November 16, 2023
57,346 people evacuated from danger to date
153 people evacuated from danger this week
31 trips into the deoccupied and frontline territories
From fixing electricity near the Eastern frontline to restoring water supply for villages in the south, weekly water shipments and large-scale vegetable and firewood deliveries meant to sustain people for several months, the volunteer network we support continues to create a tapestry of grassroots effort to alleviate the suffering of Ukrainian civilians. As we compile the stats for the year just in the last week the teams we support traveled to high risk areas 31 times, and provided weekly help to more than 50,000 people. As we approach Giving Tuesday this year we ask for your help in amplifying our reach among the people you trust - by posting about us and sharing this newsletter or any of our posts on social media.
Stories
Delivering Firewood to Berislav
There is a stark contrast between the incredible heroism and adrenaline of volunteer missions and their seemingly ordinary prosaic objectives. One of the most daring missions we’ve seen took place last week when Inna’s team was delivering firewood to Berislav, a small town on the right bank of Dnipro that suffers from daily bombardments.
Two trucks approached the city at dawn. The city was already under fire. Locals marked the meeting spot - it was as far as the trucks could go, further along the territory were mines, and only the locals knew the trails through the mined areas. While the volunteers and locals rushed to unload the trucks a few volunteers on a smaller vehicle dashed into Beryslav to deliver aid, but on the way back an enemy drone started following the vehicle and dropped a grenade. Fortunately it missed the truck; only a small piece of shrapnel hit the siding. After the firewood was unloaded, the trucks backed out until a T-crossing where the trucks could safely turn around. As the trucks drove away into the morning, they saw Russian bombers launch rockets over the river they had just left. The risk levels on these missions is unacceptably high, but we respect the decision of volunteers we support to defy these odds to help people left behind who still need basic necessities to survive.
Left Bank Evacuations in Dangerous Conditions
We continue to assist with individual evacuations from Russian-occupied left-bank territories to unoccupied Ukraine. Evacuations have slowed down to a single-digit trickle in the last few weeks, as the danger from nearby fighting and shelling has increased dramatically. Now only a small number of urgent or desperate cases are considered.
This week the stories from evacuees are particularly harrowing. One young woman tried unsuccessfully to leave the occupied area through several checkpoints last summer. On her last attempt she was hit by a Russian border patrol car, sustaining heavy injuries, including a shattered pelvis, and spending several days in a coma. Now, we were finally able to help her evacuate.
Another woman with severe injuries left untreated was kept confined at home by an abusive husband and brother. She developed gangrene and open wounds, lost both legs up to the knee and suffers from pneumonia, hepatitis A and possible lung cancer. Our volunteers managed to get her out and we hope she’ll pull through.
Yet a third woman in her late 70s survived the flooding of her house but fell and broke her femoral neck. She was bedridden after that with no cast and no pain killers – only a will to live. She is now recovering and looking forward to reuniting with her sister in Kherson.
Sergey T traveled twice to the Donetsk region, Krasno-Lyman area delivering 600 packages of aid and candles to the people who live just 10 km from the frontline in 7 different towns. Most of the residents who remain are elderly. In one of the towns, there is only one grandmother left.
Love UA delivery to Donetsk region
Anastasia traveled to two towns in the Donetsk region: Osynove and Kurtivka, and delivered laundry detergent, hygiene products, large food packages, and pet food. Once again, as we so often hear about these trips, the people who remain stubbornly in their villages so close to the frontline are elderly and/or people with disabilities.
Help in the occupied territories
310 people received help in 4 occupied towns behind enemy lines.
Water Supply in the Village of Sadove
Anna implemented a number of projects we sponsored through Karina in the past. Born in Mariupol, Anna was one of the key activists who helped organize drivers during the Mariupol evacuations of March 2022. She has a key contact who has been helping Kherson villages in the aftermath of the Kahovka dam destruction.
We were honored to collaborate with Anna on the direction of a project that was completed last week.
Anna delivered generators, pumps, wires and hoses to the village of Sadove to organize water supply there. Sadove used to be a thriving suburb of Kherson where a number of Kherson residents took shelter. Currently, like many other towns along Dnipro, it is often under enemy shelling and needs help with replenishing their firefighting equipment and restoring water supply. The aid Anna brought last week has accomplished these goals and local residents sent a heartfelt gratitude to the volunteers and the people whose donations to UTC made this effort possible.
Team summaries
Ihor NGO Dobra Sprava (“Good Cause”)
15 trips and 153 people evacuated
Inna’s Team
27.9 tons distributed to 8,760 people
9,500 people received bread in 46 towns
Flood relief in Kherson:
Installed 1 dehumidifier
Disinfected and performed deratization in 32 buildings
Trips to Novohatske, Kostyantynivka Druzhkivka, Kramatorsk, Dobropillya, Balakliya, delivering aid to high-risk areas
180 families received firewood in 5 Kharkiv towns and Beryslav.
Oleksandr D’s Volunteer Networks
Oleksandr S (Boyarka): delivered 2 tons of humanitarian aid to the villages of Posad-Pokrovske (Kherson Region), Myrne, Luch, Novohryhorivka, Ternovi Pody, Lyubomyrivka and Ochakiv (Mykolaiv Region).
Vladyslav K (Mykolaiv): transported 35 tons of drinking water to Mykolaiv and 14 tons of water from Mykolaiv to Kherson.
Yuri S (Vinnytsia): delivered 60 kg of cabbages, 200 kg of grains and clothes to a hospital, a prosthesis factory and the Emmanuel aid center in Vinnytsia. Sent 1 ton of grains to volunteers in Kropyvnytskyi (Kirovohrad Region) for further distribution. Distributed 90 portions of food and clothing at the aid center for the people with disabilities in Zhytomyr.
Andriy P (Mykolaiv): brought 22 tons of food and 1 ton of other humanitarian aid from Austria to Mykolaiv for further distribution.
Oleksandr D (Lutsk): received 1,200 kg of energy bars and muesli from Germany.
Oleksandr Z (Lutsk): held 4 art therapy sessions for 61 children with disabilities, including internally displaced people (IDPs) and children from large families. Staged an exhibit showing the clay artwork of 7 children. Provided targeted humanitarian aid to 108 people.
NGO Angelia
Mobile Clinic: the clinic went to Chuhuiv, Izium, Virnopillya and Spivakivka (all in the Kharkiv Region). 232 people received 679 medical services, including rehabilitation, family medicine, psychiatric help, ECG, ENT, ultrasound, blood, urine, sugar and TSH lab work.
Kseniia’s Team - NGO Livyj Bereh
4 roofs completed last week in Cupivka and Slatyne
Delivered aid - mostly essential medicine - to the villages on Kharkiv frontline in Kutkivka Dvorichna and Kucherivka (307 people)
Installed generator and power lines in a communal home for 22 people in Kucherivka
Karina - We Save Dnipro
76 people in the shelter
Helped 114 people in the Donetsk region with medicine
Tetiana’s Team - Dopomoha Poruch
Distributed 100 aid packages to older internally displaced refugees in Smila
Timur’s Team-Timur and Team
Distributed 240 aid packages in Saltivka, Kharkiv
Delivered 100 packages to Kupyansk
Made home deliveries to 50 individuals with disabilities
Gave 60 packages of diapers to families with infants
Pavel and Olena - Touch of Heart and Dawn of Hope
Distributed food from the Mykolaiv office to 1,078 people
Delivered 6 tons of aid to Prybuzke, Kvitneve, Partyzanske
6 tons of water delivered to Kobzartsi
Delivered vegetables to Novovayslivka, Kvitneve and Novohryhorivka, Kobartsi
Preparing for large scale vegetable deliveries to 700 families next week
Andriy - BF Pomahaem
Received 410 tons of aid to be distributed in upcoming weeks
Rebuilding in Chernihiv is in progress.
Natalia - Vyshnia Volunteer Center
Tetiana from Kryvyi Rih delivered 180 packages and 53 sweets sets for children to the deoccupied village of Lubymivka.
Marina – Good Give Ukraine
110 elderly individuals without caregivers in Piatykhatky received aid packages.
Dina - Vilni Liudy – Vilna Krayina
Distributed 780 packages of aid at the distribution centers
Sergey T delivered 600 packages of aid and candles to frontline towns in the Donetsk region.
Distributed 1,050 candles to displaced families in Dnipro
Bogdan - Vse robymo sami
42 families received food and hygiene assistance.
With support from Ukraine TrustChain, Bogdan's non-profit "We Do Everything Ourselves" secured the remaining building materials needed for internal renovations at the Inclusive Children's Center "House of Joy," guaranteeing on-time completion of the construction by the end of the year.
The center will serve as a hub for the physical and psychological rehabilitation of children with disabilities, those affected by war, and those from underprivileged families.
In the meantime children with disabilities continue to participate in art and cooking classes, along with therapeutic psychology sessions
How to Help
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