June 27th, 2024
62,432 people evacuated from danger to date
167 people evacuated from danger this week
46 trips into the deoccupied and frontline territories this week
UTC Founder Travels to Ukraine
This week, one of our founders, Daniil, arrived in Ukraine on his fourth trip since the start of the full scale invasion. He will be visiting Odesa, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Dnipro, Kharkiv, and Kyiv – key cities where Ukraine TrustChain teams are concentrated – and meeting with our Ukrainian volunteers in person. These trips have provided key moments of meeting with our Ukrainian teams face to face, to thank them for their incredible work, now in its third year! and to assess opportunities and directions on the ground. The stories in this week’s newsletter are set aside for Daniil’s report.
Daniil (front row, right) with Ukrainian volunteers.
Stories
Work Continues despite Power Outages
Being in Ukraine, I realize firsthand the challenges of constant power outages on the work our volunteers perform daily. Really, it’s amazing that this report comes together on time each week. Because of Russia’s relentless and systematic attacks on Ukraine’s energy systems, access to electricity and the Internet have been severely limited in the last few months.
In Mykolaiv, where I am now, electricity comes on for two hours and then goes out for four – although the outage right now has lasted for more than eight hours. In these two hours when electricity is provided there is no time to waste – devices and power banks must be charged, food must be cooked, heavy items that require the use of the elevator must be transported to the top floors of high-rises. It is in these short periods of available light and internet that our volunteers upload their reports and media, and then apologize to us when they run out of time while uploading some of the photos, as the power goes out again.
Life in Kherson Goes On
On Tuesday, I set out from Odesa on a three-hour drive to Kherson with Alena’s team. Despite frequent rocket attacks, Odesa remains a resort city, with a bustling and busy street life. However, as you approach Kherson, the war becomes impossible to ignore, as roadside villages give way to piles of rubble.
Kherson itself is a microcosm of Ukraine, living along the gradient of danger. The riverbank streets on the hillside facing Russian positions are completely obliterated – although some people still defiantly survive there.
As you get further inland, life returns to the streets and, despite clear signs of destruction everywhere, feels almost normal, with people walking their dogs or carrying groceries. The explosions heard in the distance from ongoing artillery barrages don’t seem to worry the residents here.
The locals have developed a complex evaluation of danger that integrates multiple factors. For example, Kherson residents know whether the Russian artillery units currently in position are green or seasoned. Green troops shell in chaotic and unpredictable ways, while experienced troops are lazy, shelling Ukrainian civilians on a convenient schedule and hitting very specific parts of the city. This mind-blowing adaptability has allowed almost a third of Khersonians to stay in the city and proudly support the troops fighting Russians only a few miles away.
This provincial city hadn’t been interested in politics before the war. Now it has been transformed by the horrors of Russia’s occupation that tortured and killed its residents from March to November in 2022. “My biggest fear now is occupation,” said Oleksandr Ushkan, a volunteer we support in Kherson.
Restoring Volunteer Support Point in Zalizne
The Russian advance in the east is threatening the city of Toretsk. We have provided a broad variety of help to this frontline city over the course of the war, including humanitarian aid, assistance to the local hospital, and evacuations.
The village of Zalizne sits between Toretsk and the Russian positions a few miles east. As the fighting there has intensified, so have the attacks on civilian areas. People remaining in the city are either too sick to leave, or have given up hope and prefer the familiarity of their homes, even with the threat of possible death, to the uncertainty of displacement.
About 300 people remain in Zalizne. A small group of volunteers has also stayed behind to feed and support them. However, the location where aid was distributed was successfully targeted by the Russians, causing an underground fire and scorching all the equipment the volunteers used to provide aid.
Given the critical importance of this aid to the 300 people still living in Zalizne, we have provided $4,000 to replace the generator, stoves, barrels for water and other key supplies destroyed in the fire. Inna’s team has procured and delivered all of this equipment to Zalizne volunteers, reestablishing the invincibility points in a new location.
Water Delivery in Nikopol
Just like Kherson, Nikopol sits on the Dnipro bank, right across the river from the enemy. It has been suffering water shortages ever since the Kakhovka reservoir drained after the Kakhovka dam explosion in the summer of 2023. In response, our volunteer Kirill and his team has organized a water delivery service to Nikopol.
Churches of different denominations have agreed to host water barrels in their yards, providing security and surveillance to preclude potential poisoning of the water by Russia’s agents. The projects started in earnest last week with eight barrels operating in strategically selected locations.
The initial results have been both alarming and encouraging. The demand for water has exceeded our team’s expectations. Water that was meant to last a week was gone in less than two days, as people swarmed with large containers to load up on the precious liquid. Kirill and his team are devising rules for fair distribution and fine tuning the process as I write this report.
Attack on Slatyne
On Sunday we received information that the village hall in the village of Slatyne was destroyed by a Russian S-300 rocket. UTC volunteers, Kseniia and Vlad have spent time in this building, working on roof repairs in the region. Fortunately, the people we know in Slatyne have not been hurt, but one of the roofs we sponsored in early 2023 was destroyed by this attack.
Aid in Occupied Territories
2 people were evacuated from the Russian-occupied left bank. 200 packages were delivered in 3 occupied Ukrainian cities.
Team Summaries
Alina’s Team – Dobra Sprava
16 trips evacuating 158 people from Toretsk, Lyman, Kostyantynivka, Selydove, and Myrnohrad.
Inna’s Team – Krok z Nadiyeyu
Efforts in Kherson:
Exterminations in 8 buildings, including the basements of 3 large high-rises.
Disinfection of 5 basements.
Replaced plumbing in 1 Kherson residence.
Delivered bread, diapers and other aid items to Kostyantynivka.
Delivered aid to Druzhkivka, Kramatorsk, and Slaviansk.
Restored a destroyed invincibility point in Zalizne, near Toretsk.
7,950 people received help.
Transported 21.3 tons of aid.
9,500 people received bread.
Oleksandr D’s Volunteer Networks
Vladyslav K (Mykolaiv): delivered 35 tons of drinking water to Mykolaiv and 14 tons of water to Kherson.
Andriy P (Mykolaiv): brought 10 tons of aid from Chernivtsi to Zaporizhzhia, including 70 bags of shoes, 11 boxes of syringes, 30 packs of water, 20 boxes of dry vegetables, 10 boxes of rice, 20 mattresses, medical equipment and devices, 2 convection ovens and a TV.
Yuri S (Vinnytsia): brought 100 kg of clothes to the “Harmony” organization for people with disabilities, and 500 kg of clothes to the boarding school in Plyskiv (Vinnytsia Region). Took people with disabilities to rehabilitation.
Vitaliy Z (Kharkiv): Vitaliy made 4 trips to the Donetsk Region:
Went with the drilling team to Oleksandro-Kalynove to drill a well. First day produced no water, but drilling in another location was successful. Pipes and pumps were installed and handed over to the head of local administration for use. The project took 5 days.
Delivered 3 tons of clothes, aid packages and animal feed to Oleksiievo-Druzhkivka. Neighborhood was shelled 3 times while the team was there.
Delivered 2 tons of aid to Ocheretyne.
Visited wounded soldiers in hospital; brought birthday sweets.
Oleksandr Z (Lutsk): provided therapeutic interventions for children and families:
Offered art therapy to 75 children, including children from military families and from large families (total of 4 art therapy sessions held).
Organized activities for 219 internally displaced (IDP) and disabled children, including an event at which 105 children made gifts for friends and sponsors of Ukraine and a visit to the theater for 26 children.
Distributed bread and other food to 212 IDP children and clothes and shoes to 54 children.
Kseniia’s Team — NGO Livyj Bereh
The Kherson team delivered 100 packages of aid to Oleksandrivka, 75 to Bilozerka, and 125 to Posad-Pokrovs’ke.
Karina’s Team — We Save Dnipro
72 people living in the shelter.
Timur’s Team — Timur and Team
Distributed packages to 176 people in Saltivka, Kharkiv, and another 40 to families with infants and the elderly with disabilities.
Traveled to Kherson a year after the flood and distributed aid to 200 people in the same areas the team visited last year.
Delivered 132 aid packages to the hard hit Slaviansk area.
Pavel and Olena’s Team — Touch of Heart and Dawn of Hope
1,720 people received aid in the Mykolaiv office.
3 tons of water delivered to Novopavlivske and Novohryhorivka.
110 packages delivered to Partyzanske.
170 packages delivered to Kyselivka.
Supported a hospital in Nova Odesa.
Delivered children’s clothing to Kvitneve.
Pomahaem Foundation
Marhantets water delivery is on hold due to deteriorating security situation.
Team took a record of 10 trips last week:
2 trips to Kupyansk vicinity, delivering 180 packages.
2 trips to Myrnohrad in Donbas with targeted deliveries for 20 aid cases.
6 trips to Nikopol and vicinity, delivering 8 tons of water and targeted aid.
Marina’s Team – Give Good Ukraine
116 families received aid in Piatykhatky.
17 families with children with disabilities received food and hygiene packages in different parts of Ukraine.
Alena’s Team — Virgo
Traveled to Stanislav (a small town in Kherson Region) that has no water, constant drone surveillance, and all types of weapons firing on the civilian population. Delivered 200 packages of humanitarian aid.
Dina’s Team — Vilni Liudy — Vilna Krayina
Distributed 700 packages in Kanev, Kremenchuk, Poltava, Dnipro, and Krasnokutsk.
Mailed 200 packages to remote aid requesters.
Serhiy T traveled to the small town of Donets’ke to deliver hygiene products and pet food to 80 people remaining there.
Bogdan’s Team — Vse robymo sami
45 food and hygiene packages were distributed in Zhytomyr.
In the club for children with disabilities, the children attended master classes where they learned how to make pierogi and participated in candy making and gingerbread coloring at the Lviv chocolate workshop.
The kids visited the Zhytomyr Botanical Garden and engaged in many outdoor sports games. The day camp is now complete, providing much-needed fun and socializing for children with disabilities.
Anastasia’s Team — LoveUA
Delivered 263 food and 263 hygiene packages to Malynivka.
Delivered 277 food and 277 hygiene packages to Myrolyubivka.
Evacuated 7 people and multiple pets.
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.