August 10, 2023
54,535 people evacuated from danger to date
341 people evacuated from danger this week
32 trips into the deoccupied and frontline territories
Last week our key evacuation team Dobra Sprava went on a special mission delivering 2 tons of aid to a hospital in Toretsk. This frontline town sits a mere 5 miles away from the raging frontline. Recently, Russian terrorist armies hit the hospital’s main building with artillery damaging much of its equipment. The hospital needed basic tools to clean up debris, along with adult diapers and other items. Usually, UTC is not able to help hospitals - medical equipment requires a lot of money and medical expertise; however, in this case our volunteers knew exactly what to bring. This aid was timely and very much appreciated. There was something extra special about this trip, too.
Evacuation teams constantly see the horrors of war and are usually slightly desensitized to them. And so it was particularly humbling to see our seasoned volunteers express such awe at the heroism of Toretsk doctors and nurses. Here are a few translated excerpts from Ihor’s notes about the trip that pierced our defenses:
“...The town has about 230 palliative patients, including 50 children and (this stunned me) 6 children with Cerebral Palsy… One of the nurses, Yana, cares for 62 patients. They are all in different neighborhoods and she can’t see more than 10-12 patients a day. And she has to walk from one to another with ongoing shelling. Ambulances are used only for special emergencies in remote areas…
I asked hospital workers why they weren’t evacuating to safer places? The general response - if we all go, who will save the people who stay and cannot leave?
Yana told me: ‘How can I come to my patients, look them in the eye and tell them that today was the last time I would help them, that I will not come again, and maybe nobody will come… I can’t do it. I’m like family to them.”
Stories
Continued Operations in Occupied Territories
Last week teams we support managed to rescue a record number of people out of the occupied territories. 173 people, including 31 people with no mobility and 16 pets, were evacuated. Unfortunately, the risks are becoming too great, and these heroic evacuations will slow down. This in turn leads to a surge of demand, as for many this could be the last viable chance to reach their relatives and friends in free Ukraine.
We continue to look for ways to help people away from evacuation routes. Last week we supported help to 374 people in 6 occupied villages and towns.
Update on Demining in Kherson Region
Demining units, supported through Alyona’s team, demined 50 acres of land, destroying 30 pieces of ammunition. Most of the work is happening along the torn power lines. Demining these areas clears the way to restore power to the villages and restart their critical infrastructure. The process of demining is complex as these efforts are run by the government and are subject to complex approval and monitoring routines. This makes volunteer involvement particularly important – using their deep understanding of the environment, volunteers can ensure that additional equipment and support go to the teams that are in a position to do more, have sufficient capacity, and are able to turn additional equipment into faster progress in demining civilian areas.
Becoming a Volunteer
Many of those who join the volunteer movement have been IDPs (refugees) themselves. One such volunteer is Svitlana, who, in the first weeks of the war, fled to Dnipro from Kherson and ended up living in Karina’s shelter. As soon as Kherson was liberated, Svetlana returned home. After the Kahovka Dam disaster, Svitlana joined a local volunteer hub and provided a list of urgent requests that Karina fulfilled thanks to your donations. At first Karina sent food, water, power banks and pet food. Later on, Svitlana started working on clean up efforts, and Karina provided gloves, tools, cleaning supplies and equipment to self-organized groups of which Svetlana is now a part.
Happy Anniversary to Andriy’s NGO “Pomahaem”
This week Andriy’s organization marked their 14th anniversary. When UTC started to support Andriy’s team in the first week of the war, we only saw their heroic efforts evacuating thousands out of the hell of the battle for Kharkiv to a mysterious large shelter in the Dnipro region. As we continued to work together, we realized that we are dealing with professionals with immense experience going back many years, with deep understanding of logistics, tax laws, rehabilitative medicine and a multitude of other areas of expertise. We are grateful that on top of sustaining efficient operations running many projects, Andriy’s organization always has time to help other teams with advice on technicalities, warehousing or logistics. Happy anniversary, and thank you for what you do!
Team summaries
Ihor Dobra Sprava (“Good Cause”)
Team made 15 trips to Sviatohirsk, Slovyansk, Kramatorsk, Druzhkivka, Toretsk and Kostyantynivka.
168 people evacuated.
2 tons of aid were delivered to Toretsk (Eastern frontline) to support 230 palliative patients including 50 children (see story above).
Inna’s Team
23.9 tons of aid distributed to 4,300 people (some deliveries were delayed as one of the drivers is hospitalized).
8,760 people received bread
Flood relief operations in Kherson region:
Pumped water out of 4 buildings
Disinfected 19, including 4 basements of large highrise buildings
These operations required 62 refuelings and 12 oil changes at the work sites
Delivered 180 packages to Berislav where due to continuing shelling it is become more difficult to distribute aid. Volunteers had to deliver aid to the apartment doors.
Another series of aid deliveries happened in Donetsk region. 150 packages were delivered to the towns of Dobropillia, Kostyantynivka, Druzhkivka, Kramatorsk, Slavians’k - all of these are danger zones next to the Donetsk frontline.
Oleksandr D’s Volunteer Networks
Pavlo V (Dnipro): organized camp for 35 children from refugee (IDP) families. Delivered 1.3 tons of aid packages to IDPs from Kherson Region.
Oleksandr S (Boyarka): 1 ton of clothes and aid packages delivered to Snovsk (Chernihiv Region) and 2 tons to Sivers’k (Donetsk Region).
Vladyslav K (Mykolaiv): transported 35 tons of drinking water to Mykolaiv and 7 tons of water and a large barrel for water storage to Kherson.
Sandra S (Odesa): fed 2,400 people last week.
Yuri S (Vinnytsia): delivered 1.5 tons of grain to a rehabilitation center in Vinnytsia, 1 ton of clothes to Kalynivka (Vinnytsia Region), 23 aid packages and 1.2 tons of grains and clothes to Novoselytsia, Bruslyniv and Verbivka, Berezyna and isolated households in the Vinnytsia Region.
Oleksandr Z (Lutsk): held 2 art therapy sessions for children.
Valery L (Rivne): distributed 100 food kits, clothes, shoes and hygiene items in Pavlo-Mar'yanivka (Mykolaiv Region).
NGO Angelia
NGO Angelia: Brought 3 tons of bed linens, towels, wheelchairs, walkers, diapers, muesli and nutrition bars from Adendorf and Lüneburg (Germany) to Chernivtsi for further distribution.
Mobile Clinic: between 7/17 and 7/26/23, the clinic traveled to Hoholiv, Fastiv (both in Kyiv Region), Kyiv and Chernihiv. Services included family doctors, ENT, ECG, labs for blood, sugar, and lipid testing. In total, 416 people received 1,571 services.
Kseniia’s Team - NGO Livyj Bereh
7 roofs restored in villages around Kharkiv.
Kherson team distributed 200 packages in Kherson and Inhulivka.
Karina’s Team - We Save Dnipro
Provided equipment to a relief effort team in Kherson which was able to clean about 350 homes over the last several weeks.
Alena - Virgo
Demining groups that we support demined 50 acres, disabling 30 pieces of ammunition.
Teams continue to clean up buildings in Kherson; cleaned out a church.
Due to shelling Kherson groups switched to help with debris cleanup.
Tetiana’s Team - Dopomoha Poruch
Delivered 170 aid packages to internally displaced refugees in Ternivka, Cherkassy region.
Provided 50 aid packages for people elderly and people with limited mobility in Smila department of social services.
Timur - Timur and Team
Delivered 250 packages to Saltivka.
Delivered 200 to North Saltivka.
Delivered hygiene products and other items for 30 children and 20 people with disabilities.
Pavel and Olena - Touch of Heart and Dawn of Hope
1,137 packages distributed to refugees in Mykolaiv.
Delivered 3 tons of water to the villages of Pavlo-Maryanivka and Kobzartsy. Distributed hygienic products, tools, sweets and toys to children.
Continue to organize trips for families from low-income families to Telehul estuary beaches.
Andriy - BF Pomahaem
Launched water truck route bringing 10 tons of water weekly to Marhanets area.
173 aid packages delivered to Pershotravneve and Chkalove, near Nikopol.
173 packages delivered to Odesa region.
33 people (12 of them children) continue to live in Andriy’s shelter.
Marina – Good Give Ukraine
Due to a recent viral illness affecting Marina and a majority of her team, the team was indisposed last week. However, this week, they managed to distribute 300 packages in Piatykhatky to support seniors and individuals who have been internally displaced.
In summer camp children learned how to cook and had art classes.
Mailed 13 packages with food and hygiene to families with many kids to remote villages.
Dina - Vilni Liudy – Vilna Krayina
Distributed 486 packages of aid at regular locations
Mailed 5 packages to small towns to help pregnant women with newborn necessities
Kremenchuk branch helped 10 refugee families from Kherson, sourcing everything needed to start life in a new place
Bogdan - Vse robymo sami
42 packages distributed this week
How to Help
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