March 13th, 2025
67,356 people evacuated from danger to date
89 people evacuated from danger this week
38 trips into deoccupied and frontline territories this week
Over the past few weeks we have continued to receive kind, heartfelt notes of support for the Ukrainian people and volunteers from our donors. We are sincerely grateful for the moral clarity you have shown in these messages. We are translating your words and pass them along to our volunteer leaders, who then forward them to their teams. This is an incredibly important process, which forges a direct connection between Ukrainians and their American and European allies who see the truth. Away from the high-stakes negotiations and TV cameras, Ukrainians face the constant threat of Russia’s terror. Ukraine’s aerial attacks on Russian refineries are effective but miniscule compared to the barrage of explosives that rain down on Ukrainian cities daily. Unfortunately, most of our news this week shares the common theme of our friends being directly affected by strikes on Odesa, Dobropillya, and other towns.
Story
Devastation from Russian Attacks on Ukrainian Towns
In the bullet points below there is a list of towns from which the Dobra sprava team evacuated people last week. In Ukrainian, these place names refer to friendship, family, and good fields. The names contrast sharply with the brutal reality of Ihor’s report, describing Russia’s unrelenting attacks on the civilians still sheltering in these towns.
Mykolaivka was hit with four FAB-250 bombs — so named because they carry 250 kg of explosives. After drone strikes on Kramatorsk, fires erupted in various civilian buildings, including a funeral home. When rescue workers arrived to extinguish the fires, they were attacked with more drones. Two more bombs fell yesterday on Bilyts’ke, and one on Rodyns’ke, causing casualties and destroying or damaging over ten homes.
Likewise, five people were injured when Kostyantynivka suffered two FAB-250 bomb strikes, as well as damage from 152 mm artillery shelling. In addition to apartment buildings, the bombs hit a local hospital. In Druzhkivka an FAB-250 bomb struck a residential building, injuring 12 people.
The most horrific attack fell on Dobropillya this week. On the eve of March 8th, International Women’s Day, which is widely celebrated in Ukraine, three air strikes on the city resulted in 11 people killed and 47 injured. We heard about the attack on Dobropillya from Alena in Odesa, who mentioned that she knew people who had been killed in the attack. We then got more details from Oleksandr P — a volunteer on Inna’s team who came to Dobropillya the day after the nighttime attack to distribute humanitarian aid:
A KAB hit a five-story building. These buildings stand very close to one another, so that only a single car can pass between them. The building that was hit was destroyed, and the nearby buildings were all damaged. When medics and emergency helpers arrived about 20 minutes later, another strike hit the same building, injuring the first responders.
Inna reports that after the attacks, when locals came out to receive aid, “They had the same look in their eyes as in 2022: fear, anxiety, and uncertainty about what to do, where to run. We tried to comfort them as best we could.”
Among the 87 people Dobra sprava evacuated this week was Maria and her two children: eight-year old Yevhen, and one-year old Yehor. This family survived the attack on Dobropillya, although the explosions blew out all but one of the windows in their apartment, causing internal damage. Maria and her family had moved to Dobropillya from Mariupol, where her husband’s parents lived. During the attack, she was home alone with the children and their dog, Santa. She recalls:
Santa was the first to run out; we searched for her later. After the second explosion, we hid in the hallway. Then we went downstairs and climbed out through a window into another building’s entrance. We couldn't use ours — cars were on fire outside. We had already lived through this in Mariupol. I told Yevhen what to do. He was amazing — he listened, he didn’t panic. No hysteria. But Yehor is still too young to understand anything. And now, once again, I have to evacuate with small children, leave another city behind.
Maria’s husband, however, has to stay behind — he needs to care for his elderly parents.
There were more strikes and attacks all over Ukraine this week. One drone destroyed parts of the building in Odesa that houses Alena’s team’s warehouse. The team is carrying on and preparing to repair the facility with our support. Judging by how many people we know directly who were affected by these attacks, we can surmise their true scale. How can the American administration ask Ukraine to trust Russia and exercise restraint in the face of such massive violence?
Help in Occupied Territories
70 people received help in occupied territories.
Team Summaries
Alina’s Team – Dobra sprava (Good Deeds)
15 trips, with 87 people evacuated from the directions of Pokrovsk, Rodyns’ke, Bilyts’ke, Mezhova, Shakhove, Kostayntynivka, Dobropillya, Druzhkivka, Mykolaivka, and Kramatorsk.
Inna’s Team – Krok z nadiyeyu (Step with Hope)
20.1 tons of aid delivered
8,100 people received aid.
6,600 people received bread.
Aid distributed in 34 towns, including 8 high-risk areas.
2 people evacuated from Piddubne.
Kherson efforts:
Exterminations in 1 building; dehumidification in 2 spaces; disinfected two homes.
Completed 22 equipment maintenance tasks.
Team took a 3-day trip through frontline Donbas towns, conducting meetings in Druzhkivka and distributing aid in Dobropillya, Kramatorsk, and Sloviansk.
Inna’s team is conducting mobile psychological support missions, this time travelling to Pertykivka.
Conducted 8 events for children and organized concerts and celebrations for International Women’s day.
Oleksandr D’s Volunteer Networks
Oleksandr S (Boyarka): report for 2 weeks. Distributed 2,000 kg worth of food kits to 200 families in Sloviansk. Received 2,000 kg of clothing, and footwear, and 1.5 tons of food kits, for further distribution to socially vulnerable segments of the population. Delivered a sofa, mattresses, pillows, clothing, footwear, and food kits to the tiny village of Ivankiv (a total of 7 people, some of them seriously ill). Provided 200 kg of targeted food aid to the needy. Distributed 200 kg of clothing to low-income families in Novhorod-Sivers'kyi. Collected aid for a large family that suffered a house fire in the Chernihiv Region. Delivered a boiler, wardrobe closets, and 650 kg of clothing and household appliances to internally displaced people (IDPs) and victims of military aggression in the Kyiv Region.
Vladyslav K (Mykolaiv): delivered 35 tons of drinking water to Mykolaiv and 7 tons to Kherson.
Andriy P (Mykolaiv): brought 6 tons of vegetables from Chernivtsi to Odesa for Sandra’s kitchen. Delivered 8.6 tons of frozen pilaf vegetables and chicken, mattresses, clothes, bicycles, wheelchairs and walkers, medicines, and hygiene products from Chernivtsi toMykolaiv. Delivered wheelchairs, clothes, shoes, medicines, and bedding to an aid center in the Inhulskyi District of the Mykolaiv Region. Took several trips abroad, bringing back a four-wheel Škoda 4Motion, 20 car batteries, 40 addressed aid packages, 175 tires, 5 boxes of canned food, 3 boxes of medicine, 20 first aid kits, 50 kg of paraffin, and 10 canisters of oil, an Iveco B-6 truck, which has been handed over to Inna’s team, a Volkswagen Passat B5, and a Kombi minibus.
Vitaliy Z (Kharkiv): brought 3 tons of humanitarian kits, medicines, clothing, and animal feed to Oleksijevo-Druzhkivka, and 2 tons of aid to other locations in the Donetsk Region. Distributed 500 loaves of “Victory” bread in the village of Rubtsi in the Lyman community. Delivered 1.5 tons of animal feed to Lyman, distributed to both pet owners and homeless dogs.
Oleksandr D (Lutsk): delivered 22.05 tons of fuel briquettes to 55 households in Komyshany, near Kherson.
Oksana K (Lutsk): distributed 130-150 kg of clothing and 20-25 kg of food to 20 people.
Oleksandr Z (Lutsk): provided therapeutic interventions and aid to IDP children and adults, children with disabilities, orphans, and military veterans – held 2 art therapy sessions for a total of 51 children. Took 54 military veterans and IDPs to a photo exhibition. Took 113 children with disabilities to the theater and to a puppet theater. Distributed bread and other food to 380 students and 70 orphans living in IDP assistance centers. Provided glasses for 28 adults and children. Conducted 76 medical procedures to improve the health of children with disabilities from Zaporizhia. Helped 18 children with prophylactic health procedures, physiotherapy, hydrotherapy, and gym classes. Through partners, helped 9 people to get prostheses and rehabilitation therapy.
Kseniia’s Team – Livyy bereh (Left Bank)
4 homes restored in Zaporizhzhia Region.
Karina’s Team – My ryatuyemo Ukrayinu (We Save Ukraine)
110 people in the shelter.
Tetiana’s Team – Dopomoha poruch (Help Is Near)
Distributed 220 aid packages and hygiene products in Odnorobivka, Kharkiv Region.
Natasha’s Team – Volontersʹkyy tsentr Vyshnya (Cherry Volunteer Center)
Natalia traveled to Lyman, delivering 265 packages. This is the 6th trip, covering 1,320 people, as well as 3 nearby villages (Shurove, Brusivka, and Staryi Karavan).
Timur’s Team – Komanda Teymura Alyeva (Timur Alyev’s Team)
Distributed aid packages to 263 families in Kharkiv.
Special deliveries to 18 families with babies and 11 disabled elderly.
Pavel and Olena’s Teams – Dotyk sertsya (Touch of Heart) & Svitanok mriy (Dawn of Dreams)
145 packages delivered to Myrne and Novohryhorivka.
Distributed aid to 140 families – mostly Kherson IDPs residing in Mykolaiv.
Pomahaem Foundation (We Help Foundation)
24.5 tons of water delivered to Nikopol.
110 packages delivered to Yaremivka, Synychyne, and Dovhen’ke - all in the deoccupied territories of the Kharkiv Region.
Marina’s Team – Daruy dobrо Ukrayina (Give Good Ukraine)
150 food and hygiene packages were distributed to internally displaced people in Zhovty Vody.
Dina’s Team — Vilʹni lyudy, vilʹna krayina (Free People, Free Country)
Distributed 475 packages of aid in Kremenchuk, Poltava, and Kanev.
Served 1,480 meals in the soup kitchen in Kharkiv.
Bohdan’s Team — Vse robymo sami (We Do Everything Ourselves)
42 families in Zhytomyr received food and hygiene kits.
This week at the club for children with disabilities, kids had theater arts classes, culinary classes and art classes, where kids drew pictures on the theme of spring.
Alena – Diva (Virgo)
Liza and Katya provided medicine and supplies to hospital wards caring for 12 wounded.
Distributed bread to 360 people in Odesa.
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