2023
48,751 people evacuated from danger to date
19 people evacuated from danger this week
12 trips into the deoccupied and frontline territories
It’s been a year since Russia began a full-scale invasion. A year of pain, explosions, fear, a year of exile and disbelief, a year of state-sponsored terrorism by Russia and a year of atrocities. But it has also been a year of heroism, resistance and personal growth for millions of Ukrainians and Ukraine as a whole. A year of generosity and innovation. One year of total, large-scale war where free people of Ukraine fight the Russian tyrant and his army of drones.
On this day we feel closer than ever to our Ukrainian volunteers, who’ve become our friends and our heroes. UTC founder Daniil is now Ukraine on behalf of Ukraine Trustchain and our donors to meet with teams in person, share their life and their hardships, and reassure them that we are one whole, that we stand together, admiring them with as much fervor as ever.
Last week we organized multiple meetings with all the teams we support. On Thursday, our Lutsk team, coordinated by Oleksnadr Davydiuk came together and discussed our next steps. It was humbling to see the light of meaningful existence shining from these people who look past the gray walls of Soviet-era buildings with kindness and purpose, dedicating their lives to helping others.
On Sunday, Daniil was already in Kyiv where multiple teams from Kyiv, Odesa, Boyarka, the director of medical initiatives and the mobile clinic support came together to talk and sing Ukrainian songs. Earlier that week, the teams went on daring missions across Ukraine that we will describe in the letter below.
As we write this report more meetings are happening, first in Kharkiv and then in Dnipro. The volunteers time and again asked Daniil to pass their immense gratitude for your financial support, without which, they said, it would have been impossible to accomplish so much in one year.
Ukraine Team Milestones
Inna Kampen’s Team - Krok z Nadiyeyu
This week Inna’s team distributed aid in frequently shelled areas in the Kharkiv, Donbas, and Kherson regions as well as in regions of central Ukraine with a high concentration of internal refugees.
In the Kharkiv region, Inna’s volunteers went to Kup’yans’k to deliver a generator, clothes and hygiene products for 50 families. While there, they came under fire with one of the rockets landing 100 feet away from them, sending them and some locals running for cover. Thankfully, no one was seriously injured in this incident. The team also delivered firewood for 30 families in the town of Chuhuiv.
In Donbas, the team delivered aid in Konstantinivka, Druzhkivka and two areas in the called grey zone – 270 people in total received aid there.
In the Kherson region, Inna’s volunteers went to Berislav and Davydiv Brod. They delivered and distributed food and diapers to 200 people.
The team also delivered aid to internally displaced refugees in areas around Dnipro, Pavlohrad, Kryvyi Rih, Nikopol, Zhovti Vody and several other regions in central Ukraine. The aid ranged from ready-made meals and food packages to hygiene products, construction materials, and potbelly stoves. Inna’s volunteers helped thousands of people there.
Inna’s volunteers delivered aid to 9,420 people totalling 27 metric tons (59,525 pounds). In addition they distributed 10,000 loaves of bread to 5,000 people.
Angelia - Mobile Clinic
Angelia took its mobile services to two villages in the Kyiv region: Obukhiv, which had come many times under rocket fire, and to Irpin’, which had suffered heavily under partial occupation with hundreds of houses destroyed and thousands of people left homeless. The clinic brought dentistry, gynecology, ultrasound, lab and EKG services and a traveling pharmacy to these cities, as well as a family doctor, ENT, endocrinologist, rehabilitation specialist and psychologist. A total of 150 people received 593 medical services on this trip. One man in Irpin’ came to thank the doctors for diagnosing a thyroid tumor on their previous visit. The cancer has been successfully removed, and he has been able to return to work.
Natasha’s Team - Vysnia Volunteer Center
Tetiana and Andrij Pasenko, who are part of Natalia's organization, made a trip to the Kherson region to the village of Tverdomedovo. Here is what Pasenko shared with us:
The Inhulets River flows in the middle of the village. From almost every house you can see this full-flowing river. Tverdomedovo suffered significant destruction - it was in the line of Russian fire. There were shellings every day with the aim of erasing the village from the face of the earth because Ukrainians live there. Houses of ordinary people, agricultural storage buildings, and grain silos were damaged. The consequences of shelling are visible in every yard. Every house got its own "flaming" hello from Russian fascists. Every local resident, every family needs help.
Currently, the residents of this community live in poverty. There are no jobs, and a lot of money is needed to restore their houses. It is very difficult to get food in rural areas now. The only shop in the village was also bombed. Therefore, we immediately responded to the request of the village community to bring grocery kits. We also helped a few families with children by bringing diapers and baby food.
The people who live in this village are incredibly sensitive and warm. They shared their plans for the future, while their eyes teared up from memories of what they experienced, from dreams of their peaceful future and the future of our country.
Alena’s Team — Virgo Volunteer Center
This week Alena took another trip to the Kherson Oblast’. Specifically they visited the villages of Lyubomirovka, Shmidtovo, and Znamenka. It was a very long, arduous day. The van’s brakes broke down before they even left Odesa, and they had to pull over and repair the car on the side of the road; the car had already been loaded with everything and they could not postpone the trip.
The first town for aid delivery was Lyubomirovka. During the Russian occupation, the residents say the soldiers looted everything they could carry. So the village administration’s computer was stolen, and Alena brought them a new one. The first thing the village administrators did was connect that and a printer to their new generator and print an official certificate of gratitude to present it with full pomp and circumstance to Alena. All the villagers gathered for the occasion and Alena distributed packages of food and candles. Then they gave her a tour of what was left of their village. Alena counted and measured the broken windows to pass the information along to professionals in Odesa for an estimate.
Their next stop was Shmidtovo, to where they brought a larger generator to connect a water pump. This will take some time for the villagers to get to working condition, and they promise to send pictures and videos once it’s functioning.
Finally, they went to the most remote town, Znamenka. Alena says that while it didn’t suffer as much under the occupation, its remote nature (8km off the road) has created such poverty there that Alena was shocked. They also gave the village administration a generator and distributed food. The people were overjoyed and grateful. Looking at these photos, our team thought we had been transported back in time. The shoes of the child pictured below are three sizes too small for her.
The team was 15 minutes past curfew when they arrived at the checkpoint to get back into Odesa. The soldiers reviewed their documents showing that they are volunteers, questioned them about where they had been and checked their phones, and then allowed them to pass. It might have helped that they had saved some protein bars and snacks for the soldiers at the checkpoint.
Over the weekend, Alena and her family traveled to Kyiv to meet with Daniil. Our team in the US was able to meet with the volunteers in Kyiv over Zoom. It was a very emotional moment for us.
Pavel’s Team - Touch of Heart and Dawn of Hope
Last week, Pavel and Elena’s team brought food for 4,706 people in the villages of Partyzanske, Velyka Korenikha, Novomykolaivka and the city of Mykolaiv. These were humanitarian missions during which they distributed food, water, hygiene products, and diapers, along with warm items. Their team continues work in their office, supporting children by providing mental health services and special gifts for them. 20 wooden stoves were installed in the village of Shyroke. The team continues to deliver aid to nursing homes and hospitals. They took another truckload of firewood - 56 cubic meters to the village of Novomykolaivka along with another 56 cubic meters of firewood to the village of Partyzanske in the Mykolaiv region. They delivered 38 generators to Bereznehuvate and district villages, to families with many children, to families raising orphans, and to children with disabilities. The team also supported children from large families and living in foster homes by bringing 114 laptops for virtual school.
Karina’s Team - We Save Dnipro
This week through Karina’s team, 19 people were evacuated from Konstantinovka, Chasiv Yar, Kurakhovo, and Druzhkovka. 81 people continue to live at her shelter. This past week, Karina also shopped for and delivered food and medicine to 61 families of victims of the Dnipro bombing.
Andriy’s Team - BF Pomahaem
During this week, Pomohaem provided 600 children's sports clothing for families with many children displaced by war. The team also delivered food and hygiene products to children with disabilities.
Aid was delivered to Nikopol, a city in the Dnipro region that is under constant shelling. Only a couple of days ago, after an especially severe bombing, a maternity hospital and two schools were damaged.
Currently, 54 people evacuated from the frontline areas live in Andriy’s shelter - and all of them are provided with necessities.
Anastasia’s Team
On February 14th, Anastasia’s team traveled to villages around Kharkiv. Not only was the journey difficult physically, but also emotionally after witnessing what they did. Unfortunately, they were not able to get to all the places they wanted to visit, because some of the towns are just completely wiped out, with not a single building remaining. They delivered 300 packages of aid and some pet food to the towns of Suha Kam’yanska, Studenok, Yaremivka, Pasika. In Pasika, all the buildings are destroyed, but the townspeople banded together, repaired two houses out of whatever materials they had on hand, and now all live there together. None of these villages have electricity, water, or Internet.
Dina’s Team - Vilni Liudy – Vilna Krayina
This week we want to wish a very happy birthday to Yulia P who runs a large-scale Vilny Lyudi - Vilna Kraina aid distribution center in Kremenchuk. There are 1,200 people in Yulia’s telegram group and she maintains order and distributes food to them in turn according to their assigned number. In addition, she regularly distributes clothing and toys for children.
This week, VL-VK distributed 1,035 packages of food, 158 of them by mail to occupied territories.
Oleksandr D’s Network
Pavlo V’s volunteers from Dnipro traveled to Kostyantynivka and Druzhkivka bringing 300 kg of bread, soap and hygiene and household products and one ton of food. The roads are becoming very bad due to the weather and there are frequent traffic checkpoints. Rocket attacks have become more common in Kostyantynivka. In Druzhkivka, a school and a hospital were bombed this week. People here call the volunteers and their supporters angels.
Sandra S’s kitchen in Odesa fed more than 1,700 people, including bedridden patients. This week the kitchen staff met two-year-old Igor, who came with his family from the occupied part of Kherson. His little sister was born in a basement. Before finding our kitchen the family went without a proper meal for six days. The team is now looking for clothes and a stroller for them.
Despite breakdowns of their delivery vehicles, Oleksandr S’s team in Boyarka brought two tons of aid to Bila Tserkva, 2.5 tons of donated agricultural products to their Boyarka headquarters, 400 gas canisters for generators to a warehouse in Ukrainka, and two tons of humanitarian aid to villages bordering the Russian Federation in the Shostka District, which is constantly under fire.
Viktor V’s assistance center in Lutsk handed out grocery sets to pensioners, displaced migrants and people with disabilities. (123 sets distributed in Lutsk, 20 in Pidhaitsi and 17 in Kivertsi). The team also brought a generator to the assistance center in Horokhiv and distributed grocery packages to construction workers building a school and to rehabilitation center patients.
Also in Lutsk, Oksana K, together with her husband brought aid from Warsaw and delivered food kits to Vuhledar, hygiene supplies to Mykolaiv, and food and diapers for children of displaced families and hospitalized soldiers. Oleksandr Z’s NGO Zirka Nadiyi ("Star of Hope") held art therapy workshops and provided aid to three children of migrants and five young people, one elderly migrant woman, six children with disabilities and seven children from large families.
Andriy P’s team in Chernivtsi delivered 22 tons of food, hygiene, diapers, clothes and shoes to Novyi Buh, from where it will be taken to the de-occupied territories of Snihurivka and Bashtanka. Bashtanka is badly damaged from the Russian approach to Mykolaiv. Unable to pass through it the enemy covered it with a hail of aircraft and artillery fire.
Vladyslav K delivered 24 tons of drinking water to Mykolaiv and distributed six tons of food and personal hygiene items to 200 families. Yuriy S delivered two tons of flour and 300 kg of oil to Sandra's kitchen in Odesa. Nazar P’s operation, based in Kherson provided humanitarian aid to 400 individuals and families at their "Dieslovo" center. Pavlo V in Dnipro brought 730 kg of aid from ADRA in Moldova: clothes, shoes, 250 kg of groceries, adult and child diapers,shampoos, gels, toothpastes, brushes and feminine hygiene products.
Timur’s Team — Timur and Team
Hunger, cold and despair, as well as incessant shelling, continue to haunt the areas where Timur’s team distributes aid. Sadness and hunger are evident everywhere – from young children to the elderly and to homeless animals. But every person greets the team with gratitude; they will keep returning with hope and any help they can bring. They delivered aid to 800 people in Kovsharovka, to another 200 to an undisclosed town, and to 100 pensioners and people with disabilities in Saltovka. In addition, they were able to deliver the diapers and baby items that people had requested.
Kseniia’s Team — NGO Livyj Bereh
UTC founder, Daniil and Kseniia met in Berlin for a very special performance reminiscing on their nearly year-long collaboration to help Ukraine. During the performance, Daniil sang and projected a transcript of their chat, while Kseniia created beautiful floral arrangements and gifted them to audience members.
Following their meeting, they both headed to Ukraine and Kseniia took Daniil to Kharkiv and the villages outside of the city where Livyj Bereh will be finishing its 100th roof this week.
Livyj Bereh repaired 14 houses in Derhachi and Slatyne villages in the past week. Daniil was able to meet with the village council of Slatyne as well as local activists that have been working with Livyj Bereh directly to repair roofs. Renovation of the windows in the sports hall of Novyj Bykiv school was almost finished. Livyj Bereh installed 14 small windows and restored the glass blocks of big old ones in the gym, and completed plastering works around the windows. Thanks to the completion of the restoration work, students will be able to attend physical education classes in the renovated sports hall during this studying year.
Tetiana’s Team - Dopomoha Poruch
This week Tetiana and her team were busy preparing for the trip into Donbas, a gray zone, to distribute aid. They spent the week buying food and hygiene products, assembling packages, and finding and vetting contacts in villages. Last week Tetiana’s team was gifted a pig, and so this week they cooked it into stews and kashas to put into aid packages. A trip to a grey zone is always dangerous, and especially this week, with one year anniversary of the war so near. Tetiana’s father, who volunteered to fight as soon as the invasion began and is fighting in Donbas now tried to dissuade her from going, but Tetiana’s mind was made up.
Marina’s Team — Give Good Ukraine
Marina's team continued to distribute food, medicine, hygiene products, and diapers not just to internally displaced persons, but also to the elderly, mothers of fallen soldiers, adults, and children with disabilities. They also delivered medical supplies to the District Center of Primary Health Care in Piatykhatky, a medical facility that they continually support.
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.