October 9th, 2025
69,251 people evacuated from danger to date
52 people evacuated from danger this week
31 trips into deoccupied and frontline territories this week
The situation in the Donbas continues to deteriorate. Recently, enemy diversion and reconnaissance groups have been spotted in Druzhkivka. Its power supply has been cut, and, starting this week, the curfew has been extended from 2:00 p.m. to 11:00 a.m. of the following day. The tension is palpable, with many residents sensking that this may be the last moment for them to evacuate in an orderly fashion. They are faced with the tough choice of either resigning to their fate and most likely dying under indiscriminate Russian shelling, or leaving their homes and communities for the unknown.
Contrary to the claims of pro-Russian propaganda, the frontline is moving very slowly. However, we see firsthand the immense toll this gradual movement is inflicting on the most vulnerable people still remaining in frontline areas. Despite the gloom, we are grateful for your continued support. Together we can take part in a meaningful, specific effort that substantially improves the lives of these unprotected civilians.
Stories
Floods in Odesa
We are used to reporting on cataclysmic events caused by Russian aggression, but the flooding that struck Odesa last week was the result of relentless rain. In just seven hours, Odesa was inundated by nearly two months’ worth of precipitation, which killed nine people, flooded roads, vehicles, and apartments, and and caused widespread damage across the city.
Sandra, who runs the soup kitchen we support in Odesa, wrote: “Despite the rain, we were back in the kitchen on Monday. The team is incomplete — some volunteers’ homes have been flooded and they’re busy with repairs — but we are doing our best, because people depend on our food.”
Alena’s team Virgo was hit especially hard. Their warehouse, located on the outskirts of the city near a small farm, flooded so severely that rescue crews had to be brought in from neighboring towns to pump out the water and clear the debris. Much of the aid the team had prepared for delivery this month was destroyed. Two dogs, an adult goat, and several goat kids from the nearby farm didn’t survive. The team is devastated by the loss of the animals they knew well, and physically drained after a week of grueling cleanup work.
Kherson Volunteers Recognized For Their Efforts
Our Kherson volunteers — part of Inna Kampen’s organization Krok z nadiyeyu — were recognized last week by the Kherson Regional Administration for their tireless work in helping city residents and the Ukrainian military. Ukraine TrustChain has proudly supported the humanitarian efforts of this team and weekly reports on their projects. We admire the courage of Kherson’s fearless volunteers, who travel weekly to red-zone neighborhoods, delivering bread, fuel, and hope to the elderly residents still living in these areas.
A Thank You Letter from Ukrainian Evacuees
Our Ukrainian teams send us many messages of gratitude from the people they support. These are simple expressions of heartfelt thanks, often expressing similar sentiments. We like to occasionally share these messages with our readers to pass the gratitude on to you — the real people who make this work possible. Here is one of such note from a recent evacuee:
Natalia:
We sincerely thank the foundation for helping us evacuate. We were planning to leave in a week, but all the transporters were busy. However, the shelling was getting heavier every day. After a strike hit the bread factory and the blast wave blew out our windows, we realized we had to leave urgently. Thank you for responding so quickly and for helping us take our essential belongings. Now my mother and I are safe.
Help in Occupied Territories
85 families received aid in four occupied towns.
Team Summaries
Alina’s Team – Dobra sprava (Good Deeds)
11 trips, evacuating 49 people, 7 of them children from Oleksijevo-Druzhkivka, Druzhkivka, Kramatorsk, Sloviansk, Svyatohirs'k, Mykolaivka, Bilozers'ke, Novodonets'ke, Dobropillia, and Oleksandrivka.
Inna’s Team – Krok z nadiyeyu (Step with Hope)
20.6 tons of aid delivered to 7,850 people.
6,600 people received bread.
Volunteers visited 11 high-risk frontline areas and 34 other locations.
Kherson volunteers conducted rat and insect exterminations in 12 spacesm including 6 large basements.
Kherson team completed 13 targeted missions, delivering fuel to generators located in red zones, as well as delivering aid, and feeding animals abandoned by evacuated owners.
Evacuated 3 people out of Druzhkivka, and 1 from Kostyantynivka.
Angelia Charitable Fund
Volunteers Volodymyr T. and Vadym brought 1,500 kg of aid from Munich to the Mykolaiv Region, including medical supplies, children's clothing and footwear, children's toys, child seats, clothing and footwear for adults, a wheelchair for people with disabilities, crutches, and food.
The team also sent 150 kg of muesli and muesli bars, which were received from Lüneburg, to the Mykolaiv orphanage.
The team’s third volunteer is still undergoing medical treatment.
Oleksandr D’s Volunteer Networks
Oleksandr S. (Boyarka): Kyiv Region: delivered 3 minibuses worth of furniture to internally displaced people (IDPs). Held a social event for IDP children and children from socially vulnerable groups in Boyarka. This event, called Country of Changes, was attended by 54 children. Received 100 empty canisters at the Boyarka headquarters, to be used for humanitarian projects. Sumy Region: distributed 350 kg of clothing and baby food through the Pluriton organization, which takes care of IDPs in the front-line territories of the region. Delivered 1 ton of clothing to a refugee center in Sumy. Brought a total of 2,500 kg of food and clothing to disabled people, children of disabled people, and orphans,in the villages of Kyrykivka, Ryabyna, Ivanivka, Vyshchevesele, and Yabluchne.
Vladyslav K. (Mykolaiv): water deliveries to Mykolaiv have resumed! This week the team delivered 42 tons of water.
Sandra S. (Odesa): the team is recovering from a flood that affected Odesa and submerged one of the volunteers’ apartments knee-deep in water. But the kitchen has continued working, although not yet at full capacity.
Yuri S. (Vinnytsia): on 5 different days, brought food to 56 residents of the Vinnytsia Safe Space night shelter for the homeless. On 4 different days, ordered food delivery for a disabled woman and her young daughter in Poltava. Helped a disabled man with 500 UAH to buy food. On 3 different days, 500 UAH was issued to a homeless feeding service in Vinnytsia. Added 250 UAH each to prepaid phone accounts of 8 people with disabilities. Helped a disabled person move a sofa. Delivered 50 kg of apples to 2 families with disabilities.
Vitaliy Z. (Kharkiv): delivered 1 ton of medicines to a Kharkiv hospital that treats patients right off the front line. Delivered 3 tons of humanitarian kits, clothes, medicine, and animal feed to the very dangerous Zelenyi Hai neighborhood of Lyman. Evacuated a woman and her belongings from an area of Lyman where there is no longer even military personnel and the roads are covered by anti-drone nets. The evacuation had to be conducted under cover of darkness, but was successful. Distributed “Victory” bread in the Kramatorsk community. Visited an orphanage in Savyntsi, Izium District, bringing toys from abroad, children’s clothes, and treats.
Serhiy A. (Kharkiv): serving the blind and visually impaired community. Organized meetings and distributed a total of 842 food sets in Kharkiv, Marhanets’, Zaporizhzhia, Pavlohrad, Kryvyi Rih, Odesa, Kamianske, Sumy, Bar, Uman, Khmelnytskyi, Shepetivka, Kamianets-Podilskyi, Rivne, and Lutsk. Received groceries from Odesa, Vinnytsia, and Kryvoshyivka at the Kharkiv headquarters, for further assembly into food sets..
WeCare Centers (Lviv): delivered a total of 2-3 tons of chairs, desks, tables, and mattresses to IDPs and others in Odesa, Uman, and Dnipro.
Artem S. (Hostomel’): transported belongings for a family with 3children, which had to leave Kramatorsk and relocate to Kyiv.
Oleksandr Z. (Lutsk): provided therapeutic interventions and aid to IDP children and families, large families, children with disabilities, children from military families, orphans, military veterans and service members, and amputees in Lutsk, Ostrozhets’, Uizdtsi, and Horodnytsya. 750 children and adults received help, including art therapy classes, help with bread and other food, a visit to the theater, a puppet theater, and a museum, a public art cafe, 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.
Karina’s Team – My ryatuyemo Ukrayinu (We Save Ukraine)
114 people in the shelter.
Tetiana’s Team – Dopomoha poruch (Help Is Near)
Delivered 80 aid packages, hygiene products and internet connectivity equipment to the village of Pokrovs’ke, Dnipro region.
Timur’s Team – Komanda Teymura Alyeva (Timur Alyev’s Team)
Distributed 332 aid packages to families in the Saltivka neighborhood of Kharkiv and in Sloviansk.
Special deliveries to 21 disabled elderly and 25 families with infants.
One of the seniors the team helped regularly over the years recently passed away. The death has taken an emotional toll on Timur and the other volunteers.
Pavel and Olena’s Teams – Dotyk sertsya (Touch of Heart) & Svitanok mriy (Dawn of Dreams)
Delivered 140 packages to Myrne and Novohryhorivka.
Warm clothes for the winter delivered to the village of Kobzartsi.
Pomahaem Foundation (We Help Foundation)
320 packages delivered to IDPs going through Volos’ke shelter.
2,057 people have passed through the Volos’ke shelter as of today. 150 people pass through in transit daily.
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 320 packages in Kremenchuk, Poltava, and Kanev.
Served 1,280 meals in the soup kitchen in Kharkiv.
Distributed 270 packages in the Kharkiv area.
80 families in Kremenchuk received household goods, clothes, and toys.
Bohdan’s Team — Vse robymo sami (We Do Everything Ourselves)
Food and hygiene kits were provided to 42 families in Zhytomyr.
Children at the Club for Children with Disabilities participated in art and cooking classes.
Alena’s Team – Diva (Virgo)
Helped 42 wounded in the hospital in Odesa.
540 families received donated bread 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.