November 9, 2022
47,483 people evacuated from danger to date
123 people evacuated this week
12 missions last week delivering aid into the liberated areas and active combat zones in Eastern Ukraine
We take it almost for granted but 8 teams last week went on 12 dangerous missions delivering aid into the liberated territories and zones of active bombardment. While the lines in photos that our teams pass along look familiar week in and out, getting aid to people takes as much skill and dedication as ever now with the added challenge of warm clothing and damp conditions. As the temperatures drop and people continue to live without electricity, water, and heat, the situation is becoming more dire. Pavel’s wife and co-founder of their organization Olena shared with our team this Sunday that, when once in summertime residents were able to make it without essential amenities, now that is no longer possible. Inflation is of course accompanying shortages.
We feel that our mission is as important as ever, as Ukraine enters another difficult period of this war. As the giving season approaches with the Giving Tuesday at the end of November, we ask for your help to continue to spread the word, and possibly running a fundraiser for us in person or online through your social media.
Mission out of Lyman
A few days before Halloween, Ukraine TrustChain received word from a Ukrainian officer that two women - a mother and daughter - with disabilities were living in awful conditions in a village 25 km from Lyman. Both have challenges communicating and have no phones. Their house was bombed during the occupation and they had been surviving with no heat, no electricity- without help, they would not be able to make it through the winter.
Because this region is still extremely dangerous, it took the cooperation of 10 people from Australia, Canada, Ukraine, and the United States to plan and execute this special mission for evacuating these two civilians. Serhiy, co-founder of Dina’s organization heading Kharkiv operations, participated in the mission. With no vehicle available, Ukraine TrustChain reached out to Paul Hughes from H.U.G.S. Helping Ukraine - Grassroots Support. Liam Hunt, an independent journalist from Canada, also joined and contributed fuel costs.
The two women were ultimately driven to stay with relatives in Poltava.
"We are well; we will be here at least until spring," said the mother when UTC volunteers spoke to her yesterday. "There is nothing for us to return to." She expressed her gratitude to everyone who helped them on this arduous journey.
Ukraine Team Milestones
Inna’s Team
Inna’s powerful group delivered more than 47 tons of aid helping 11,200 people across more than 24 locations. Once again, some of these locations are extremely dangerous battle zones - which highlight the bravery and selfless dedication of Inna’s volunteer teams. Six tons of aid were delivered again into the liberated Izium, Kupyansk and Balakliya region helping about 1,000 people. Three tons helped 200 families in the bombarded Nikopol, and another three tons of aid were delivered to 600 people living in towns and villages around Bahmut.
Last week, Inna also began the distribution of children hygienic products purchased with the generous grant from our partner Carry the Future. We will be posting more detailed reports on this grant in the coming weeks.
Oleksandr’s Team
Oleksandr carefully coordinated the work a network of efficient teams working on critical missions:
As the Battle for Bahmut continues, Pavlo Vystratenko delivered 3 tons of aid into the town and villages around Bahmut trapped in the raging warzone. A loaf of bread that is not a high value item in Kyiv or Lviv is treated as treasure. Pavlo shared a story about how the team had 20 loaves left after the distribution in Slovyansk, when they were approached by a woman from nearby high rise whose roof was destroyed and had 20 remaining residents surviving in the technical cellar of the building. They eagerly took the bread.
Aid we helped transport to Chernihiv three weeks ago finally reached the Kharkiv region. Oleh Shnurenko’s group distributed it in Fedorivka village East of Kharkiv.
Vladyslav managed to increase the amount of weekly water deliveries to 41 tons last week.
Mobile clinic Anheliya went back on the road and traveled to Dnipro where it provided medical services to 98 people.
In addition to supporting direct help Oleksandr supports targeted aid deliveries between various help centers. Last week, there were a number of trips to Bruslyniv, Lutsk, to Vinnitsa, then to Dnipro. Covering part of the transportation cost allows to deliver 2-3 tons of aid to Pavlo’s group who then takes this aid to the Bahmut area. These operations are a small part of the complex resilient network that is essential to the humanitarian relief efforts within Ukraine.
Oleksandr Zhalovaga continues to provide art therapy to children in Lutsk.
Three small teams continued to help families in the occupied Kherson. 160 families and individuals were helped. Further details unfortunately cannot be shared for security reasons.
Similarly, in the occupied Nova Kahovka - the efforts to help citizens living under occupation continue, but due to blackouts, very limited information can be exchanged. These operations are small scale requiring only a couple hundred dollars weekly.
Timur’s Team
Timur and team have been continuously delivering to the hardest hit areas of Northern Saltivka. Over 600 packages were delivered to the elderly and most vulnerable in that region. The request also came from Izium areas to come back to the villages that have not seen much aid. The week was spent gathering as much aid as possible to do a massive delivery of 1,500 packages of food to Izyium's villages. It was mayhem, and the sheer need exceeded even the hardest work Timur’s volunteers were able to pull off this week.
Natalia’s Team
Earlier last week Natalia once again drove to Lyman - the town liberated in early October that continues to suffer from daily bombardments. This time, Natalia led a caravan of three buses full to the brim with dairy, cereals, and bread. Distributing aid in Lyman is still dangerous. A crowd of people that forms around a truck bringing aid may become a target for Russian artillery. Thus volunteers need to distribute fast and change location, following precise directions of the accompanying members of the military. Side streets still haven’t been fully demined. The importance of this aid to the desperate people that came to receive it is evident in Natalia’s pictures. A number of people had been starving and started eating the food as soon as they got the package - something we rarely see at distributions in other areas. Another scarring memory Natasha shared with us was meeting a woman from Lyman who lost three of her youngest kids in this war and had to bury them in her yard.
After Natalia returned to Kyiv our communication with her is more limited due to frequent blackouts that force our volunteers to communicate mostly by text and conserve the charge on their phones.
Pavel’s Team
About two weeks ago a vital Vasylyivka route that was used by thousands of civilians to cross over into Ukraine-controlled territories near Zaporizhzhya was shut down by the Russians. Ukrainian refugees are being effectively kidnapped, forced to relocate deeper into the Russian territory. As a result, evacuations for Pavel’s groups who was focused on this direction have dropped off significantly. Last week Pavel evacuated 28 people. The vehicles that weren’t involved in the evacuations have shifted to the delivery of humanitarian aid.
This week, thanks to Pavel’s group, 3,500 people received humanitarian aid in the heavy hit areas of the Mykolaiv region. This area is being bombarded daily, and only elderly remain in these villages, which have no source of electricity or heat. People there depend on the help of volunteers for survival. One elderly man arrived at the team’s headquarters in his old, broken down car and asked for food. No stores are open or operating in his village. The volunteers loaded his car with food, and he distributed it to the residents that were left. Pavel’s team plans to deliver medicine and blankets to his village. Additional trips were taken to the Sumy region, the village of Kotelva.
On a call with UTC team, Olena let us know about the new initiative they have kicked off in collaboration with Samaritan’s Purse, delivering basic construction supplies (plywood, tarps), blankets, and warming materials to people living in damaged homes. We will be updating you on the progress in the coming weeks.
Dina’s Team
Serhiy from Dina’s team took two more trips to the villages around liberated Kupiansk delivering aid to the village of Senkove. In addition to these expeditions, Serhiy took part in the rescue mission we mentioned above.
Last week Dina’s team helped 1,256 refugee families with food packages in Dnipro, Poltava, Krasnokuts, Kanev, and Kharkov. Kremenchug distributions were paused as the team lead there was hospitalized. Since July, Dina’s team has distributed more than 30,000 aid package, not counting the aid distributed from cars and during trips into the liberated territories, where taking full personal information for each recipient was not practical.
Karina’s Team
Karina’s team evacuated 78 people from Bahmut. We also supported the transportation of 15 wounded to a hospital in Kharkiv. 2 tons of aid were brought into the liberated territories around Izium and Kupyansk. Meanwhile, 97 people are living in Karina’s shelter, where they continue to require food and care.
Tetiana’s Team
Tetiana's team distributed help to internally displaced families, people with disabilities, and families with many children living in Raihorod, Cherkassky region. In total, 64 families received help.
Andriy’s Team
Andriy shelters continue to house 145-160 people (with 15 departing last Tuesday). Andriy’s team continues to operate a three-story warehouse in Dnipro helping 300-400 families a week. We have reposted Andriy’s video giving a tour of the warehouse to his followers on social media. Last week, Andriy’s foundation held a strategic planning session building a roadmap for the team for the upcoming months.
Kseniia’s Team
Kseniia returned from her trip to Europe and continues to oversee construction of roofs for residents of the Kyiv and Chernihiv regions. Meanwhile, through Kseniia, UTC continued to sustain the efforts of Kharkiv volunteers who support roughly 2,000 people in the six villages at the edge of liberated territories. Another team continued to heroically provide help in Kherson.
US Team Update
We are grateful for the concert benefitting Ukraine and Ukraine TrustChain in Buffalo Grove, IL, this upcoming weekend. If you are in the Chicagoland area, please share this opportunity to support Ukraine.
How to Help
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