This was another ordinary week full of danger and hard work for teams we support. Every town along the frontline continues to suffer from daily rocket and artillery attacks.

We are excited to announce that an anonymous Chicago foundation is once again sponsoring a match drive! Please share this newsletter with your network.

This was an incredibly difficult week for Ukraine. Putin and his armies unleashed a new record streak of rocket attacks and bombardments in cities such as Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa, Kryvyi Rih, and many others as well as bombed another major dam on the Dnipro River.

From the first weeks of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian volunteer teams have supported internally displaced populations all across Ukraine.

We are proud that last week we officially closed our largest project to date. Ukraine TrustChain teams provided firewood to 74 remote and frontline villages of Kherson, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv and Donbas regions.

It’s been two years since the founding of Ukraine TrustChain. Two years ago we sent our first dollar to Ukrainian volunteers a few days before forming an official charity. The people we met in that fateful week are still volunteering.

Last weekend our US volunteers joined thousands of other Ukrainians and friends of Ukraine at the numerous rallies across the world marking the two-year anniversary of the full-scale invasion. We also joined forces to demand that congress finally vote (at least!) on bill H.R. 815 that could unlock the aid to Ukraine – so vital in holding back Russia’s invasion.

This week marks a tragic milestone - 2 years since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Each week our volunteers risk their lives evacuating civilians from the occupied and close to the front line territories, deliver food, water, firewood, and other essentials to the remote villages and small towns where help needed most.

This week marks 100 newsletters that our team has written. In 100 weeks, we have reported on the very mundane yet extraordinary feats that continue to awe us even as we have become accustomed to the stories and this everyday heroism.

The need for firewood is great. There is no water, no gas, as the gas pipes are completely perforated by shrapnel, and the only heat comes from stove heating. Multiple NGOs had collected lists of people who particularly needed help, but none of them managed to come through. People only received help from us.

Along with hundreds of donations large and small that arrived during and after the holiday season, you have also sent us postcards, letters and sticky notes expressing your support for Ukrainian Volunteers., our courageous volunteer from Odesa, said it best: “Thank you, this support is inspiring. It's a blessing that compassion for our sorrow leads to such kind deeds.''

We continue to be in awe of our supporters’ willingness to connect and empathize with a tragedy taking place in Ukraine thousand miles away.

Volunteers in Kharkiv, Dnipro and Kryvyi Rih are busy visiting shelters and homes of those who lost windows in rocket attacks on their cities last week and need urgent help as the winter temperatures set in. Major deliveries of firewood continued over the icy roads in Kherson region and Donbas.

Between December 29th and January 2nd, Ukraine suffered the most intense rocket and drone attacks in the history of this war. Russia hit major cities: Dnipro, Odesa, Kharkiv and Kyiv, far away from the frontline, targeting mostly civilian infrastructure.

As 2023 draws to a close, we reflect on the 22 months we’ve spent supporting volunteer efforts in Ukraine.

Firewood and coal are the only sources of heat, which became particularly relevant after the blizzards last week. This enormous effort is made possible by your continued generosity.

Today, Ukraine needs US support more than ever, and for the first time since the full scale invasion, Congress failed to help Ukraine.

The International Volunteer Day was celebrated in Ukraine, by the millions of people who’ve been helped by Ukrainian volunteers.

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.