Themes by tag: volunteers

Valerii and Tetiana Popovych live in Vyshkovo, a village in the Zakarpattia region. Valerii is a carpenter, and Tetiana is a teacher. Their 35-year-old son serves in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. After the full-scale invasion began, the couple took on the mission of returning fallen soldiers to their hometowns for burial. Valerii volunteers with the Na Shchyti (On the Shield) mission, and Tetiana often accompanies him on his trips. 

Together, they organize exhibitions of war artifacts to collect donations for their journeys. Previously, they traveled as far as the eastern front to retrieve fallen soldiers’ bodies. Now, they travel to neighboring regions to meet with other Na Shchyti volunteers to expedite the return of fallen soldiers whose families await them in Zakarpattia.

Valerii has organized a team of seven drivers, including two priests. The drivers take turns on missions to retrieve fallen soldiers’ bodies. Valerii and Tetiana explain that these journeys are psychologically exhausting, yet they feel they cannot stop.

Valerii and Tetiana Popovych are available for interviews online and in person in the Zakarpattia region by prior arrangement.

For reference: The Na Shchyti (On the Shield) project, run by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, is dedicated to locating and evacuating the bodies of fallen Ukrainian soldiers.

• dead
• military
• volunteers
• Uzhhorod

Before the full-scale invasion, Iryna Koval worked with metal constructions for the building industry. On February 24, 2022, however, her business had to pivot to support the military.

The first product developed by Iryna’s team was the Brammer tactical evacuation cart, which is designed to transport an adult over long distances. Weighing 25 kilograms with a load capacity of 150 kilograms, the cart allows one person to independently evacuate a wounded comrade. The team also developed lightweight drag stretchers for use in areas inaccessible to vehicles.

Their latest innovation is tactical trailers for ATVs (quad bikes), which can evacuate three wounded soldiers simultaneously. This work was recognized with the “Created by Women” award, which supports women entrepreneurs during the war.

Since starting this project, Iryna’s company has produced over 8,500 evacuation devices. With their help, soldiers on the front lines are saving the lives of their comrades.

Iryna Koval is available for interviews online and in person in Odesa by prior arrangement.

• volunteers
• women
• Odesa

The B50 community, a grassroots volunteer network born in the opening days of russia’s full-scale invasion, has evolved from post-liberation cleanup efforts to producing critical military supplies for Ukrainian troops.

The group took its name from the code-name “B50,” the clandestine designation for a Territorial Defense Forces headquarters in Kyiv where its founders first connected in the chaotic early weeks of the war.

After Ukrainian forces pushed russian troops out of the Kyiv region, B50 volunteers were among the first on the ground in Bucha, Irpin, Vorzel, and Hostomel, helping clear rubble and debris from devastated areas.

In the war’s initial phase, the community concentrated on humanitarian work: traveling to recently deoccupied towns and villages around Kyiv to remove wreckage, repair shelters, and even brighten children’s bomb shelters with decorations.

As the conflict wore on, B50 redirected its efforts toward direct support for the armed forces. Today, volunteers repair specialized equipment before it’s delivered to frontline units, assemble batteries for drones, weave camouflage nets, and address a range of other urgent needs expressed by the Ukrainian military.

Those wishing to connect with the B50 team, whether online or in person in Kyiv, can do so by prior arrangement.

• volunteers
• Kyiv

Yevhen Tkachov manages the Proliska humanitarian center in Donetsk Oblast. A veterinarian by trade and a volunteer by calling, he has spent 11 years evacuating civilians from towns on the front lines. His mission intensified after russia’s full-scale invasion, and he worked in Bakhmut, Siversk, and Soledar. He delivers aid and provides care for people and animals affected by the conflict.

Yevhen continues these evacuations today, facing challenges like russian drone attacks and the aggressor country’s blatant disregard for humanitarian law. According to Yevhen, evacuations are also hindered by the people themselves, who are difficult to persuade to leave despite all the dangers.

Years before the full-scale war, Yevhen established a hospice for the elderly in Chasiv Yar, Donetsk oblast. It was destroyed by russian forces in 2022, forcing the relocation of its patients to the Khmelnytskyi oblast. His family, including his son, now helps sustain this vital work.

Yevhen Tkachov is available for interviews online or in person by appointment.

• animals
• casualties
• volunteers
• evacuation

From January 10 to 11, groups of volunteer doctors from FRIDA Ukraine will travel to provide medical aid to civilians in areas near the front lines. They will head to the Sumy and Chernihiv oblasts.

Journalists will have the opportunity to cover the work of the medical volunteers on the ground and interview patients and doctors by prior arrangement.

Background: FRIDA Ukraine medical volunteer missions involve regular trips by a team of doctors to frontline and remote communities in Ukraine. Each mission comprises over 20 specialists in various fields, including neurologists, surgeons, gynecologists, therapists, and dermatologists. During these trips, the team provides free medical appointments, consultations, and tests for local residents. Recently, the team has also begun conducting cancer screenings — early diagnostics for oncological diseases — to help detect illnesses at their initial stages.

• volunteers
• Chernihiv
• Sumy

Patrick van ‘t Haar, a journalist from the Netherlands, is bucking the narrative of “war fatigue.” In just one week around Christmas 2025, he mobilized readers of three Dutch newspapers to donate a record €885,000 for Ukraine.

This isn’t a one-off effort. What started as a personal initiative has evolved into a major media-driven campaign, delivering more than €2.5 million to Ukraine over three years.

Van ‘t Haar brought together three regional outlets, the Leeuwarder Courant, Dagblad van het Noorden, and Friesch Dagblad, transforming everyday readers into a dedicated network of supporters.

Most of the money supports the Voices of Children Foundation. Van ‘t Haar believes investing in the psychological recovery of children is the smartest priority right now. Through his efforts, children of service members and youth from frontline regions have received rehabilitation at Voices Camp and Camp+.

He makes the trip to Ukraine himself six or seven times a year, driving his own van to deliver generators, medicines, and other aid from Irpin to Kherson and Kharkiv.

Journalists can request comments from van ‘t Haar on how he keeps Ukraine front and center in Dutch media coverage. A joint interview is also available with Olena Rozvadovska, co-founder of the Voices of Children Charitable Foundation, discussing how trust is built between a foreign donor and the organization.

Van ‘t Haar is open to online interviews as well. He is scheduled to return to Ukraine in March.

• volunteers

This holiday season, World Central Kitchen (WCK) is introducing Kutia kits in Ukraine — seasonal food kits inspired by one of the most significant Christmas traditions in the country.

Kutia, a traditional dish made from wheat, is prepared on Christmas Eve and holds deep cultural significance for Ukrainians. For families living under conditions of war, displacement, and loss, the ability to prepare this familiar holiday dish helps them maintain a sense of continuity, dignity, and unity during difficult times.

Each Kutia kit contains the non-perishable ingredients needed to prepare the dish at home, including wheat, poppy seeds, dried fruits, walnuts, and honey, as well as a simple recipe.

As part of the pilot project, WCK will distribute 20,000 Kutia kits to families in frontline and near-frontline communities across eight Ukrainian regions: Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, and Chernihiv oblasts.

Media are invited to cover the distribution of Kutia kits in the Kharkiv, Kherson, Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy, Zaporizhzhia, and Mykolaiv regions, pending security assessments. Interviews with the leadership of the World Central Kitchen mission in Ukraine are available in person (in Lviv or Kyiv) or online. WCK can also provide photo and video b-roll from distribution sites upon request.

Background: World Central Kitchen began providing food aid in Ukraine immediately after the start of the full-scale invasion in 2022. Since then, the organization has continuously adapted its work, combining emergency food provision with innovative long-term food access projects. To date, WCK has provided over 292 million meals across the country.

• culture
• food
• volunteers

Tetiana Romaniuk experienced the beginning of the full-scale invasion alongside the Rapid Response Teams of the Red Cross Society in Ukraine. Her volunteer skills proved invaluable when evacuating people with limited mobility from parts of the Kyiv oblast and from frontline areas in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.

In August 2022, Tetiana joined the volunteer Hospitallers Medical Battalion. She went to the front lines with five years of experience working in emergency situations. For over three years now, Tetiana has been working under extreme conditions, often at great risk to her own life.

Tetiana recalls one particular evacuation: her crew was rescuing the same soldier for the second time. The Hospitallers vehicle came under fire but only the car was damaged.

During breaks between evacuation missions, Tetiana embroidered traditional towels to distract herself from her experiences. It is also a way to help preserve Ukrainian culture, which is being destroyed by russian forces.

Journalists can speak with Tetiana Romaniuk online or offline by prior arrangement.

• culture
• doctors
• volunteers
• women

Roberto Faletti, an Italian national, has come to Ukraine for the seventieth time since the start of the full-scale invasion. He first crossed the Ukrainian border on February 26, 2022, and has been volunteering and supporting Ukrainians ever since.

Together with his team, he founded the charitable organization La Memoria Viva, which delivers humanitarian aid to internally displaced persons, people from frontline areas, orphans, and the children of fallen Ukrainian soldiers. During his 70th mission, Roberto has visited the Donetsk, Kharkiv, Odesa, and Kherson oblasts.

Journalists can speak with Roberto Faletti online or offline by prior arrangement.

• volunteers

Three teams of volunteer doctors with FRIDA Ukraine are scheduled to deploy on December 13-14 to deliver medical care to civilians living near the front lines. The groups will travel to communities in the Sumy, Kherson, and Chernihiv regions.

Journalists, by prior arrangement, will be able to document the work of the medical teams and speak with both patients and staff during the missions.

For reference: FRIDA Ukraine Medical Mission dispatches regular medical teams to the frontline and hard-to-reach communities, sending more than 20 health professionals, including neurologists, surgeons, gynecologists, internists, dermatologists, and others. During each deployment, residents receive free consultations, examinations, and diagnostic tests. In recent months, the teams have also broadened their services to include early cancer screening to detect the disease at its most treatable stage.

• volunteers
• Chernihiv
• Kherson
• Sumy