June 25th, 2026
71,093 people evacuated from danger to date
65 people evacuated from danger this week
27 trips into deoccupied and frontline territories this week
Stories
Timur’s Team Evades Drone
As we’ve written in recent weeks, dangerous evacuations and disturbing near misses are becoming more common for our Ukrainian volunteers. Last week, Timur evacuated an 87- year-old woman from a frontline village. She was a World War II survivor who had hoped that the life-changing trauma of war was far behind her. Now, in old age, she has had to cope with another terrible war, which has forced her to abandon her home.
Danger is ever present in these frontline areas. The Russian drones hunt all civilian vehicles along with military ones. Most frontline evacuation teams must now carry drone detectors to avoid the danger. On this trip the detector may have saved the team’s lives.
During the evacuation the volunteers saw that a drone was following and targeting them. They had to stop and hide in the nearby trees until the danger had passed. (If this story sounds familiar to Dasha’s ordeal last week — it is!) Fortunately, as in last week’s case, the team was eventually able to make it to their destination in Kharkiv safe and sound, where the grandmother was met by family members who were eagerly waiting for her.
The Gift of Vision in Dark Times
One of the many humanitarian projects spearheaded by Inna’s team is the distribution of prescription glasses in high-risk areas where glasses are hard to obtain. UTC sponsors the logistics for these efforts, while the glasses themselves are provided by other charitable organizations. Here is a typical story reported to us by one of Inna’s volunteers based in Nikopol’.
The first patient told me: “I can’t see where I’m going. My glasses broke last summer when the windows were blown out in my house. I now feel my way around the world. It’s fine that I can’t read the newspaper, but I can’t see shrapnel pieces on the ground. The day before yesterday I cut my foot on one.”
I just nodded in response, since I'm used to such stories. It took a while, but we found the rigth pair of glasses for this man. When he put them on he exclaimed: “My God, son, you’ve given me my world back! I see your face now!”
Team Summaries
Alina’s Team – Dobra sprava (Good Deeds)
8 trips, evacuating 32 people.
Inna’s Team – Krok z nadiyeyu (Step with Hope)
7,950 people received aid.
4,200 received bread.
Teams took 9 trips to high-risk areas and distributed aid in 29 locations.
Disinfected 3 large basement spaces in Kherson and refueled 10 generators in Kherson red zones.
Oleksandr D’s Volunteer Networks
Oleksandr S. (Boyarka): Boyarka (Kyiv Region) – distributed 100 kg of food kits to internally displaced people (IDPs); held a meeting of the Restart Club to restore mental and physical health to 25 children and teenagers affected by military actions. Ukrainka (Kyiv Region) – distributed 1,2 tons of food and household chemicals; brought medicines and supplies to a medical center. Vasylkiv (Kyiv Region) – distributed 400 kg of rice. Bila Tserkva (Kyiv Region) – distributed 250 kg of baby food. Obukhiv (Kyiv Region) – delivered 1.2 tons of baby food, bound for the Sumy and Chernihiv regions. Elsewhere in the Kyiv Region – provided a dryer, washing machine, dishes, food kits, and rice to a family that lost its house due to shelling on 5/24/26; provided baby food for elderly and disabled people with digestive problems. Chernihiv Region – held a mental health, crafts, and social event for children in Bakhmach; distributed a total of 150 kg of rice in Bakhmach, Borzna, and Baturyn; delivered a walker to a seriously ill cancer patient elsewhere in the region. Sumy Region – distributed 1.2 tons of food kits to 150 families in Putyvl.
Vladyslav K. (Mykolaiv): delivered 35 tons of drinking water to Mykolaiv.
Sandra S. (Odesa): the kitchen prepared and distributed 600 freshly cooked meals. The team is looking for a new driver, as the current driver got another job. The volunteers are also getting ready for the upcoming hot weather by stocking up on hibiscus for refreshing drinks.
Yuri P. (Boryslav): delivered a total of 3.5 tons of baby food, yogurts, cookies, and cereals to Kamin-Kashyrskyi, Ostroh, Obukhiv, Kaniv, Cherkasy, and Tal’ne.
Vitaliy Z. (Kharkiv): delivered almost 4 tons of humanitarian kits, clothes, medicine, and animal feed to Sloviansk. Distributed almost 500 loaves of “Victory” bread in the village of Shabelkivka, in the Kramatorsk community. Kramatorsk authorities recently announced the mandatory evacuation of families with children, so residents are discussing their options. The team explained its free evacuation procedure and left their contact information. Distributed 500 kg of animal food in Kharkiv and spoke with a man who has rescued and adopted 36 homeless cats. Delivered almost 1.5 tons of specialized medical products, medicines, tools, and consumables to the Kharkiv Regional Clinical Traumatology Hospital, which treats wounded military members..
Hryhoriy M. (Tal’ne): held a 5-day event for 80 children including psychological support, classes, singing, games, and dessert. The attending children included those from large families, orphans, and children of fallen soldiers. Transportation was provided for children from the surrounding villages. 30 children from Tal’ne, including orphans, children from large families, and families who found themselves in difficult life circumstances, attended a rest, recovery, and rehabilitation program at You Camp in Bukovina, Chernivtsi Region. Overall the team serves over 500 children who need special attention and support.
Oksana K. (Lutsk): donated adult diapers to a seriously ill person. Helped a low-income IDP family with 5 kg of food.
Oleksandr Z. (Lutsk): provided therapeutic interventions and aid to IDPs, children and adults with disabilities, children from military families and from large families, families of fallen soldiers, wounded military personnel, orphans, elderly people, and amputees in Lutsk and Ostrozhets' and surrounding villages of the Rivne Region. 1099 children and adults received help, including visits to the theater, art therapy, music therapy, zootherapy, sports activities, help with bread and other food, meals served at a social cafe, help with glasses, dental, medical, and preventive procedures, psychological support, and help with the manufacture of wheelchairs for children and prostheses and rehabilitation for adults.
Zootherapy
Karina’s Team – My ryatuyemo Ukrayinu (We Save Ukraine)
103 people in the shelter.
Tetiana’s Team – Dopomoha poruch (Help Is Near)
Delivered 100 aid packages and hygiene products to refugees, old, and disabled people in Ternivka, Cherkasy Region.
Natasha’s Team – Volontersʹkyy tsentr Vyshnya (Cherry Volunteer Center)
Natalya delivered 227 packages to the Lyman community.
Timur’s Team – Komanda Teymura Alyeva (Timur Alyev’s Team)
Distributed 283 aid packages to seniors in Saltivka, Kharkiv.
Special deliveries to 43 families with infants and 22 disabled elderly.
The team evacuated an 87 year old grandmother.
Pavel and Olena’s Teams – Dotyk sertsya (Touch of Heart) & Svitanok mriy (Dawn of Dreams)
300 families received aid packages.
150 IDP families received packages in Mykolaiv and 150 in the villages of Myrne and Zoria.
Pomahaem Foundation (We Help Foundation)
245 new people arrived at the Volos’ke shelter, a substantial jump in the number of arrivals.
Children of the New Generation team took 7 trips, evacuating 32 people.
Marina’s Team – Daruy dobro Ukrayina (Give Good Ukraine)
Food and hygiene kits were distributed to 150 internally displaced families in Piatykhatky.
Dina’s Team – Vilʹni lyudy, vilʹna krayina (Free People, Free Country)
Distributed 332 packages in Kaniv, Kremenchuk, Poltava, and Dnipro.
Served 1,680 meals in the soup kitchen in Kharkiv.
Delivered 1,200 packages to small towns around Kharkiv.
Bohdan’s Team — Vse robymo sami (We Do Everything Ourselves)
Distributed 42 food and hygiene kits to families in Zhytomyr.
At the Club for Children with Disabilities, children have been enjoying field trips and other fun activities as a part of summer camp.
Alena’s Team – Diva (Virgo)
Distributed bread to 326 families 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.
