January 16th, 2025
66,670 people evacuated from danger to date
135 people evacuated from danger this week
43 trips into deoccupied and frontline territories this week
Thanks to our six incredible match drive sponsors and our amazing community we have collected over $130,000 for Ukraine since we announced the drive in our Newsletter on December 12. The drive was specifically focused on spreading awareness to new communities and we are happy to report that we saw over 40 new donors join us in December! We are so grateful for your continued support of Ukraine and our efforts!
Stories
LoveUA and Dobra Sprava Article in Kyiv Post
Last week, we reported on a joint trip by LoveUA and Dobra sprava to bring some holiday cheer to children near the front line in Druzhkivka. We now invite you to read this article by the Kyiv Post, further detailing the trip and the difficulties our evacuation teams face in convincing people to leave their homes in search of safety.
Meanwhile, LoveUA and Dobra sprava have continued working together, this time traveling to Krasnotorka, a small town near Sloviansk, to deliver 365 packages of food, adult diapers, and pet food to the residents. The trip was difficult. One of the tires on the van blew out shortly after the teams headed out from Dnipro. The volunteers had to stop in Kramatorsk to buy a replacement with the help of some military connections. The people in Krasnotorka waited for the delivery for two hours outside. When the volunteers finally arrived, the locals were very emotional and rushed the van, afraid that the food would run out. On the drive back, the teams also witnessed several KAB explosions nearby. Fortunately, everyone made it home safely.
Increasing Evacuations around Pokrovsk
Alina reports on the increasing flight from settlements around Pokrovsk:
People from Rodyns’ke, Bilyts’ke, and Hryshyne have started to evacuate in greater numbers. Many of these people [had moved to these settlements] from Myrnohrad and Pokrovsk, hoping that they could wait out the danger there. But the enemy has begun intensive shelling of these towns, using heavy weaponry. The photo below is of the road from Dobropillya to Pokrovsk, which passes through Bilyts’ke. We used to stop at this intersection to have coffee and rest, but we won’t be doing that anymore.
Last week, Ihor evacuated four 17-year-old boys with their mothers from Kostyantynivka, Druzhkivka, and Bilyts’ke. Of course, we were glad they were escaping, but at first, we didn’t understand the full situation. After talking to them, Ihor learned that all the boys were heading abroad — some to Poland, others to Germany.
Ihor noted that the issue of lowering the mobilization age is widely discussed in the media, which has led many young people to leave for other countries. He has mixed feelings. As a father, he understands it, but he fears for the future of Ukraine. "It’s unlikely they’ll return after settling in Europe. What will our country face when the war ends? It will be very hard..."
Supporting Lyman
Natalia took another trip to Lyman last week. This is another key small town that has been heroically and tenaciously defended by Ukrainian armed forces for almost three years. The enemy is only 5-7 miles away now, yet 4,000 residents remain in the city out of the 18,000 that lived there before the war. Aside from the courage needed to go into a city that is being shelled daily, volunteers must maintain complex diplomatic relations with the local administration to be allowed to enter the town. Their extensive track record, of delivering trucks of firewood to Lyman and of providing sustained support to its remaining residents street by street has given UTC volunteers an edge, allowing them to enter for a brief period to unload the aid and support the locals that come to receive it.
The Sad State of Donbas Roads
The war permeates every conversation with our Ukrainian volunteers. We don’t talk about battles, politics or weapons. War comes through in mundane, everyday details, like in this report from Inna’s Donbas group:
Since the highway has came under Russian fire control] we’ve been taking the country road. Our volunteers delivering aid share these roads with tanks and artillery. It wasn’t built for heavy vehicles. Heavy trucks carrying armored vehicles now pass through, constantly eroding the asphalt. As a result the road is getting more and more narrow. In a month or two there will be a single lane left, and we don’t know how we will pass each other then. God willing it will be dry then, and the road will still be open.
[But we must get through]. Last week, we brought aid to a woman who couldn’t pick it up herself. We met her and went to see her husband. He was diagnosed with cancer two months ago, went through chemo and was very weak. We cheered them up as best we could. They both cried, sharing their pain with us. We said goodbye, and three hours later found out that he had passed away. Thank God in times like this we are still able to come to people and support them, easing their lot a little.
Team Summaries
Alina’s Team – Dobra sprava (Good Deeds)
14 trips, evacuating 88 people from Rodyns’ke, Bilyt’ske, and Hryshyne.
Inna’s Team – Krok z nadiyeyu (Step with Hope)
20.6 tons of aid delivered to 8,250 people.
6,600 people received bread.
Delivered 26.6 tons of firewood, mostly to internally displaced people (IDPs) fleeing from Borova, which recently came under Russian control.
Distributed aid in 39 towns, 10 of them deoccupied, high-risk areas.
Kherson aid:
6 spaces cleared, including 3 large basements.
11 equipment maintenance tasks.
Helped a paralyzed wounded person from Kherson.
The team’s volunteers were shelled while visiting Kosytantynivka.
Delivered potbelly stoves to Beryslav and Kherson Region.
Ksenia, Darya - Livyj Bereh, Lanka
Darya was able to tally up evacuations and aid deliveries missed in the last two weeks: Podoly - 3 evacuated, 15 packages delivered; Sadove - 12 evacuated; Kasyanivka - 4 evacuated, 40 packages delivered; Monachynivka - 1 evacuated, 22 packages delivered; Kindrashivka - 24 packages delivered; Kut’kivka - 3 evacuated, 87 packages delivered.
In total: 47 evacuated, 200 packages delivered.
Oleksandr D’s Volunteer Networks
Oleksandr S (Boyarka): distributed aid in Sumy Region – 2.5 tons of food and household chemicals to internally displaced (IDP) residents and children with disabilities in Krolevets; 1 ton of food, clothes and dishes to low income people and IDPs whose shelter was destroyed by a shell in Hlukhiv; in Shostka,1 ton of food to teachers, educators and utility workers from the village of Seredyna-Buda, as well as aid for Shostka poor and IDPs.
Vladyslav K (Mykolaiv): delivered 35 tons of drinking water to Mykolaiv and 7 tons to Kherson.
Sandra S (Odesa): kitchen fed over 500 people.
Yuri S (Vinnytsia): delivered aid in Vinnytsia and Vinnytsia Region – washing machine and cereal grains to IDPs in Komariv; clothes and food to a disabled person in Mizyakivs'ki Khutory; food and money to a disabled person in a tuberculosis clinic, 7 boxes of diapers to City Hospital #3 in Vinnytsia and the same number to the tuberculosis clinic in Bokhonyky; diapers and food to a disabled person in Baikivka; food to a family of disabled people in Vinnytsia.
Vitaliy Z (Kharkiv): delivered 3 tons of humanitarian kits, clothes, medicine, and animal feed to Stavky in Lyman District and 2 tons of aid in the Kurakhove direction. Delivered 90 tons of fuel briquettes to 300 households in Kramatorsk and Lyman. Drilled a well for drinking water in Krasnotorka, near Kramatorsk. There is now good potable water in sufficient quantity.
Oleksandr D (Lutsk): Serhiy H and his volunteers delivered 66.15 tons of fuel briquettes to 165 households in Pryozerne and Komyshany in the Kherson Region. Volunteer Pavlo B’s team also delivered 45 tons of briquettes to 112 households who evacuated from the Zaporizhzhia Region Orikhiv community on the front line and are now living in nearby Preobrazhenka. Due to safety considerations the team had to unload in Zaporizhzhia and locals had to drive 37 miles to receive briquettes.
Oleksandr Z (Lutsk): provided therapeutic interventions and aid to IDP children and adults, children with disabilities, and war veterans –held an art therapy session for 38 children; took IDP students and war veterans to the opening of the ARTpostril: art born of war exhibit at the Korsaki Museum of Modern Ukrainian Art. This is part of the team’s ongoing work with 44 war veterans to motivate them to create veteran hubs and production spaces. Organized a visit to the Lutsk McDonald’s for 60 IDP children from the Donetsk Region, and delivered packages to children with cerebral palsy and musculoskeletal disorders. Conducted 86 medical procedures to improve the health of children with disabilities from Zaporizhia. Selected glasses for 30 adults and children.
Karina’s Team – My ryatuyemo Ukrayinu (We Save Ukraine)
153 people in the shelter.
Natasha’s Team – Volontersʹkyy tsentr Vyshnya (Cherry Volunteer Center)
Natalia delivered 250 packages of hygienic products to besieged Lyman.
Tetiana, based in Kryvyi Rih, delivered 225 packages to Lubymivka, Kherson Region.
Timur’s Team — Komanda Teymura Alyeva (Timur Alyev’s Team)
The team traveled to the village of Lednoye where they helped make the holidays a bit brighter and handed out gifts to 250 children.
They distributed aid packages to 312 families in Saltivka, Kharkiv.
Special deliveries to 14 families with infants and 18 disabled elderly.
Pavel and Olena’s Teams – Dotyk sertsya (Touch of Heart) & Svitanok mriy (Dawn of Dreams)
The team was back from the holidays last week, but spent the week bringing in aid, packaging it and preparing logistics for this week’s deliveries.
Pomahaem Foundation (We Help Foundation)
450 family packages delivered to Dobropillya (Donbas) as well as Khotimlya and Murahivka (Mykolaiv Region).
24 tons of water delivered to Nikopol.
4 trips to high risk areas, vetting 150+ people for cash grants provided by other organizations.
Marina’s Team – Daruy dobrо Ukrayina (Give Good Ukraine)
300 food and hygiene packages were distributed to internally displaced individuals in Zhovty Vody.
Dina’s Team — Vilʹni lyudy, vilʹna krayina (Free People, Free Country)
Distributed 330 packages of aid in Kremenchuk, Poltava, and Kanev.
Serhiy T distributed 200 packages of holiday sweet treats to children.
Bohdan’s Team — Vse robymo sami (We Do Everything Ourselves)
43 families in Zhytomyr received food and hygiene kits.
In the club for children with disabilities children learned how to make roast meat and played psychological relief games.
This week the organization celebrated its 22nd anniversary by holding a festive Christmas event.
Anastasia’s Team - LoveUA
Delivered 365 packages of humanitarian aid, adult diapers, and pet food to Krasnotorka.
Alena - Diva (Virgo)
Liza and Katya continue to support 18 wounded in Odesa hospitals.
Anna - Independent Nation
Report for one month: continued to power local water deliveries in Pravdyne, Tavriiske and Nova Zorya. Last month, this service delivered 338 tons of water to people with compromised water supply.
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.