January 30th, 2025
66,855 people evacuated from danger to date
90 people evacuated from danger this week
39 trips into deoccupied and frontline territories this week
No matter what, we will not stop advocating for Ukraine. Last weekend one of our board members spoke about the evolving situation in Ukraine and the humanitarian aid sector at the Folkshul congregation in Philadelphia. Several days ago the US government stopped all humanitarian aid to Ukraine. This shift presents a difficult challenge for nonprofits that rely on government grants to do their vital, life-saving work.
We at Ukraine TrustChain do not rely on government grants, but we do rely on the generosity of our donors. We hope that you will continue your support. Please consider sharing our newsletter with at least one new person in your network, even if that person isn’t able to make a donation. Please also follow us on social media, including our newest Bluesky account @ukrainetrustchain.bsky.social. Lastly, if you have an idea for a discussion, or would like to host a fundraiser, don’t hesitate to reach out to us.
Stories
A Lifeline for Evacuees
Our large-scale firewood distributions have mostly wrapped up. The remaining reserves are being distributed to specific families that our Ukrainian teams have identified across the areas they serve. Last week, for example, the volunteers helped a family of four in Pechnenihy, Kharkiv Region.
This family had lived in Artemivka, a village on the eastern bank of the Siverski Donets river. Their oldest son, who is now 20, crossed the bridge to go to work one day, not realizing that wouldn’t be able to return. Later that day the Russians blew up the bridge and occupied his village. For six months the young man had to survive alone on the unoccupied bank, until Inna’s team eventually helped the rest of the family flee Artemivka to the unoccupied side.
After the deoccupation of the Kharkiv Region the family returned home, but, with the intensifying battles near Vovchans’k, they fled again to avoid the risk of living under another occupation. The family now lives in a small house with firewood heating. There aren’t a lot of jobs in the area, but they work and try to survive, planting their garden, living, and dreaming.
A Well-Ordered Distribution
Anastasia’s latest aid trip to a frontline village was almost pleasant, if not for the looming risk of shelling. Anastasia was pleasantly surprised by the discipline of the residents, who avoided crowding the central square and approached her truck in small groups to collect aid and express their gratitude.
The locals’ appreciation is understandable. UTC has been helping this village for some time. We even sponsored a well there, which continues to provide water to the local residents. The local alderman invited the volunteers to stop by for tea in the administrative building, which, despite taking an artillery hit months ago, still houses cultural artifacts, a piano, and a children’s activity room.
Over tea, Anastasia understood why the distribution had been so orderly. Months earlier, during another organization’s aid delivery (not sponsored by UTC), a crowd had gathered around a truck when the siren sounded. A cassette bomb struck before the crowd could disperse and several people died. Since then, the community has followed strict protocols, a caution that so impressed Anastasia.
Help in Occupied Territories
70 families received aid in the occupied zone.
Team Summaries
Alina’s Team – Dobra sprava (Good Deeds)
14 trips, with 85 people evacuated from the areas near Pokrovsk and Kramatorsk.
Inna’s Team – Krok z nadiyeyu (Step with Hope)
Delivered 21.4 tons to 41 towns.
Deliveries to Donbas: Kramatorsk, Sloviansk, Druzhkivka, and Kostynatynivka, despite deadly bombing of these towns. Kostyantynivka was hit with 11 glide bombs on Friday and Saturday.
Supported 6 other high-risk area trips.
Delivered 20.8 tons of firewood.
6,600 people received bread.
Kherson Operations: restored 12 spaces, including 3 large basements; covered up windows after shelling for 1 family; completed 10 equipment maintenance tasks.
Angelia Charitable Fund
Delivered 400 kg of muesli and power bars from Kyiv to Kherson.
Provided medical scrubs to hospitals in the Chernivtsi Region.
Delivered 550 kg of mashed potatoes and canned goods to the Your Camp Christian youth camp in the Chernivtsi Region. This camp helps children get healthy, recover from trauma, and make new friends. Many of the attendees are orphans, or are from disadvantaged or dysfunctional families.
Oleksandr D’s Volunteer Networks
Oleksandr S (Boyarka): report for 2 weeks. Volunteer Maksym and his team helped a family move. This family, under the team’s care is a disabled grandmother and 2 disabled grandchildren. Their mother was a soldier who was killed. Distributed 450 kg of shoes in the Kyiv, Sumy and Chernihiv regions. Held a New Year celebration in Ponornytsya, Chernihiv Region, including a master class on making pizza, lots of children’s games and activities, and socializing. About 200 kg of aid was distributed at this event. Held a children’s event in Novhorod-Sivers'kyi, Chernihiv Region for 37 people. About 150 kg of aid was distributed. Assisted low-income population in Sumy with 70 kg of baby diapers. Distributed 100 kg of toys to children and 50 kg of dry breakfasts to internally displaced people (IDPs) in the Sumy and Chernihiv Regions. Volunteers Anatoliy A and Pavlo B delivered 2 tons of food kits to Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.
Vladyslav K (Mykolaiv): delivered 35 tons of drinking water to Mykolaiv and 7 tons to Kherson.
Andriy P (Mykolaiv): brought 15 tons of rice, noodles, dry rations, apples, mattresses, and clothes from Chernivtsi to Mykolaiv, to be distributed as needed to populations in Mykolaiv, Kherson, and Ochakiv.
WeCare Centers (Lviv): received 19 tons of rice mixture at the warehouse in Boryslav. It will be distributed to various parts of Ukraine.
Vitaliy Z (Kharkiv): brought 3.5 tons of humanitarian kits, medicines, clothing, animal feed and, in addition, 300 loaves of bread to Zhovtnevyy, Kramatorsk District. Distributed 70 humanitarian kits and medicine and an additional 2 tons of aid in Kostyantynivka. Visited a shelter for abandoned animals from frontline cities in Zhovtnevyy and brought 1 ton of feed. Finished drilling a well in Malotaranivka. Delivered 44 tons of fuel briquettes to 150 households in the Kramatorsk and Lyman communities.
Oleksandr D (Lutsk): distributed 100 kg of energy bars from Germany to disabled and IDP children in Kremenets’ (Ternopil Region). Helped transport belongings for a single mother with a visually impaired son. Volunteer Viktor P evacuated a bedridden disabled person to Munich, Germany for treatment.
Oksana K (Lutsk): handed out 230 kg of corn grits and buckwheat, and 20 backpacks to schoolchildren in Kherson. Distributed 80 kg of grains, 23 kg of diapers and 97 kg of clothes to IDPs, wives and mothers of military personnel, and people with disabilities.
Oleksandr Z (Lutsk): provided therapeutic interventions and aid to IDP children and adults, children with disabilities, children from military families and from large families, and military veterans – held 2 art therapy sessions for a total of 89 children. Visited a museum with 26 veterans and the theater with 108 children and their families. Distributed bread and other food to 390 students and 80 children living in IDP assistance centers. Picked out glasses for 30 adults and children. Conducted 97 medical procedures to improve the health of children with disabilities from Zaporizhia.
Kseniia’s Team – Livyy bereh (Left Bank)
Evacuated 5 people from Monachynivka and Putnykove
56 packages were delivered to Monachynivka, Doroshivka, Kasyanivka, and Stets’kivka — all frontline villages near Kup’yans’k.
Karina’s Team – My ryatuyemo Ukrayinu (We Save Ukraine)
Distributed 86 packages of aid around Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia.
149 people in the shelter.
Tetiana’s Team – Dopomoha poruch (Help Is Near)
Distributed 220 aid packages in Kostyantynivka, Donetsk Region.
Distributed 150 aid packages in Ternivka, Cherkasy Region.
Natasha’s Team – Volontersʹkyy tsentr Vyshnya (Cherry Volunteer Center)
Natasha traveled to Lyman again, delivering aid to 248 households. Natasha’s packages focus on hygiene products, as food is being distributed by the local administration.
Timur’s Team — Komanda Teymura Alyeva (Timur Alyev’s Team)
Distributed aid to 385 families in Saltivka and other parts of the Kharkiv Region.
Special deliveries to 8 disabled elderly and 12 families with infants.
Pavel and Olena’s Teams – Dotyk sertsya (Touch of Heart) & Svitanok mriy (Dawn of Dreams)
Distributed food packages in Lyubomyrivka and Myrne — 173 families total.
65 families received large vegetable packages in Novohryhorivka.
24 tons of fuel briquettes delivered to Kysylivka.
Pomahaem Foundation (We Help Foundation)
24 tons of water delivered to Nikopol.
220 families received aid in Bilenke, near Zaporizhzhиa and in Kamianske.
Marina’s Team – Daruy dobrо Ukrayina (Give Good Ukraine)
150 food and hygiene packages were distributed to internally displaced individuals in Piatyhatky.
Dina’s Team — Vilʹni lyudy, vilʹna krayina (Free People, Free Country)
Distributed 465 packages in Kremenchuk, Poltava, Kanev, and Krasnokutsk.
Distributed 100 packages to the elderly with disabilities in Kharkiv and served 1,500 people in the soup kitchen.
Bohdan’s Team — Vse robymo sami (We Do Everything Ourselves)
43 families in Zhytomyr received essential food and hygiene kits.
Children at the club for children with disabilities learned to prepare a lemon salad. The kids also participated in art therapy and psychological relief games.
Alena – Diva (Virgo)
Liza and Katya continued to provide needed medical supplies to 15 wounded in Odesa.
Anastasia’s Team – LoveUA
Traveled to Malotaranivka (small town near Sloviansk) delivering 377 packages of humanitarian aid to the elderly and people with disabilities.
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.
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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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