February 12th, 2026
70,023 people evacuated from danger to date
28 people evacuated from danger this week
28 trips into deoccupied and frontline territories this week
Last week, snow sports took center stage, as millions around the world watched the opening ceremony of the 2026 Winter Olympics. The Ukrainian team entering the stage received a standing ovation and cheers of support from thousands of spectators in the audience. Ukraine may not lead in the Olympic medal count, but the resilience and perseverance of its people inspires many around the world.
We are constantly awed by the work of our volunteers on the ground, their selfless actions and commitment to helping others in the face of danger. To date, our Ukrainian teams have evacuated over 70,000 people from front line areas. If you have trouble imagining such a large number in human terms, the San Siro stadium in Milan, which holds a little over 75,000, makes things a little easier. Take a moment to look at the opening ceremony photos and videos and imagine every single person in that audience as a refugee who had to flee their home, leaving everything behind.
Stories
A Risky Medical Evacuation from Druzhkivka
This week, the Dobra sprava team received an evacuation request from a woman named Kateryna, on behalf of her mother, Halyna, who was hospitalized in Druzhkivka and urgently needed to reach Kharkiv for surgery on her leg. Halyna had been forced to venture out into the streets of Druzhkivka to buy food — a difficult task in a city where most shops are closed and the few that remain operate out of basements. As Halyna walked across the frozen ground, she heard the whine of an approaching FPV drone. Too elderly to drop to the ground, she could only crouch and turn away. The drone struck a parked car, and the blast wave threw her onto the ice. As the car burned, Halyna lay on the ground screaming in pain from a shrapnel wound that had shattered her knee.
Ukrainian soldiers arrived quickly at the sound of the explosion. They lifted Halyna into their vehicle and rushed her to the city hospital, where doctors stabilized her but lacked the equipment to perform the necessary surgery.
The evacuation team responded the next day. The driver had to carry Halyna into the car in his arms while Kateryna held her mother's leg. To reduce the risk of another drone attack, the driver moved through Druzhkivka with aggressive speed. The car swayed violently, throwing Halyna from side to side as Kateryna fought to keep the leg and cast in position. Despite the pain, Halyna held on, even attempting to joke during the long road to Kharkiv. At the final transfer, the driver carried her on his back to the waiting ambulance.
The day after the evacuation, Kateryna called with news. The surgery had been successful, and the doctors believed that Halyna would walk again. They noted that the speed of the transport was the deciding factor. Halyna will likely need to use a cane, but she will be able to stand on her own two feet.
The Sound of Fresh Air
In Odesa, life is measured by the unpredictable flicker of the power grid. Alena’s team manages to work between emergency shutoffs that can last two days at a time, followed by brief stretches of warmth and light. But every evening, the relative quiet of the city is broken. "Every night," Alena says, "the horror begins. They just keep hitting us."
The team’s recent trip from Odesa to Kherson was shaped by the weight of the winter. Along the Mykolaiv-Kherson highway, the anti-drone nets — heavy with ice and battered by the wind — had collapsed onto the road. The team was forced to drive through completely unprotected stretches, relying only on their "chuyka" (a drone detector) and their instincts to navigate the open highway.
In Kherson, the danger has moved into the courtyards of ordinary apartment buildings. Drones hum constantly overhead. During the team's visit, the artillery fire was heavy enough to make the buildings shake, forcing residents to wait out the barrages before they could safely reach the aid distribution point. Because children were among those seeking help, the team stayed until every person was accounted for.
The reality of life for those living in Kherson's basements is perhaps best captured by a request the team received. A group of evacuees, now living together in their building’s bomb shelter, asked Alena if she could help them buy their own drone detector. When Alena asked why the residents needed their own chuyka, they informed her that they wanted to be able to take their children outside for a few minutes of play in the fresh air and needed the device to tell them when to run back underground.
In Search of Water
The continuing record cold weather, combined with Russia’s concentrated targeting of the Ukrainian power infrastructure, has created an acute need for water in Mykolaiv. Vladyslav K.’s team has been responding to the crisis:
Last week, due to severe frosts and lack of electricity, the situation with drinking water in Mykolaiv sharply deteriorated. Existing water distribution points either froze, or were closed due to lack of electricity. People are looking for water throughout the city all day long. This situation has increased the load on our team. We have added more water distribution points and the number of people at each of them has also increased. Some days we had to make two water deliveries per day. We made a total of seven trips and delivered approximately 46 tons of water.
In addition to the water distribution itself, the volunteers have been checking, repairing, and replacing equipment and delivering gasoline to a generator that pumps water. “This is very important for the people of Mykolaiv,” says Vladyslav. “People are embarrassed to speak on camera, but in conversation they are grateful for the water and support every day!”
Team Summaries
Alina’s Team – Dobra sprava (Good Deeds)
7 trips, evacuating 28 people from Druzhkivka, Mykolaivka, Kramatorsk, Sloviansk, and the Synel'nykove District of the Dnipropetrovsk Region.
Inna’s Team – Krok z nadiyeyu (Step with Hope)
20 tons of aid delivered to 7,950 people.
6,600 people received bread.
113 tons of firewood distributed.
Aid provided to a homeless rehabilitation shelter in Kharkiv.
Purchased a generator for mobile support stations run by the team.
Helped a woman bury her husband in Kherson.
Kherson team delivered 5 medical mattresses for immobilized people.
The Kherson team continued to support 4 highrises in Kherson’s red zones and delivered bread to 18 families living there.
Teams in Ukrainian controlled Donbas continued to support Kramatorsk and Sloviansk despite ongoing KAB bombardments and icy roads.
Aid delivered to 40 locations, including 9 in high-risk zones.
Angelia Charitable Fund
Delivered clothing, shoes for adults and children, and food, mostly to families who have been left without their primary breadwinner in Novopetrivka, Snihurivka, Zasillyia, and Horokhivka. Also distributed grocery store gift cards in Putyla and Vyzhnytsya.
Oleksandr D’s Volunteer Networks
Vladyslav K. (Mykolaiv): delivered 46 tons of drinking water to Mykolaiv and maintained vital equipment in sub zero temperatures (see story). Also delivered 22.5 tons of fuel briquettes to 75 households in Myrne, Mykolaiv Region.
Sandra S. (Odesa): kitchen distributed over 800 portions of much needed hot food, though on at least one day the work was interrupted due to lack of electricity.
Yuri S. (Vinnytsia): delivered food on 2 different occasions to 24 people staying at the Safe Space overnight shelter in Vinnytsia.
Vitaliy Z. (Kharkiv): delivered 3 tons of humanitarian kits, clothes, medicine, and animal feed to Shabelkivka, Kramatorsk District. Distributed 500 loaves of “Victory” bread in Mala Taranivka, also in the Kramatorsk District. The bread recipients had to be broken up into 2 groups for safety reasons.
Serhiy A. (Kharkiv): in January, distributed 14 tons of food kits to the blind and visually impaired residents of Kharkiv, Mukachevo, Novovolynsk, Volodymyr, Kovel’, Lutsk, and Mohyliv-Podil's'kyi.
Alla A. (Kremenets’): provided psychological and material support to 130 lonely people.
WeCare Centers (Lviv): delivered a total of 7 tons of clothing, medications, and rice to Korosten’, Kharkiv, Bila Tserkva, Uman, and Tal’ne
Hryhoriy M, (Tal’ne): received clothing, household items, school supplies, food, and medical products from WeCare Centers, for the Druzhbolandia project, which cares for 500 children whose parents gave their lives for Ukraine, children from families in difficult life circumstances, orphans, children from large families, and children deprived of parental care.
Oleksandr D. (Lutsk): volunteer Vadym T brought 13 tons of aid from Bad Bergzabern, Germany, including 2 chairlifts for the disabled, 2 washing machines, 2 refrigerators, 5 freezers, 2 orthopedic beds, a solid fuel stove, children's bicycles, a trampoline, 10 bags of children's clothes, car tires, and fire extinguishers. These were delivered to Uman Tal’ne, Ukrainka, Dnipro, and Cherkasy. Received 400 kg of food from Chenivtsi for further distribution. Received a Chevrolet Blazer SUV, which Andryi P. brought from Germany. It will be repaired and then sent in the Sumy direction.
Oksana K. (Lutsk): provided adult diapers and urological pads to 62 people.
Oleksandr Z. (Lutsk): provided therapeutic interventions and aid to internally displaced children and families, children and adults with disabilities, orphans, elderly people, military service members, children from military families, children from large families, and amputees in Lutsk, Ostrozhets', and other parts of the Rivne and Volyn regions. 967 children and adults received help, including art therapy, theater therapy, music therapy, a visit to a puppet theater performance, sports activities, help with bread and other food, help with glasses, dental, medical, and preventive procedures, and help with the manufacture of wheelchairs for children and prostheses and rehabilitation for adults.
Karina’s Team – My ryatuyemo Ukrayinu (We Save Ukraine)
113 people in the shelter.
Timur’s Team – Komanda Teymura Alyeva (Timur Alyev’s Team)
Delivered 267 aid packages in Saltivka, Kharkiv.
Special deliveries to 17 disabled elderly and 20 families with infants.
Pavel and Olena’s Teams – Dotyk sertsya (Touch of Heart) & Svitanok mriy (Dawn of Dreams)
215 packages delivered to Novopavlivka and Afanasivka.
252 vegetable sets delivered to Luch and Kvitneve in Kherson and Mykolaiv regions — 3.8 tons total.
Held art therapy classes for children and a class for parents in Mykolaiv.
Pomahaem Foundation (We Help Foundation)
472 people arrived at the Volos’ke transit center last week.
Since reopening, the transit center has housed 10,254 people.
8 trips to high-risk areas — 3 to villages near Nikopol’ and 5 to Zaporizhzhia Region.
697 families helped, 305 packages delivered, and 417 people vetted for cash aid from Plan GFFO.
Marina’s Team – Daruy dobro Ukrayina (Give Good Ukraine)
150 packages were distributed to internally displaced people in the Zhovti Vody community.
Dina’s Team – Vilʹni lyudy, vilʹna krayina (Free People, Free Country)
Distributed 316 packages in Kanev, Kremenchuk, Poltava, and Dnipro.
Distributed 40 packages of children's clothing and toys in Kremenchuk.
Served 1,050 meals in the soup kitchen in Kharkiv.
Distributed 200 packages of aid to displaced people from Vovchans’k and Kup’yans’k in Kharkiv.
Bohdan’s Team — Vse robymo sami (We Do Everything Ourselves)
42 families in Zhytomyr received food and hygiene kits.
This week at the Club for Children with Disabilities, children attended a culinary class where they learned to make pizza from scratch.
Alena’s Team – Diva (Virgo)
Helped 28 wounded in the hospital.
Delivered 200 packages of aid to Kherson.
Delivered 70 packages of toys and food for displaced children to Kherson.
Delivered 100 donated generators to the Beryslav District of the Kherson Region (UTC sponsored delivery).
Delivered 26 gas warmers with 5 liters of gas for each to Kherson.
Distributed bread to 353 people in Odesa.
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.
Spread the word — Share our website, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, or Bluesky Social with your friends, family, and colleagues.
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.
