February 8, 2024
59,194 people evacuated from danger to date
166 people evacuated from danger this week
39 trips into the deoccupied and frontline territories
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. It’s these everyday efforts – such as Serhiy returning to a forgotten village to feed the only two elderly still living there – that are at the heart of Ukraine TrustChain.
The newsletter for our team has served not only as proof of work of the volunteers we support, but also as a means of connecting to and capturing the volunteer movement and resistance in real time. We record and publicize this information to offer a window into on-the-ground reality and to preserve clear memory of this duality: Russia’s destruction of peaceful Ukraine, its murder and abuse of innocent civilians juxtaposed with Ukraine’s continuous resistance, our volunteers’ ingenuity, resourcefulness, and deep humanity.
We now have almost 5000 readers who receive our newsletter weekly. And while we wish we could say that the content of the letters changes significantly from week to week, it largely remains the same. But it is this sameness that posits UTC as a powerful, sustaining force for Ukrainians enduring hardship and war for nearly 2 years – it is in the consistency and predictability of the aid and support that our volunteers provide every day that gives people hope and resilience.
Stories
Operations in the Occupied Territories
11 people were evacuated this week from the Russian-occupied left bank. These deceptively small numbers often don't reveal the extreme effort, risk and logistics involved in each evacuation. This week's evacuees are a mix of injured, elderly and disabled people who are often reluctant to leave their homes until a crisis forces the issue. One man traveling this time suffered a concussion after a rocket hit his house and destroyed it. He lived in a barn for a while, looking for a way to evacuate. However, the area where he lives is so dangerous now that it's hard for our team to find a driver willing to go there. The roads are also unpredictable. It took several weeks to get this man to safety.
290 people received help in the occupied cities of Ukraine.
Volunteer Safety
Being Ukrainian, especially a Ukrainian volunteer is not safe. These newsletters are a testament to the incredible risks volunteers take only to help people in danger. We are proud, though, that all of the teams we support take their safety seriously. In the last few weeks 4 of the teams we sponsor have taken steps to formalize their safety protocols (Inna), receive additional training in emergency response and tactical medicine (Anastasia, Pomahaem and others), purchase medical kits and personal armor.
Although these actions were caused by the grim realities of intensifying combat, the volunteers enjoy this training immensely with the usual laughter and camaraderie. Training routines are tough. One of Anastasia’s team members unfortunately injured himself as they practiced the emergency scenarios.
The emergencies come up in many unexpected forms. Last week, Pomahaem team ended up in a serious accident, due to no fault of their own. A car in the oncoming lane lost control and was thrown into the car Jan, a Pomahaem co-founder, was driving. One of the volunteers riding in the back was hospitalized with minor injuries, while others were safe. The team is now taking additional steps to provide additional safety for volunteers driving in the back of the bus.
We do not think that UTC as an organization is positioned well to evaluate whether our team's safety measures are sufficiently rigorous, what we can do though - is to listen, learn from our teams and support them in improving their safety, which we have been doing consistently throughout this war.
Natalia’s trip to Lyman
Natalia resumed her trips to frontline areas. She brought 200 packages to the villages beyond the town of Lyman. The village of Zakitne was less than 10 miles away from the Russians, and the situation there was dire. The enemy is slowly advancing towards the village ruining everything within its reach. People that remain in the village are either sick, wounded or care for an immobilized loved one. The village does not have cell reception.
Only 5 miles away the village of Dibrova was more upbeat, with people still having a few windows and livestock. This contrast highlighted the terrible toll the proximity of the Russian army imposes on peaceful villages.
Natalia was not allowed to deliver packages to the villages of Torske and Dvorichne, that sit less than 2 miles away from the front. The deliveries were made a day later by the “White Angels” the humanitarian arm of Ukrainian police forces, using armored vehicles for the delivery.
Evacuation from Chasiv Yar
This week, we managed to carry out an evacuation from Chasiv Yar, which is constantly under enemy shelling. Among those evacuated was a lady around sixty years old, Mrs. Victoria. In this mission, the most dangerous part of the work was done by the special police unit "White Angels," for which we are once again sincerely grateful.
Victoria, was handed over to us at a relatively safe point on the Bakhmut highway. It was hard to look at her. Her face was tired with a lost gaze, her clothes were dirty, and all her possessions were in a plastic bag.
At first, she did not make contact, forbade taking her photo, and was very anxious. Our volunteers encountered similar situations and knew she just needed some time.
About three hours later in Pavlohrad, Slava approached Victoria, and offered her an apple we had stashed in the car. Victoria looked at him tensely then took the apple and said, "My husband is still there. We decided to evacuate today. But he went early in the morning to tell our relatives we were leaving. The shelling started, and he didn't come back. He disappeared, he wasn’t there when the police arrived. They took me out, but him… where is he? Will we see each other again?" she asked Slava. What could he say? "Everything will be alright. Get on the bus, it's about an hour's drive to Dnipro."
We brought Victoria to Dnipro and settled her in a local shelter. The "Angels" were already aware of the situation.
Slava’s words happened to come true. Victoria’s husband, Victor, was found in the nearby military hospital that day. He was wounded by the shelling, but he was alive. We hope that soon we will bring him to Dnipro.
Team Summaries
Alina’s Team – Dobra Sprava (“Good Cause”)
15 trips and 154 people evacuated from Lyman, Svyatogirsk, Kostyantynivka, Druzhkivka, Chasiv Yar, Myrnograd, Kherson, Kramatorsk, Mykolaiv, Slovyansk, Pokrovsk areas.
Inna’s Team – Krok z Nadiyeyu (“Step with Hope”)
21.5 tons of aid provided to 8050 people.
9500 people received bread.
13 families received 21 tons of firewood in Mospanovo.
Firewood deliveries to Berislav were canceled because of especially dire situation due to massive bombardments.
Kherson operation:
Performed and assisted with exterminations in 24 buildings.
Disinfected 1 building.
Performed 29 generator maintenance tasks.
Weekly help continued in Kostyantynivka, Druzhkivka, Kramatorsk, Slovyansk, Mykolaivka - key towns in the rear of the Eastern front.
Oleksandr D’s Volunteer Networks
Oleksandr S (Boyarka): 1,300 kg humanitarian aid (food, hygiene, household chemicals) to Kryvyi Rih, Donetsk Region locations of Pokrovsk, Kurakhove, Kramatorsk, Lyman, Kostiantynivka and Shakhove and Kharkiv Region locations of Izium and Savyntsi.
Vladyslav K (Mykolaiv): 28 tons of drinking water to Mykolaiv and 7 tons of water, plus 6 tons of groceries to Kherson.
Andriy P (Mykolaiv): Assembled 30 orthopedic beds and delivered them to hospitals in Nova Odesa (Mykolaiv Region), Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. Delivered 20 tons of fuel briquettes from Kryvyi Rih to Mykolaiv.
Sandra S (Odesa): kitchen fed more than 2,300 people.
Yuri S (Vinnytsia): delivered food kits for the poor in Vinnytsia, including 20 people at the prosthetics factory and 60 children at an orphanage.
Oleksandr D (Lutsk): delivered 112 tons of fuel briquettes to 373 households in the Donetsk Region city of Toretsk and its suburbs. 44.5 tons of briquettes were also delivered to 89 households in Antonivka (Kherson Region) in very dangerous conditions. 2 tons of humanitarian aid was delivered to New York (Donetsk Region).
Oksana K (Lutsk): sent 10 kg of elastic bandages and 50 kg of homemade food to the area around Bakhmut, 15-20 kg of packages with medicine syringes with needles and elastic bandages to Kherson and 10,000 disposable plates to Kramatorsk.
Oleksandr Z (Lutsk): Held 5 art therapy sessions for 66 children with disabilities, children from large families and children from military families. An additional 246 children and adults received assistance with food, clothes and glasses, learned to “sing” in sign language and received haircuts.
Natalia B (Kherson): distributed dairy products to 9 families with children, children with disabilities and elderly people with disabilities.
NGO Angelia
1/2-1/17/24: Traveled from Mamaivtsi (Chernivtsi Region) to Mökern, Bad Bergzabern, Zernien аnd Zislow in Germany, then back to Kyiv and Chernivtsi, bringing back kg of food, used clothes, 10 rehabilitation exercise machines and 3 bicycles. 1,000 kg of this aid was then delivered to Toretsk (Donetsk Region).
Kseniia’s Team - NGO Livyj Bereh (“Left Bank”)
Darya and her team boarded up the blown out windows in the local hospital and three buildings nearby.
Darya evacuated one person from the village of Kindrashivka, trapped in the Kupyansk battlezone.
Svitlana’s group in Kherson delivered 70 packages to Posad-Porkovsk.
Karina’s Team - We Save Dnipro
59 people in the shelter.
Tetiana’s Team - Dopomoha Poruch
Distributed 220 packages to people living near the frontline in Shevchenkove, Kharkiv region near Kup’yans’k.
Distributed 110 aid packages to internally displaced refugees in Smila, Cherkasy region.
Distributed 30 packages to old and disabled in SMila via the department of social services.
Delivered food and supplies to the orphanage in Mykhailivka, Cherkasy region.
Timur’s Team – Timur and Team
After countless deliveries to 1000s of people across Eastern Ukraine their main vehicle broke down this week. They hope to find a replacement soon and resume their work.
Distributed 300 aid packages in Saltivka Kharkiv region.
Made 50 home deliveries to families with babies and disabled elderly.
They are helping school number 3 which was recently hit by a rocket.
Pavel and Olena’s Team - Touch of Heart and Dawn of Hope
1638 people received help in Mykolaiv office.
30 tons of vegetables were delivered to 668 families in Prybuzke, Novomykolaivka, Yelisavetovka.
1.5 tons of water delivered to Luch.
Installed water purification system in the village of Kobzartsi.
BF Pomahaem - Kirill, Marina, Andriy
164 large packages delivered to Kherson
120 packages delivered to Kramatorsk
164 delivered to frontline town of Komar
Multiple issues with vehicles.
Natalia - Vyshnia Volunteer Center
Natalia brought 220 packages to the town of Lyman and nearby villages of Zakitne, Dibrova, Torske and Drorichna.
Dina’s Team - Vilni Liudy – Vilna Krayina
380 packages distributed at regular points
100 packages mailed out.
230 packages delivered by Sergey T to 8 small towns near Izyum.
Bogdan’s Team - Vse robymo sami
Interior renovation work was finished in the administrative part, and almost finished in the kitchen at the House of Joy.
Children in a club for children with disabilities drew greeting cards and baked cupcakes.
Aid was provided to 42 families.
How to Help
Donate - The money goes directly to teams providing aid on the ground, who respond dynamically to the most urgent needs.
Fundraise - Organize fundraisers at your school, work, place of worship, with friends and family, etc.
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Fill out this form if you’re interested in volunteering with us, and we’ll let you know when opportunities come up.
Download and print our flyer. Ask your local coffee shop if you can add it to the bulletin, or use it as part of your fundraiser.