November 30, 2023
57,654 people evacuated from danger to date
157 people evacuated from danger this week
37 trips into the deoccupied and frontline territories
This week marks the start of the giving season in the US. We are incredibly grateful to all of you who continue to fund this important effort and share information about it with the people who trust you. Starting this Giving Tuesday, there is an opportunity to maximize the impact of your generosity. Three of our major donors established a limited matching fund that will double donations we receive. If you choose to donate, please also check your employer’s corporate match policy that could further amplify the impact of your donation.
Here is a quick recap of why we think each dollar donated to UTC helps Ukraine. In 2023 to date, Ukraine TrustChain deployed 4.3 million dollars. Because our US team works exclusively on a volunteer basis, we had minimal administrative expenses of less than 0.6% (for wire fees, and key software subscriptions, not available free of charge). The funds you donated went straight to the trusted volunteer teams helping civilians in Ukraine. Thanks to sustained flexible funding, in 2023 our teams provided weekly aid to 2.6 million people, delivered more than 6,000 tons of humanitarian aid, restored 1026 homes and worked regularly in the most dangerous regions. Our teams rescued 8,800 people from shelling and floods; 1,949 of them were brought back to Ukraine from the occupied territories. The teams provided seeds and seedlings to 23,000 farmers in liberated parts of Ukraine.
Stories
Ukraine Last Week
On Holodomor remembrance day, as Ukrainians honored the memory of 3.9 million people who died in the famine deliberately organized by Moscow in 1932-1933, Russia marked the occasion by launching the largest drone attack in Kyiv’s history. We kept in touch with our volunteers, who had a sleepless night. Fortunately, most of the drones were eventually shot down. Although volunteers were shaken by the attack, they brushed it off with the familiar mix of humor and defiance. “I would’ve slept through it, if it weren’t for my friend” - said Anna. “It was loud as always. We were a mile from where it all fell down, but we’re ok, I expect this to keep happening like last year” - said Natasha.
The next day, though, Ukraine and Russia were hit by a major snowstorm that made it impossible to launch drones. This snowstorm led to snow drifts of more than 6 feet in some areas. It took 12 hours for one of our volunteers to drive to Kherson from Odesa - a drive that usually takes 2-3 hours. Yet despite all these difficulties our volunteers continued their missions delivering vital supplies all along the bleeding frontline.
Help in the Occupied Territories
315 packages distributed in 4 occupied cities.
A Trickle of Evacuations from the Left Bank Resumes
The small number of evacuations (9 last week) from the Russian-occupied left bank has resumed, focusing on residents with disabilities and those most in need of care. This week the volunteers tell the difficult story of a woman's parents, living under occupation. Russian soldiers came to their house and started brawling. When the father wouldn't let them in, they shot him, leaving the mother alone. Her legs began to give under the stress, and she developed problems with her liver and stomach, for which she was hospitalized. But medication is hard to get in occupied territories, and after it ran out she was sent home, only to discover that half her house had been demolished by enemy shells. Neighbors took her in but doctors advised her to evacuate urgently to receive medical treatment. It's fortunate that we were able to get her to safety.
Continued Trips to Frontline Villages
Anastasia and her team traveled to Nikopol to deliver 300 packages of food and hygiene aid to the most socially vulnerable people there. The city is 2km from the frontline. It is constantly under shelling and there are almost no windows left anywhere – just plywood. The team had to distribute very quickly because it is risky to gather a crowd of people in one place. Anastasia said that a little girl came up to them and gave them blue and yellow string bracelets that she made – a gesture that really touched the teams’ hearts.
People behind the Bullet Points
Every week we receive dozens of simple stories from Inna’s team that we never quite know where to insert, but we wanted to translate and forward one of them from this week, to remind all of us about genuine human connections hiding behind each number. Oleksandr, who heads up Kherson team, shared the following:
“We came here back in July. The woman was in bad shape and didn’t want to let us in after having had some negative experience with other volunteers. We were dehumidifying the building across the street, and while we were working … our volunteer Alina already struck up a conversation with this woman, whom we lovingly call Akymivna now.
We went to see whether we can do something so that Akymivna can start living in her home, since she didn’t really have other options. We dehumidified the space. It took a very long time, because the house was a typical Ukrainian ‘mazanka,’ a house made of lumber and clay, which turned into a skeleton covered with pieces of wet clay after the flood. She was waiting fatalistically for the winter, but step-by-step, we made two of her rooms livable. When we started installing the windows she couldn't believe it – that people in this world can simply help one another.
There is still a lot of work left here, the home doesn’t have electricity, so we run a generator finishing dehumidification in other rooms. There are many people like that. We try not to let people fall into despair, and show them that we are going through this together with them; they are not alone. It’s very valuable. People open their hearts, and we don’t stop and are always nearby in all their needs”.
Team Summaries
Ihor’s Team – Dobra Sprava (“Good Cause”)
Made 14 trips to evacuate 148 people from Lyman, Sviatohirsk, Slovyansk, Kramatorsk, Druzhkivka, Kostyantynivka, and Kherson areas.
Delivered 14 cubic meters of humanitarian aid to Izyum, helping cover the needs of 100 people for a month, as well as support 39 elderly people on an ongoing basis.
Inna’s Team – Krok z Nadiyeyu (“Step with Hope”)
8,450 people received help; 25.6 tons of aid transported
Bread was distributed to 9,500 people
Flood relief in Kherson:
Performed rat extermination in Kherson temporary blood transfusion center;
Exterminated rats in 30 buildings;
3 of the buildings were part of the city’s critical infrastructure: blood transfusion center, humanitarian hub, local hospital, police station;
Performed 10 maintenance tasks.
Traveled to Piddubne, Kostyantynivka, Slovyansk, Mykolayivka in high-risk zones of Donetsk region.
Delivered firewood to 200 families in Khotimlya - an isolated village near the Eastern frontline.
Continued to distribute firewood in Berislav.
Provide aid to a “Mercy home” in Novomoskovsk housing 100 residents with severe disabilities or abandoned elderly.
Oleksandr D’s Volunteer Networks
Oleksandr S (Boyarka): delivered 1.5 tons of food products, clothing, medicine and hygiene items to Sumy and the Sumy Region locations of Lozove, Vesele, Novooleksandrivka and Velyka Pysarivka.
Vladyslav K (Mykolaiv): transported 35 tons of drinking water to Mykolaiv and 7 tons of water to Kherson. Brought 6 tons of groceries and 300 sets of hygiene products from Odesa to Mykolaiv for future delivery to Kherson.
Sandra S (Odesa): kitchen fed more than 2,000 people.
Yuri S (Vinnytsia): delivered 200 kg of grains, 100 kg of apples and a bag of nuts to boarding school residents and internally displaced people (IDPs) in Yaryshiv (Vinnytsia Region). Sent 3 tons of grains to Oleksandr D’s team in Lutsk.
Oleksandr Z (Lutsk): held 3 art therapy sessions for 52 children with disabilities and IDP children, and a cooking class for 17 children with disabilities. Conducted cultural events for IDP children and children of military families and took them to see a puppet theater. Distributed food products and other aid to 268 children.
NGO Angelia
11/19-11/23/23: brought 2,600 of clothes and groceries from Mökern and Hamm (Germany) to Chernivtsi.
Kseniia’s Team - NGO Livyj Bereh (“Left Bank”)
2 homes received new roofs in Slatyne and Prudianka villages near Kharkiv.
Despite a major snowstorm, 76 families received help in Vysuntsi and Fedorivka near Kherson.
Darya from Kharkiv again traveled to frontline villages hoping to convince people to leave, but did not manage to evacuate anybody.
Karina’s Team - We Save Dnipro
64 people living in the shelter.
Provided diapers to an orphanage/home for people with disabilities in Bogodukhov.
Delivered medicine to a hospital and to 11 elderly individuals and families in Nikopol.
Tetiana’s Team - Dopomoha Poruch
Distributed 100 aid packages to elderly and residents with disabilities in Smila via the department of social services.
Timur’s Team – Timur and Team
Delivered 80 packages to Kamyanka where there is still no power or running water.
Brought over 200 packages to Slavyansk where people have experienced the worst of the war not just for two years – but for almost a decade.
Distributed 180 packages in Saltivka, Kharkiv to elderly and families with children.
They installed windows in 6 more apartments, including the one that Daniil visited with Timur when he was in Kharkiv.
Pavel and Olena’s Team - Touch of Heart and Dawn of Hope
1,865 people received help at Mykolaiv office.
6 tons of water moved to Kobzartsi and Novopavlivske.
14 tons of vegetables delivered to Partyzanske; some of the vegetable deliveries were delayed due to the snowstorm.
Andriy’s Team – BF Pomahaem
In the last two weeks, 2,435 families received help from Andriy’s warehouse.
We supported a team-building/training event for Pomahaem staff as they were preparing for a larger mission in the Kherson region.
Natalia’s Team - Vyshnia Volunteer Center
Tetiana from Kryvyi Rih delivered 194 packages and 80 special holiday gift packages for children to Lubymivka, Kherson region.
Tetiana received an official letter of recognition from the local administration and requests from nearby villages where she is going this week.
Marina’s Team – Good Give Ukraine
114 aid packages were distributed among single elderly persons in Pyatikhatky
36 packages were sent all over Ukraine to families with many children. Many of those families lost their fathers, and now mothers struggle to afford such basic things as diapers and baby food.
Volunteers from Marina's team had a trip to Kherson region where they distributed food, blankets, and warm clothes.
Dina’s Team -- Vilni Liudy – Vilna Krayina (“Free People - Free Country”)
Distributed 429 packages at the usual distribution centers.
Mailed 60 packages to Luhansk region.
Distributed candles to 100 families in Kremenchuk.
Provided dog food to a shelter of pets evacuated from Bakhmut.
Sergey T traveled to Lyman delivering 200 packages of aid and 600 candles.
Bogdan’s Team - Vse robymo sami
42 families received food packages this week.
Anastasia’s Team - LoveUA
300 packages of aid were delivered to Nikopol.
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