Themes by tag: volunteers

With the beginning of the full-scale war, Mykola Volyka, a resident of Lebedyn village in Cherkasy oblast, was approached by a fellow soldier and asked to make 300 staples for his unit. Mykola, who had never dealt with metal before, set up a forge right in his yard. He studied blacksmithing together with his friends, whom he also invited to join in. Later, he involved his fellow villagers to the forge to produce not only staples, but also potbelly stoves, axes, pickaxes, anti-tank hedgehogs and spades.

Tetiana Chepur, now a craftswoman in the forge, says that women actively took up the new activity. And now they are the main workers as a total of five female blacksmiths volunteer at the forge. They often work in the evenings after finishing their day jobs.

Since the forge was created, volunteers managed to make 156,000 staples, 13,000 pickaxes and 10,000 spades.

• volunteers
• women
• Cherkasy

Colonel Monte and Colonel Chuck from the U.S. call themselves the “Traveling Colonels.” They are retired US Marine Corps officers, both are Iraq War veterans. The men help Ukraine: they bring medical and other supplies purchased, in particular, with funds donated by U.S. citizens. All this is transferred to the Ukrainian military at the front. For example, in October 2023, in just one week, Monte and Chuck, together with volunteers from Ukraine, Canada and the U.S., prepared and packed 1,167 IFAKS (NATO standard Individual First Aid Kit) and 16 medical bags in Kyiv. In addition, colonels help civilians with medicines.

Colonel Monte is currently volunteering in Ukraine with ex-servicemen Dave (Navy Captain), Steve and David. They are assembling first aid kits for Ukrainian soldiers and medical boxes of supplies.

Colonel Chuck will arrive a little later to coordinate the unloading of a shipping container with medical supplies for the hospital.

Journalists have the opportunity to talk with the “Traveling Colonels” in the capital.

• volunteers
• Kyiv

Prior to the full-blown enemy invasion, Violetta Oliinyk used to make custom jewelry. The girl’s life changed on February 24, 2022, when her father and brother volunteered for mobilization to the Defense Forces. Violetta recalled her experience as a volunteer in 2014, when Russia first attacked Ukraine and her brother stood up to defend the country. So she started setting up fundraising, buying everything the service members needed, including drones, thermal imagers, tile carriers, sights, and cars.

Later, she decided to try to build a drone herself, as purchasing them does not come cheap. For that, Violetta took two free online courses that taught her how to assemble FPV drones, passed a theory exam, ordered the first parts, and equipped a small workshop in Chernivtsi. Nine of Violetta’s FPV drones are already eliminating the occupiers at the front. She recently assembled four more, which she sent to her brother, and soon six more will be ready for her father. The craftswoman says she get inspired by the military’s feedback and videos of her “birds” in use.

• volunteers
• women
• Chernivtsi

Yevhen Kompanets ended up in a wheelchair as a result of an industrial injury in 2011. At that time, in the hospital, he met his future wife, who worked as a nurse. And now, together with their daughter, they cook goodies in their kitchen for Ukraine’s defenders. 

The family started volunteering in April 2022. They work every day and have already prepared 150 thousand dishes for the defenders. These include dumplings, pancakes, donuts, pies, and chebureks. (The dumplings are oven-ready meals, so service members only need to defrost them). In addition, the family prepares borscht dressings and cutlets and even manages to send more than 7 tons of pork fat to the defenders. The family invests their own money in the work, and caring people also help with donations.

Journalists can talk to Yevhen by phone, online, or site visit after February 15.

For reference: February 24, 2024, Ukraine marks 2 years since Russia commenced its unprovoked criminal full-scale invasion. This attack was the culmination of the initial war of aggression that Russia has been waging against Ukraine for 10 years. This armed conflict was ignited on February 20, 2014. Back then, Russians invaded the territory of Ukrainian Crimea giving no obvious sign of its covert military operation in the now-occupied peninsula. After that, Russia started a war in Ukraine’s east. 

• food
• volunteers
• Cherkasy

With the onset of the full-blown war, Ihor Kazio, a dentist with 15 years of experience, decided to stay in the capital and help the citizens. Ihor, his father, and brother, who belong to the same profession, provided free-of-charge services when the Russian military convoy closed in on the capital and most medical facilities in Kyiv were closed.

After the invaders were driven out of the Kyiv region, Ihor started looking for ways to help the military who could not leave the front line to see a dentist. This is how the Kazo Mobile Dental project—mobile dentistry in a mobile setting that helps soldiers near the front line, was born. A team of doctors ready to work in the frontline regions was assembled quite quickly: specialists from different cities responded to the call. Each of their trips lasts at least two weeks. Kazo Mobile Dental has already made three visits to the frontline regions and performed dental treatment for more than a thousand soldiers. Now the team is preparing for their next trip, which will take place on February 8.

For reference: Kazo Mobile Dental is ready to communicate with journalists, both online and offline, by prior arrangement.

• doctors
• military
• volunteers

The Safe Sky Charitable Foundation was founded after a Ukraine International Airlines passenger flight was shot down near Tehran, Iran, on January 8, 2020. Since then, the organization has been taking care of the families of those killed in the plane crash.

On February 24, 2022, the volunteers made a pivot to help Kharkiv, which suffers from constant shelling by the occupiers. In particular, in December 2023, they assembled a “Rapid Response Team”—a team of those who cared, who proceeded immediately to the utility services workers’ assistance. “The Rapid Response Team” operates in places of the enemy missile hit and, together with the emergency services, eliminates the consequences of the shelling. In particular, they dismantle rubble, board up windows and doors with special plates, and repair roofs. In addition, the volunteers provide humanitarian assistance and mental health and psychological support to the affected Kharkiv residents. Currently, the team consists of about 20 people, and in total, there are more than 150 volunteers from various humanitarian organizations working on cleanup at a damaged facility site. 

For reference: February 24, 2024, Ukraine marks 2 years since Russia commenced its unprovoked criminal full-scale invasion. This attack was the culmination of the initial war of aggression that Russia has been waging against Ukraine for 10 years. This armed conflict was ignited on February 20, 2014. Back then, Russians invaded the territory of Ukrainian Crimea giving no obvious sign of its covert military operation in the now-occupied peninsula. After that, Russia started a war in Ukraine’s east. 

• volunteers
• Kharkiv

Before the full-scale invasion, Anastasiia Ovcharenko worked with her husband in the IT industry in Kharkiv. The couple were raising a daughter.

When the big war started the family found themselves in their hometown. On the night of February 24, Anastasiia heard the explosions of russian rockets. The woman has been volunteering since March. Together with her husband, Anastasiia has set up fundraisers for the army and taken care of military vehicles.

On January 23, 2024, an enemy missile hit Anastasiia’s apartment. That morning, the couple had to go to Kyiv to take a military car to a workshop. The first explosions happened at 4 AM, so they asked their daughter to also go out to the car with them. Anastasiia and her family were around the corner from their house when a russian missile hit the building. Even after they lost their home, the Ovcharenkos did not abandon the military vehicle, but brought it to Kyiv as planned. And in a few days, they delivered the vehicle to the military in the East.

Anastasiia says that even despite the loss of a roof over their heads, the family will continue to volunteer and work for the Armed Forces, because only the Defense Forces will be able to stop the occupiers.

For reference: February 24, 2024 marks 2 years since the beginning of russia’s illegal full-scale invasion. The attack marked the culmination of the war of aggression, which the russian federation had been waging against Ukraine for 10 years at that point. This war began on February 20, 2014 when the russians invaded the territory of the Ukrainian Crimea without identification marks and occupied the peninsula. After that, russia started a war in the East of Ukraine.

• casualties
• russian crimes
• volunteers
• women
• Kharkiv

“Behind Blue Eyes” is a charity project encouraging children from de-occupied and front-line villages of Ukraine to film their lives on disposable film cameras, and in return, ordinary people can fulfill the wishes of young creators. The project’s team travels the country to support children’s ability to dream, despite the traumatic experience of war, and to show that creativity can be a powerful tool to make those dreams come true.

Project participants receive film cameras for a week to take pictures of whatever they want. Then the children return the film with photos to the team along with their wishlists. “Behind Blue Eyes” publishes children’s photos along with their stories on the project’s platforms, and everyone can reward the authors of the photos by choosing something from their wishlists.

For reference: “Behind Blue Eyes” project was created almost two years ago. It was created by a team of volunteers who initially took care of de-occupied villages in Chernihiv oblast. Since the project was founded, 96 children have participated in it. They have taken more than 2,500 unique photos.

• children
• volunteers

Yuriy Zhytnikov is a volunteer from Poltava region, who single-handedly assembles kamikaze drones for the front-line military from his home. When the man became interested in the production of these weapons, he had neither specialized training nor the necessary skills to do it. In the summer of 2023, Yuriy began studying drone design and watching videos on social networks to understand how they work, but he was not ready to assemble them himself. Later, the volunteer saw an advertisement for “People’s Drone” training program by Victory Drones. This is a free engineering course that offers to teach anyone to assemble a 7-inch FPV drone at home. The man bought the necessary tools and started a three-week course in November.

Yuriy resoldered his first kamikaze drone as many as 4 times, because at that point the volunteer had never held a soldering iron in his hands. The man assembled the second drone in a day. Yuriy admits that the best motivation for his work is positive feedback from the military.

• volunteers

70-year-old Olha is a teacher who takes care of 5 adopted children. Her husband is severely ill.

The village in the Kherson region where the family lived was occupied by Russia since the beginning of its full-scale invasion. The woman was living in fear of enemy military might separate her from her children, as her daughter and sons were adoptees. They managed to flee life under occupation only on the third attempt.

Now the family lives in a rented apartment. However, Olha’s brother helped them buy a plot of land in the Kyiv region. Dobrobat volunteers assisted in constructing new housing for the family. It will be a one-story eco-house made of wood. They will start building it with the onset of warm weather.

For reference: “Dobrobat” is a volunteer building division helping those affected to restore housing and social infrastructure in the de-occupied territories.

• casualties
• children
• occupation
• reconstruction
• volunteers
• Kyiv