October 24th, 2024
65,330 people evacuated from danger to date
158 people evacuated from danger this week
38 trips into deoccupied and frontline territories this week
In addition to their slow advance in the Donbas, Putin’s armies in the Kharkiv Region have managed to cut through Ukrainian defenses on the western bank of Oskil river, making the situation in Kup’yans’k and Kivsharivka more precarious. The increased restrictions on volunteer evacuations across the river have added more complexity to the heroic missions undertaken by Timur and other volunteers. Despite the gradually deteriorating conditions, our teams continue to move forward on key plans for the winter — preparing vehicles, and finalizing logistics for firewood deliveries to the Donbas and the Kharkiv Region.
We would like to offer you a chance to hear and discuss this and other news from our teams in person. This fall we and looking into hosting another webinar for our donors. It’s always a pleasure to interact with you in real time. We know calendars are busy this time of year, but, if this is something you are interested in attending, please reply to this email or fill out this short form.
Stories
Water Ingenuity
Recently, we mentioned that Alena’s team, Virgo, delivered 10 large plastic water storage tanks to service 1,963 people in the towns of Shyroka Balka, Stanislav, and Oleksandrivka. Since then, the villagers have devised a system of water distribution that involves connecting generators to pumps in the ground, and using water hoses to fill the tanks. The new system is a major improvement in infrastructure. Prior to this, using the pump and filling up a bottle of water required two or three people to work together. This way even the elderly can easily fill their water jugs, just by opening a tap at the bottom of the tank.
Unfortunately, the residents are now facing a new disaster. The electrical substation near Stanislav was recently destroyed. This leaves all four settlements without electricity for the winter. The residents are desperately asking Alena for generators to help them survive.
Ordinary Lives in Wartime Ukraine
Every week our US team gets dozens of stories from our Ukrainian volunteers, recounting in text, images and videos the lives of ordinary people who receive the aid sponsored by the Ukraine TrustChain community. Here are two such stories.
Yulia is a child psychologist. She is the mother of a baby, and should be on maternity leave. Her child was born during relentless shellings in Nikopol, after which, Yulia’s family decided to leave for a safer region. For a year they stayed in a remote village near Vinnytsia, where Inna’s team sent them aid. When the family ran out of resources they moved to Dnipro, where the husband Mikhail worked day and night at a local body shop to make ends meet. Two months ago Mikhail was conscripted and sent to the front lines. Currently, Yulia is trying to survive on her own.
Hasya, is retired. Despite living in need herself, her days are filled with caring for others. In her small house, Hasya has created a shelter for 26 dogs, giving them a roof over their heads, and also warmth and love. Hasya also takes care of her 92-year-old mother, who needs constant attention, and she helps a neighbor who recently lost her only son in the war. The loss left a deep wound in the neighbor's heart, and Hasya always finds time to be by the neighbor’s side to provide support.
Timur’s Evacuation Leaves Nobody Behind
As the fighting near Kharkiv has intensified, evacuations have picked up in the East. Last week, Timur’s team evacuated a record of 34 people, seven dogs, 23 cats, and two parrots, mostly from Kivsharivka, Kup’yans’k, and Kyrylivka, where the team has also been delivering aid. On one particularly intense day, the volunteers made three trips, spending the entire day on the road and coming under artillery fire on a bridge crossing, while evacuating several elderly residents and their pets.
Later, while on their way from a planned evacuation, the volunteers came across two grandmothers in a particularly dangerous area. The women agreed to be evacuated, but the vehicle was already full. Not wanting to leave the grandmothers in danger, everyone made room. Multiple people had to squeeze in and sit on laps, but everyone made it to Kharkiv safely.
Operations in the Occupied Territories
70 people were helped in Russian-occupied towns and three people were evacuated from the Russian-occupied left bank.
Mother and daughter reunited
Team Summaries
Alina’s Team – Dobra sprava (Good Deeds)
15 trips and 123 people evacuated.
Inna’s Team – Krok z nadiyeyu (Step with Hope)
22.8 tons of aid distributed to 8,400 people.
6,700 people received bread.
Kherson Operations:
Performed extermination in 29 spaces.
Evacuated 1 person and his dog to Odesa from an unsafe Kherson neighborhood.
15 equipment maintenance tasks completed.
Delivered aid to the small Donbas town of Rodyns’ke.
1 person evacuated.
Delivered aid to Kostyantynivka and Druzhkivka, now only 5 miles away from Russian positions.
Delivered aid to Nikopol.
Oleksandr D’s Volunteer Networks
Vladyslav K (Mykolaiv): delivered 35 tons of drinking water to Mykolaiv and 14 tons to Kherson.
Andriy P (Mykolaiv): Brought 2 cars, 1 tow truck and 1 semi-trailer from Germany, all loaded with humanitarian aid: 26 ramps, 4 industrial vacuum cleaners, 12 boxes of aid for internally displaced people (IDPs), and 20 bags of clothes and shoes for Kherson. Delivered and distributed 759 kg of humanitarian aid in Kharkiv. Brought 8.5 tons of fruit, 5 tons of clothes, walkers, canned goods, rice and toys from Chernivtsi to Mykolaiv.
Sandra S (Odesa): kitchen fed more than 800 people.
WeCare Centers (Lviv): brought 7 tons of clothes, rice, and other aid to Lutsk, Rivne, Ostroh, Pereyaslav, Obukhiv, and Kropyvnytskyi.
Vitaliy Z (Kharkiv): attempted to go to the Illinivka Rural Community (Kramatorsk District) to fill a request from the community administration, but had to turn around due to heavy shelling. Delivered 4 tons of humanitarian kits, clothes, medicine, and animal feed to Stavky (Horlivka District, Donetsk Region). Suggested evacuation. However, people here do not plan to leave, even though they are under constant fire. Delivered 2 tons of aid in the Vovchansk direction (Kharkiv Region).
Oleksandr D (Lutsk): volunteer Vadym T took 150 kg of hygiene products, clothes and bed sets to the volunteer center in Zhytomyr. Provided 2 IDPs from Zaporizhzhia with desperately needed medicine. Delivered 800 kg of firewood to a disabled person with a heart condition. The team continues preparations for the upcoming winter fuel project.
Oksana K (Lutsk): collected and mailed 120 kg worth of aid packages. Donated adult diapers to a family with a disabled person. Sent 300 kg of potatoes, beets, onions, and carrots to the village of Novosilka, near Kramatorsk.
Oleksandr Z (Lutsk): provided therapeutic interventions and aid for IDP children and adults, children with disabilities, and children from large families.
Held 2 art therapy sessions, working with a total of 44 children.
Provided 46 children with orthopedic shoes, wheelchairs, and glasses.
Visited a museum with 56 people and the Volyn Dance Festival with 92 children and youth.
Helped 240 IDPs and 60 children and young adult students with bread and other food.
Provided 64 physical therapy and wellness sessions for IDPs and others suffering from the stress of war. Also conducted 14 preventative children’s health procedures.
Kseniia’s Team – Livyy bereh (Left Bank)
2 more roofs reported completed in Slatyne, Kharkiv Region.
Karina’s Team – My ryatuyemo Ukrayinu (We Save Ukraine)
160 people in the shelter.
Tetiana’s Team — Dopomoha poruch (Help Is Near)
Distributed 140 aid packages in Smila to newly displaced internal refugees that recently arrived from frontline areas.
Natasha’s Team – Volontersʹkyy tsentr Vyshnya (Cherry Volunteer Center)
Tetiana, based in Kryvyi Rih, travelled to Lubymivka in the Kherson Region.
Distributed aid to 215 families and delivered additional packages to 77 children.
Timur’s Team — Komanda Teymura Alyeva (Timur Alyev’s Team)
Distributed 314 aid packages in Saltivka, with another 38 deliveries of diapers for infants and disabled elderly.
With increasing tensions in the East, the team evacuated a record of 34 people and a dozen pets.
Pavel and Olena’s Teams — Dotyk sertsya (Touch of Heart) & Svitanok mriy (Dawn of Dreams)
Delivered 180 packages to Kyselivka.
Delivered 65 packages to IDPs based in Novohryhorivka.
Delivered 3 tons of water delivered to Novopavlivka and Novohryhorivka.
Pomahaem Foundation (We Help Foundation)
330 families helped in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.
14 tons of water delivered to Nikopol.
2 trips to Donbas to vet cash recipients.
Marina’s Team — Daruy dobro Ukrayina (Give Good Ukraine)
150 food and hygiene packages were given to lonely elderly individuals and individuals with disabilities in Piatyhatky.
Dina’s Team — Vilʹni lyudy, vilʹna krayina (Free People, Free Country)
615 packages distributed this week in Kremenchuk, Krasnokutsk, Poltava, Kanev, and Dnipro.
Bohdan’s Team — Vse robymo sami (We Do Everything Ourselves)
44 families received food and hygiene kits in Zhytomyr.
Children at a club for kids with disabilities learned how to cook hotdogs.
350 displaced families with kids received hygienic packages.
Alena’s Team – Diva (Virgo)
Liza and Katya helped 20 wounded in Odesa hospitals.
Anna’s Team – Nezalezhna Natsiya (Independent Nation)
Water deliveries continued in the villages of Tavriiske and Nova Zorya
310 tons of water delivered (reported once a month).
How to Help
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