December 4th, 2025
69,659 people evacuated from danger to date
47 people evacuated from danger this week
31 trips into deoccupied and frontline territories this week
Thanks to generous sponsors, this year we are again fortunate to offer a Match Drive. Starting on Giving Tuesday and going through the end of the year, every donation will be matched until we reach $75,000. This money will help us deliver firewood to tens of thousands of people living without gas or electricity, continue evacuations from dangerous areas, dig wells where water has disappeared, and get food and essential aid to people who cannot afford it or cannot reach it.
Since we launched the drive 2 days ago, we have already met 15% of our goal. If you can, please donate to help us reach the finish line, and forward this newsletter to your network.
Stories
Odesa Kitchen Carries on Despite Massive Power Outages
Sandra S.’ team in Odesa, which runs a kitchen out of the Odesa train station, has had to work in very difficult conditions because of the long power outages. The volunteers describe their efforts:
Despite the long power outages that leave the city without electricity for 16-18 hours, we were once again able to do everything we had planned. Every time the light comes on for at least an hour, the kitchen comes to life: we cook porridge, finish cooking soup, and lay out the food. We work quickly, because we know that the power can go out again any minute.
There is a steady stream of people at the train station. Some come after nighttime shelling; some because they can’t even buy bread. Some bring a container and take food for a neighbor who can’t walk. Our partner organizations also received their portions for the displaced and bedridden patients, to whom we are currently paying special attention. For many of them, this is not just lunch, but a guarantee that they will not remain hungry amidst the chaos.
The team is holding on with great determination. We get tired: sometimes we work in the dark; sometimes we have to use our neighbor's gas stove; sometimes we wait until late at night to finish cooking. But our inner stubbornness doesn't let us stop. We know who we are doing this for. And that gives us strength. We thank everyone who supports us with food, prayers, a kind word, or finances. Together we create small but very important miracles every day.
Supporting Druzhkivka Residents after Artillery Attack
How do we convey the drama and horror taking place behind the simple bullet points of our weekly reports? As the Donbas continues to slide into the bloodstained hands of the invaders, our Ukrainian teams keep driving the same routes — but their trips become more and more dangerous every week. It’s astounding that volunteers risk their lives for the sake of having lunch with people, just to make sure the locals don’t feel abandoned. Here is an excerpt from this week's report from Oleksandr, who is part of Inna’s team:
The town of Druzhkivka is getting wiped out. The streets are empty. The town is under constant drone attack. A day before we arrived there was an attack by kamikaze drones. [The next day,] when we entered the town an artillery barrage was in progress. At least there was quiet after it ended. We distributed humanitarian aid and held a lunch for people who have suffered from the recent attacks.
Team Summaries
Alina’s Team – Dobra sprava (Good Deeds)
9 trips, evacuating 40 people, 8 of them children.
Inna’s Team – Krok z nadiyeyu (Step with Hope)
45 tons of firewood distributed to 38 families.
21.2 tons of aid delivered to 37 locations, 13 of them in high-risk areas.
Kherson team covered up blown-out windows in one apartment.
Continued to supply fuel for 14 generators in red-zone neighborhoods of Kherson.
Cleaned up 2 large basements in Kherson.
1 person evacuated to Dnipro from Druzhkivka.
Angelia Charitable Fund
Report on trips from 11/8 to 11/20. All trips were made by drivers Volodymyr T. and Vadym. The team’s third driver is undergoing serious medical treatment.
Brought 1 ton of muesli and energy bars from Lüneburg and bicycles from Lage (both in Germany) to Ukraine.
Sent 32 bicycles, a trampoline, and 300 kg of muesli to different parts of Ukraine. Also sent 600 kg of medical supplies, hygiene products, bed linens, antiseptics, food, clothing and shoes to Mykolaiv, 150 kg of muesli to Kyiv, and 150 kg of muesli and energy bars to Sloviansk.
Oleksandr D’s Volunteer Networks
Oleksandr S. (Boyarka): delivered 40 kg of medical baby food to the children's hospital in Ternopil. Conducted spiritual and social services for visitors to the hospital in Boyarka. Delivered aid and installed a cupboard in a children’s center in Bucha. In the Sumy Region distributed 2.5 tons of food aid in Buryn’ and 2 tons of food kits in Krasnopillia. The city of Buryn’ also extended thanks to volunteers Andriy V. and a soldier who works with him to deliver aid to the residents.
Vladyslav K. (Mykolaiv): delivered 35 tons of drinking water to Mykolaiv.
Sandra S. (Odesa): continued providing regular meals to visitors at the train station, as well as to bedridden patients, despite 16-18-hour-long power outages.
Yuri S. (Vinnytsia): On 5 different days, brought food to 47 people staying at the “Safe Space” overnight homeless shelter in Vinnytsia. Brought 70 kg of clothes to a family with 15 children in the village of Bruslyniv, Vinnytsia Region. Distributed 90 kg of fruits and vegetables among 15 internally displaced people (IDPs) and a family with 2 disabled people. Delivered 30 kg of fruits, vegetables and diapers to the "Harmony" society for distribution among 10 people with disabilities.
Vitaliy Z. (Kharkiv): delivered 3.5 tons of humanitarian kits, clothes, medicine, and animal feed to the neighborhood of Kramatorsk around the air conditioning plant. This is a location with many elderly, disabled, and low-income people, who have been displaced from other settlements in the Donbas. Delivered almost 500 loaves of “Victory” bread to the settlement of Zavhorodnje, Izium District. This is a place with many refugees, but which receives almost no aid due to difficult road conditions.
Serhiy A. (Kharkiv): in November, mailed 660 aid packages of 5 kg each (totalling 3.3 tons) to blind and visually impaired people throughout Ukraine.
WeCare Centers (Lviv): Traveled to the Volyn Region to collect a large batch of potatoes and bread. These staples of daily life will be distributed throughout Ukraine.
Artiom S. (Hostomel’): distributed about 1.8 tons of humanitarian aid to 300 people, including IDPs, single pensioners, people with disabilities, large families and those who find themselves in difficult life circumstances.
Aleksiy P. (Kanev): distributed rice, pasta, and sauce to 100 low-income people, pensioners, and IDPs in Kirovohrad. Delivered 0.5 pallets of rice, 1/3 pallets of pasta, and 1/3 pallets of sauce to Kaniv.
Oksana K. (Lutsk): provided 200 kg of adult diapers and urological pads to 30 people at the team’s assistance center in Lutsk.
Oleksandr Z. (Lutsk): provided therapeutic interventions and aid to IDP children and families, children and adults with disabilities, children from military families, orphans, elderly people, military veterans, and amputees in Lutsk and the surrounding villages. 813 children and adults received help, including art therapy, theater therapy, music therapy, help with bread and other food, help with glasses, dental, medical, and preventive procedures, visits to the theater, a “public cafe,” gift distribution for children, and help with the manufacture of prostheses and rehabilitation.
Darya’s Team
During a trip that took more thna 25 hours, Darya evacuated 6 people from the villages of Monachynivka, Husynka, Stets’kivka, and Vasyl’kivka.
Delivered 113 packages to families still insisting on staying in frontline villages near Kup’yans’k.
Karina’s Team – My ryatuyemo Ukrayinu (We Save Ukraine)
96 people in the shelter.
Tetiana’s Team – Dopomoha poruch (Help Is Near)
Delivered 75 aid packages to Kramatorsk.
Sent 25 packages with sweets to disabled children, who evacuated from Pokrovsk to the Carpathian Mountains.
Distributed 50 packages with sweets to disabled children in Smila.
Natasha’s Team – Volontersʹkyy tsentr Vyshnya (Cherry Volunteer Center)
207 hygienic product packages delivered to Lyman. For safety reasons, Natalia delivered the aid to Sloviansk, leaving it with the local administration, which then delivered it to the final recipients in Lyman. The local volunteers delivering this aid are trusted connections, who provide passport data and signatures of the final recipients to the volunteers.
UTC purchased drone detection devices for Natalia’s trips, as drones are becoming an increasingly dangerous threat on Donbas roads.
Timur’s Team – Komanda Teymura Alyeva (Timur Alyev’s Team)
Delivered 293 aid packages to people in Saltivka and the nearby village of Tyshky.
Special deliveries to 15 disabled elderly and 18 families with infants.
Pavel and Olena’s Teams – Dotyk sertsya (Touch of Heart) & Svitanok mriy (Dawn of Dreams)
354 families received 5.3 tons of vegetables in the villages of Myrne, Kvitneve, Partyzans’ke and Dobrokamianka.
Pomahaem Foundation (We Help Foundation)
374 new people came through the Volos’ke shelter.
The team made 11 trips — 5 to the Nikopol’ area, 3 to Zaporizhzhia, and 2 to frontline parts of the Dnipropetrovsk Region.
Aid was distributed to 923 families.
Most of the missions focused on vetting and distributing cash grants provided by Plan GFFO and DRC(UHF). Ukraine TrustChain continues to support team logistics and transportation expenses with flexible funding.
Marina’s Team – Daruy dobro 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 438 packages in Dnipro, Kanev, Kremenchuk, and Poltava.
Mailed 50 packages to small town.
Delivered 200 packages of aid to Liubivka, for the displaced citizens of Kup’yans’k.
Served 1,650 meals in the soup kitchen in Kharkiv.
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 took art and culinary classes.
Alena’s Team – Diva (Virgo)
42 wounded received help in an Odesa hospital.
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.
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