August 14th, 2025
68,776 people evacuated from danger to date
84 people evacuated from danger this week
32 trips into deoccupied and frontline territories this week
With growing alarm, we watch the developments on the Eastern front, near the town of Dobropillya, from which our Ukrainian teams have evacuated hundreds of civilians in recent week. As we compile this newsletter, there are reports of a significant frontline shift cutting off key highways our teams have used from the start of the war to deliver life-saving aid to the Donbas. Our partners are actively reviewing their logistical plans and routes into these areas. The volunteers we support are fearless people, but we encourage them to not take unnecessary risks at this precarious moment. We will continue to monitor the situation, and hope that Ukraine’s armed forces will be able to contain and hopefully push back this advance.
Stories
Tetiana and Liudmyla Flee Dobropillya
This dramatic story comes from one of the Dobra sprava volunteers performing evacuations from Dobropillya and the surrounding towns.
[Recently,] we evacuated Tetiana and Liudmyla, two elderly friends, from Dobropillya. The night before, an FPV drone with explosives landed in their garden. They wisely called sappers, who detonated the drone, leaving them with shattered windows, a collapsed shed, and a broken fence.
In the morning, I picked up the two women, but the trip brought new stress. About 18 km out, the passengers shouted for me to stop — Tetiana had collapsed, her eyes rolled back, foam at her mouth, unresponsive. Liudmyla, still clutching her cat, managed to tell me that Tetiana had suffered a stroke in 2022.
Tetiana had no medicine in her bag, but another passenger had blood pressure pills. I got them into Tetiana’s mouth with water. She swallowed them and I put a wet towel on her head.
I then sped to the nearest village, Kryvorizhzhia, where medics measured Tetiana’s blood pressure at 160, gave her an injection, and more pills. Twenty minutes later she began to respond. I drove straight to Pavlohrad, feeling like an ambulance driver, and handed Tetiana off to the transit center medics.
Thank God, she made it alive and is receiving care. That’s the kind of evacuation we sometimes have.
Diva’s Risky Deliveries to Kherson
The Diva team recently distributed 220 homecare and hygiene kits to residents of Antonivka, a suburb of Kherson, which by now has been nearly wiped off the map, and to residents of Kherson whose apartments and houses have been destroyed. They report on the conditions:
The road has become more dangerous. Russian drone strikes have become more frequent, and the Russians are now trying to control not only the streets of Kherson, but also the road from Mykolaiv to Kherson. The roads are protected with nets, but it’s important to remember that the nets are only effective against drones and do not provide 100% protection even against these.
Trips without electronic warfare capabilities have become risky. Kherson is being relentlessly shelled with artillery, rockets, and mortars. We could not drive straight into the neighborhood to reach people and had to wait until the shelling subsided at least a little. Eleven artillery shells landed near the area to which we were going. At first, the distribution began next to the vans, but then the aid was moved into a bomb shelter to ensure the safety of the people coming for help.
Russian Assault on Key Transport Artery in Kherson
For an entire week, the Russian army has been using guided aerial bombs in an attempt to destroy the key transport artery to the Korabel neighborhood in Kherson — locals call it "the Island." If the bridge falls, 2,200 people will be trapped, including about 60 people with limited mobility who cannot help themselves, and approximately 56 children. For the entire week, the Krok z nadiyeyu team has been conducting evacuations from this area, giving people the opportunity to move to a safer area while there is still time.
Over the course of the week, the team has evacuated five families with all their necessary belongings. They report on the current conditions:
The question of the bridge [to Korabel] falling is just a matter of time — and this is not just our opinion. So we continue to help people. Two families had nowhere to relocate, so we provided them with housing. We are now evacuating one of these families for the third time. The first time when the island was flooded, we moved them to the Skhide neighborhood. Then, after the drone terror began there, we brought them back to the island because it was safe there — the water had receded and we had dried out the apartments. And now for the third time the family is forced to relocate. But despite this, people are hopeful that everything will be okay. And they know that we will never leave them alone with their problems.
Drilling Wells in Beryslav District
We continue to expand our efforts in drilling wells and ensuring uninterrupted water supply for the civilian population in frontline regions with damaged or destroyed energy infrastructure. Recently, the Beryslav administration asked Inna K.’s team for help with the urgent purchase of a mechanical drill for installing electrical panels, and other infrastructure needed to power water wells in this frontline community.
Access to water and electricity in the area had deteriorated significantly due to the dominance of enemy drones. The local administration with the help of benefactors, has been working on installing alternative energy and water sources in several villages in the Kherson Region, Beryslav District. Thanks to your donations, Ukraine TrustChain was able to purchase the drill and the Beryslav administration is now getting ready to drill boreholes for the new wells.
People behind the Bullet Points
Every week, we receive numerous messages of thanks from aid recipients for whom the aid we provide is not a statistic, but a lifeline, which sustains them both physically and emotionally. Here are just two such examples from the last week.
Valentina Ivanovna: “I want to thank the fund for caring about people. It's becoming dangerous to go to the store, and it's quite far for me. I'm elderly and find it hard to walk far. It would be a pity to have to do without bread. Your aid point is nearby and convenient. Here I can not only receive help, but also care and support.”
Tamara N.: “Huge thanks to you for the help with glasses. Now it's quite difficult to get glasses in the city. You have to go to the city center for that and drones have started flying there more often. It's scary. When my glasses fell and the frame broke I even started crying. It's good that I heard about you and you helped me."
Children’s Camp in Synelnykove Interrupted by Russian Bombs
Last week, Inna K’s team held a children’s camp in the city of Synel’nykove, Dnipropetrovsk Region. Inna’s report reflects on the delicate business of supporting children during wartime.
Last week in Synel’nykove, our volunteers conducted a children's camp for 49 children, mostly teenagers. On the first day of the children received training on how to react during an air raid alert and how to go to shelter properly and in an organized manner.
We hoped that this exercise would be for training purposes only, but war is war. On the last day of the camp, the siren sounded in the middle of the day, and our volunteers led the children to the shelter. Immediately after this there were explosions. The children were very frightened. The local territorial recruitment center was hit and completely destroyed. Thankfully everyone was alive and safe. Our volunteers calmed the children and after the all-clear signal, they managed to end the camp on a positive note. The children came away pleased.
Help in Occupied Territories
86 people received aid in the occupied territories.
Team Summaries
Alina’s Team – Dobra sprava (Good Deeds)
Evacuated 55 people, 12 of them children.
Inna’s Team – Krok z nadiyeyu (Step with Hope)
20.6 tons of aid delivered to 8,050 people.
6,600 people received bread.
10 towns visited in high-risk frontline areas.
Kherson: evacuated 5 families (15 people) from a collapsing neighborhood of the city; performed rat and insect exterminations in 15 spaces; completed 6 targeted missions within the city.
Conducted 7 meetings for teenagers and children in Kharkiv Region.
Organized a children camp in Synel’nykove for 49 children.
Angelia Charitable Fund
Brought 1,394 kg of clothing, diapers, cribs, bedding, medicine, and breakfast cereal from Milan and Padua to Ochakiv.
Oleksandr D’s Volunteer Networks
Oleksandr S. (Boyarka): distributed 500 kg of shoes and baby food to families with children in Terny, Sumy Region. Delivered 1 ton of clothes and shoes to other parts of the Sumy Region for further distribution. Provided low-income families with sports uniforms and sports equipment, and distributed 300 kg of food and household chemicals to internally displaced people (IDPs) in Boyarka. Provided 100 families with targeted food certificates. Carried out a support program for IDP families with children in the village of Yasnohorodka, Kyiv Region. The program included getting to know one another, conversation, crafts, tea drinking, and gifts of school supplies for the children.
Vladyslav K. (Mykolaiv): delivered 35 tons of water to Mykolaiv and 7 tons to Kherson.
Sandra S. (Odesa): kitchen fed more than 800 people, both directly and through distribution to partners.
Yuri S. (Vinnytsia): delivered 20 kg of fruits to a family of 2 disabled people. Transferred 40 kg of fruits and vegetables to the Vinnytsia church community for further distribution among 15 IDPs. Delivered artwork and 15 kg of fruits to the psycho-neurological boarding school for adolescents in the village of Stryzhavka, Vinnytsia Region.
Vitaliy Z. (Kharkiv): delivered 4 tons of humanitarian kits (food, clothes, medicine, and animal feed) to Zhovtnevyi, near Kramatorsk, right after the settlement was subjected to a bombardment that destroyed 120 homes. This location also has many refugees from Kostyantynivka and other cities. Distributed almost 500 loaves of “Victory” bread in Kramatorsk. Evacuated a woman, her dog and belongings from Oleksijevo-Druzhkivka. Provided special work clothing to more than 70 workers of NOVAAGRO in Balakliya – a strategically vital business, whose employees keep working despite the shelling.
Artiom S. (Hostomel’): delivered 500 kg of chocolate, waffles, candies, pasta, cappuccino, wet wipes, shampoo, and socks to the Design of Christ IDP Center and the WeCare Center in Druzhkivka, for distribution to 200 people in Druzhkivka and Kramatorsk.
Alla A. (Kremenets’): report for 7/15-8/12/2025. Issued food assistance certificates for 24 people. Processed 50 applications from people with disabilities for food and hygiene kit assistance and submitted these to the Ministry of Social Policy for approval. Distributed 25-30 food kits to vulnerable groups of the population. Distributed clothes, shoes, toys, and dishware to 30-50 people. Provided psychological support to 145 people as part of project Resilience. Held regular, twice weekly classes for children with disabilities. Served 8 disabled adults at a day care center, which also provides free massage and psychological support.
Oleksandr D. (Lutsk): volunteer Vadym T. brought 1 ton of energy bars and muesli from Germany. Most of this was sent to Dnipro and Zaporizhzia. A small part was left for local IDPs.
Oksana K. (Lutsk): received 450 kg of powdered milk and cookies from the NGO Christian Road of Life. Sent a 250 kg package to fellow volunteers in the Donetsk direction for further distribution. 60 visitors to the humanitarian aid distribution point received 83 kg of pasta, 158 kg of adult diapers and urological pads, 1 baby box, 2 wheelchairs, and 155 kg of clothing, shoes, toys, bedspreads, blankets and pillows.
Oleksandr Z. (Lutsk): provided therapeutic interventions and aid to IDP children and families, children with disabilities, children from military families, orphans, amputees, and military veterans. 888 children and adults received help in Lutsk, Ostrozhets’, Malyn, and Mlyniv, including art therapy classes, help with bread and other food, a development and sports camp, a visit to a museum, glasses, medical and preventive procedures, including a “medical mobile trailer,” which traveled to remote villages in the Rivne Region to conduct physiotherapeutic procedures for IDPs, and help with the manufacture of prostheses and rehabilitation.
Kseniia’s Team – Livyy bereh (Left Bank)
Darya, based in Kharkiv, evacuated 12 people from Prosyanka, Prylyutove, Stetskivka and Kut’kivka.
Delivered 37 packages with medicine and hygienic products to people who’ve decided to stay behind.
Karina’s Team – My ryatuyemo Ukrayinu (We Save Ukraine)
96 people in the shelter, 58 of them long term.
Natasha’s Team – Volontersʹkyy tsentr Vyshnya (Cherry Volunteer Center)
Tetiana, based in Kryvyi Rih, delivered 205 packages with hygienic products and 75 children’s packages to Myrolyubivka and Trudolyubivka.
Timur’s Team – Komanda Teymura Alyeva (Timur Alyev’s Team)
Delivered aid to 334 seniors in Kharkiv, nearly half of them refugees from Vovchans’k and Kup’yans’k. Special deliveries to 26 disabled elderly and 34 families with infants.
Pavel and Olena’s Teams – Dotyk sertsya (Touch of Heart) & Svitanok mriy (Dawn of Dreams)
Delivered 160 aid packages to Zasillya and Novohryhorivka.
Delivered furniture to a local children’s center in the village of Partyzanske.
Held 2 psychological support workshops at the Mykolaiv office.
Pomahaem Foundation (We Help Foundation)
24 tons of water delivered to Nikopol’.
Organized an outdoor festival for IDPs living in Dnipro with music, children’s activities, and opportunities for connecting IDPs with local charitable organizations.
Helped evacuate 26 people from a temporary shelter in Pavlohrad to Rivne.
Marina’s Team – Daruy dobrо Ukrayina (Give Good Ukraine)
150 food and hygiene packages were distributed to internally displaced people in Zhovti Vody.
Dina’s Team — Vilʹni lyudy, vilʹna krayina (Free People, Free Country)
Distributed 348 packages in Poltava, Kanev, and Dnipro.
1,580 meals served in the Kharkiv soup kitchen.
Bohdan’s Team — Vse robymo sami (We Do Everything Ourselves)
42 families in Zhytomyr received food and hygiene kits.
At the club for children with disabilities, children attended art and culinary classes where they learned how to make fruit salad.
Alena’s Team – Diva (Virgo)
42 wounded receiving help in the Odesa hospital.
220 packages of aid delivered to Kherson.
300 people in Odesa received bread products donated by a bread factory.
How to Help
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