January 22nd, 2026
69,930 people evacuated from danger to date
23 people evacuated from danger this week
28 trips into deoccupied and frontline territories this week
This month in Ukraine is unusually cold. The freezing temperatures, combined with Russian attacks on the power grid and the continuing threat from drones have brought extra layers of complication both to volunteers and to residents of frontline areas. One way or another, the cold comes up in volunteer stories, and defines the types of aid items our teams are focusing on. Our friends in Dnipro, and Kyiv keep their gloves and hats on when working in their offices. Diesel fuel freezes as volunteers work to deliver aid to remote locations. People hoping to receive aid wait in the bitter cold. On the other hand, the cold has also brought at least one unexpected benefit -- drone batteries don't last as long in freezing weather opening up a short window of opportunity to deliver aid to Kherson red zones and other high-risk areas.
Stories
Anastasia’s Trip to Zaparo-Mar'ivka
Zaparo-Mar'ivka is located about three to four hours’ drive East from Dnipro, but has absolutely no phone signal. So making arrangements with the residents there to deliver aid requires pre-cell-phone-era communication. The team approximated what time they would arrive, and the residents gathered outside to wait for them. The temperature outside was -15°C (5 °F), not accounting for the wind chill. The team was also delayed en route because without GPS the volunteers got a little lost, but the people did not dare leave, for fear of missing their chance to receive food and hygiene products they would not be able to receive otherwise. When the team finally arrived, the locals greeted the volunteers with gratitude and passed along their thanks to our donors.
Alena’s Returns to Kherson
Team Virgo traveled once again to Kherson. For once, the volunteers were glad of the freezing temperatures: due to the cold affecting drone batteries, the drones cannot fly as far as usual.
After delivering aid to 200 families and handing out gifts to 43 children, the team again returned to the buildings where the residents had formed a communal makeshift dwelling in the basement. (Our readers might remember the stories about the “cave dwellers” of Kherson from previous reports.) This time, the volunteers brought a full van of warm clothing, shoes, blankets, and more, to help the basement dwellers weather the cold winter.
Choosing Warmth over Safety
Dobra sprava’s volunteer Ihor reflects on the state of evacuations during the winter cold.
I’m reporting from my phone; which I managed to charge in the car during an evacuation. Sorry, but today’s report will be brief. This week has been incredibly difficult, and it started off just as hard. We are having a real winter here, like we haven't seen in about ten years. Due to Russian shelling, it is very cold in the houses, and there are severe problems with electricity and water. It’s 11°C (52°F) in my apartment, and the power has been out for two days now. In some places, outdoor temperatures have dropped to -22°C (-8°F).However, forecasters are promising that it will get warmer soon. Because of this, there haven’t been many evacuations. Despite the danger, it’s hard for people to decide to leave. The lack of heat and electricity in an unfamiliar place scares them more than the threat to their lives. This is especially true for those who have already adapted to heating their homes with wood stoves.
The people who evacuated this week either had had their windows completely blown out, or had no way at all to keep warm. In total, we made six trips this past week and evacuated 23 people. We also evacuated some animals and Anastasia and I delivered some humanitarian aid.
The frost also hit all the diesel vehicles. The fuel is constantly freezing. It’s low quality fuel that’s not suited to such a severe cold. Honestly, I feel like we’ve returned to the difficult years of the 90s…
We are waiting for the thaw with great anticipation – maybe at least then the electricity will come back. But as much as we are able, we are continuing the evacuations and urging people to save themselves before it’s too late.
Rocket Hits Timur’s Building
When events affect someone very personally, we often say that they “hit close to home.” This week, the expression took on a literal meaning for Timur when a rocket hit the apartment building where his family lives. In this case the expression seems like an understatement.
Team Summaries
Alina’s Team – Dobra sprava (Good Deeds)
6 trips evacuating 23 people.
Inna’s Team – Krok z nadiyeyu (Step with Hope)
163 tons of firewood delivered to Kharkiv region, Pavlohrad and Samar.
Held even for children in Kherson.
Disinfected and cleaned 3 spaces in Kherson.
Continued to support 40 people stuck in Kherson red zones.
Overall delivered 20.65 tons of aid to 8150 people.
6600 people received bread.
Visited 33 locations, 10 of them in high-risk zones.
Oleksandr D’s Volunteer Networks
Sandra S. (Odesa): The freezing temperature, together with the windchill factor and the humidity from the sea have made conditions very uncomfortable both for the kitchen staff and the people who come to receive meals. Fortunately, the team was able to negotiate with the train station management, which allowed the volunteers to serve the meals inside the station. About 600 meals were served.
Vladyslav K. (Mykolaiv): despite the cold, delivered 35 tons of drinking water to Mykolaiv.
Andriy P. (Mykolaiv): delivered apples to Kherson, Snihurivka, Bashtanka, and the Ochakiv community. These were then delivered to the front-line villages in the Mykolaiv and Kherson regions. Wheelchairs and mattresses were also distributed. Also sent 4 pallets of aid to Zaporizhia, Dnipro, Pavlohrad and the Kup’yans’k direction.
Yuri S. (Vinnytsia): report from 12/24/25 to 1/14/26. Delivered aid to the “Safe Space” overnight shelter 8 times. 111 people were staying at the shelter. Delivered 200 kg of apples, cabbages, and clothes to a psycho-neurological boarding school for 120 children in Stryzhavka, Vinnytsia Region. Provided 70 kg of food to a family of 4 people with disabilities. Brought a washing machine and apples to the social assistance center in Vinnytsia.
Vitaliy Z. (Kharkiv): provided aid in various locations in and around Kramatorsk, including 4 tons of humanitarian kits, clothes, medicine, and animal feed; almost 500 loaves of “Victory” bread; 45 tons of fuel briquettes, distributed among 150 households; gifts and toys for 150 schoolchildren in the village of Molotaranivka, less than 13 miles from the front line. Also, delivered a total of 22.5 tons of fuel briquettes to 75 households in the Balakliya territorial community and 97 cubic meters of firewood to 97 households in Savyntsi.
Oksana K. (Lutsk): supplied adult diapers and urological pads to 12 families who have disabled relatives.
Oleksandr Z. (Lutsk): provided therapeutic interventions and aid to IDP children and families, children and adults with disabilities, orphans, elderly people, military service members and children from military families, and amputees in Lutsk, Ostrozhets', Novosilka, and other parts of the Rivne and Volyn regions. 953 children and adults received help, including art therapy, theater therapy, music therapy, a New Year’s art exhibition, sports activities, help with bread and other food, help with glasses, dental, medical, and preventive procedures, and help with the manufacture of prostheses and rehabilitation.
Karina’s Team – My ryatuyemo Ukrayinu (We Save Ukraine)
113 people in the shelter.
Natasha’s Team – Volontersʹkyy tsentr Vyshnya (Cherry Volunteer Center)
Delivered 212 packages to the villages of Yarova and Lyman - one of the most active parts of the Donbas frontline.
Timur’s Team – Komanda Teymura Alyeva (Timur Alyev’s Team)
The team delivered aid packages to 266 people in Saltivka Kharkiv.
Special deliveries to 15 disabled elderly and 10 families with infants.
Pavel and Olena’s Teams – Dotyk sertsya (Touch of Heart) & Svitanok mriy (Dawn of Dreams)
69 tons of firewood delivered to Tavriyske and Pravdyne helping 237 families.
324 families received vegetables in Lubomyrivka, Myrne, Posad Pokrovske and Novohryhorivka - all villages in Kherson region.
Pomahaem Foundation (We Help Foundation)
130 packages delivered to Veselyi Hay.
Otherwise team conducted 6 trips to Zaporizhzhya region, registering 543 people for cash aid, provided by GFFO and Mercy Corps.
Marina’s Team – Daruy dobro Ukrayina (Give Good Ukraine)
150 food and hygiene packages were distributed to internally displaced people in Pyatikhatki.
Dina’s Team – Vilʹni lyudy, vilʹna krayina (Free People, Free Country)
Distributed 271 packages of aid in Kanev, Kremenchuk, and Poltava.
Received 2.5 tons of donated goods from Kengurush in Kremenchu.
Mailed 100 packages from Dnipro to small towns.
Served 1,210 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.
This week at the club for children with disabilities kids had art class and culinary class.
Alena’s Team – Diva (Virgo)
353 people in Odesa received bread.
35 wounded received help in the hospital.
Traveled to Kherson, delivering aid to 200 households with low incomes, and/or disabilities. Brought sweet treats and toys to 43 children that were donated by an individual in Odesa. Visited the basement communal dwelling, delivering a whole van full of blankets, warm clothes, shoes.
Anastasia’s Team – LoveUA
Traveled to Zaparo-Mar'ivka, delivering 151 packages of hygiene products and 151 packages of food aid.
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