After a missile strike in Odesa, our team was able to enter and identify people that need help. UTC-funded volunteers, in coordination with other aid groups, are planning a larger push of aid to Serhiivka - the site of the latest terrorist attack in the Odesa region.

One of the teams that we are connected to through Oleksandr Davydiuk is actively working to maintain the supply of drinking water to the inhabitants of the city of Mykolaiv.

During the Russian occupation, 60-80 people were hiding in the basement of this school. The day that Kseniia and the rebuilding crew arrived, villagers came to welcome them, bringing the volunteers gifts and offering food. Installing a new school roof became a community-wide effort that reflected the power of mobilizing local and grassroots efforts to achieve results.

With almost no supplies but some balls, mops, sticks, and hoola hoops, these children re-experienced joy and childhood that was taken from them nearly four months ago.

“Last week I returned to Ukraine to connect in person with our volunteers. I will remember this experience for the rest of my life as one of the brightest and most meaningful moments despite the terrible backdrop of this unjust war.”

Ukraine TrustChain’s founder Daniil is now in Kyiv meeting with volunteer teams and helping with aid distribution efforts. Follow his journey home and his meetings for the first time with our trusted volunteers on our social media.

From time to time, Olena Shulha writes down her stories and thoughts about the evacuation missions her team lived through. We are including a translated portion from this chronicle here.

Despite ongoing fuel shortages, teams that we fund evacuated 1,452 people last week from the embattled Northern Donbas region, from Bakhmut, Lysychansk and the surrounding areas. Every evacuee had been staying in place in impossible conditions for three months until now. It is heartbreaking that circumstances have finally forced them to evacuate

This week, gas shortages in Ukraine became more severe. Volunteer teams waited in multi-hour lines at gas stations, and resorted to desperate tactics to fuel cars for the evacuations and aid deliveries. Some teams designated resupply vehicles that deliver fuel to caravans on the move; others get gas donations from friends, siphoning gas from their cars. Gas prices are projected to rise after the gas supply is stabilized.

On May 8, Ukrainian WWII veterans face a sacred, somber day, one replete with collective suffering and tragedy. Violence and horror haunts these veterans and their families more than 77 years later. This week, our teams in Kharkiv delivered aid packages and flowers to veterans who are living under fire. Our hearts break for those who sacrificed everything in the past and who now witness war and experience tragedy all over again.