Themes by tag: volunteers

The idea of an oven on wheels to cook pizza in it came to Vitaliy at the beginning of 2023. He saw a version of an oven on wheels in the form of a trailer attached to a bus, and it is completely mobile. To implement his plan, Vitaliy bought an old bus, took his time to repair it and finally turned it into a vehicle that can ride around the entire front line and feed the soldiers with pizza, just like the pizza chef dreams. First, Vitaliy plans to try to cook pizza in Kyiv region in military hospitals, and later to go to the front line.

• food
• volunteers

Ultramarathoner Boas Kragtwijk started his journey on July 22 in Amsterdam. The athlete set himself the goal of running to Kyiv and raising funds for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Mostly, for ambulances and medical equipment and, also to show that the russo-Ukrainian war is not as far away as it seems. Boas Kragtwijk ran at least 50 kilometers every day. He managed to raise EUR 56,500 and already bought one ambulance.

On September 13, Boas Kragtwijk is coming back to the Netherlands. The ultramarathoner is ready to communicate with journalists online.

• volunteers

Tetiana Romaniuk joined the volunteer battalion “Hospitallers” in September 2022, when her skills as a quick response volunteer of the Red Cross Society in Ukraine came in handy. The woman went to the front line with five years of experience in emergency situations. In the break between evacuation missions, Tetiana works on towel embroidery, which is her way of trying to restore Ukrainian culture, which is being destroyed by the russian military.

• doctors
• volunteers
• women

Anton is 27. He is a surgical oncologist. The man was born in Donetsk region, since 2014 he has lived in Kharkiv. In order to help people who suffered as a result of the war, in August last year he joined the Ukrainian-Israeli mission of medical volunteers FRIDA Ukraine. And since in September 2022 the Armed Forces liberated the occupied territories of Kharkiv oblast, Anton participated in the first field medical missions to settlements de-occupied from the enemy. He recalls that he was most stricken by the sight of broken houses and burnt down tanks between them. And while helping people, he heard that fighting was still going on somewhere nearby.

In general, the medical volunteer managed to visit almost all the de-occupied settlements of Kharkiv region.

For reference: on September 6, 2022, Ukrainian troops launched a major counteroffensive in Kharkiv region. Subsequently, Kharkiv oblast was completely de-occupied.

The Ukrainian-Israeli medical volunteer movement FRIDA Ukraine has been helping civilians since the beginning of russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Volunteer doctors (of various specialties) travel to the frontline and de-occupied regions (for example, Kharkiv, Kherson, or Donetsk regions), where they help local residents who complain about their health. In particular, they consult locals, perform surgeries, evacuate and distribute medicines.

• casualties
• doctors
• occupation
• volunteers
• Kharkiv

With the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Fortune Volunteers NGO took up the task of providing medical supplies to the military. Volunteers, mostly women, began sewing first-aid kits for those at the front and learning what to fill them with. Currently, female volunteers sew first-aid kits according to NATO standards and fill them with medicines that may be needed at the front. In addition, women make knee pads and stretchers for carrying the wounded. Women from Zhytomyr say that they try to make everything as sturdy as possible so that things can last longer. But they always hope that none of the soldiers will have to use their first-aid kits.

• volunteers
• women

Before the Big War, Olena Kravchenko organized concerts in her native village in Poltava region. But since February 24, 2022, the woman has turned her organizational skills to volunteering. At first, Olena collected products for the territorial defense fighters of the region. In a few days, there was so much food that she could send several buses with supplies to the military.

Currently, Olena’s work resulted in food being collected in more than 10 villages of the community. Olena’s sister used to take products to the front line herself. Now it’s Kravchenko who has got behind the wheel and visits the military almost every week. Olena brings dried borscht and grain products, which it is convenient for the army men to take on missions, and those celebrating their birthdays get home-made cakes.

• food
• volunteers
• Poltava

A team of beauty industry professionals will visit one of the de-occupied villages in Mykolaiv region on September 10. The beauty volunteers will give free haircuts and massages and do eyebrows to the villagers.

For reference, the idea of beauty volunteering belongs to makeup artist Olha Belytska. Together with like-minded people, Olha comes to the de-occupied settlements of the Kyiv region, as well as to the other areas of the country, to help people who have faced the horrors of the occupation feel beautiful again.

• casualties
• occupation
• volunteers
• Mykolaiv

In Kharkiv region, the Kharlamov family (mother Halyna, father Serhii, and son Yevhen) were evacuating people from under shelling since the beginning of the full-scale war. They became the founders of “Volunteer-68 Humanitarian Aid Center” NGO.

In particular, the volunteer family helped evacuate people across the Pechenihy dam in 2022, when part of Kharkiv region was still under occupation. Halyna recalls that it took people 5-6 hours to get to this dam alone, getting through more than 20 enemy checkpoints. Women with children, elderly people were completely exhausted. Almost every woman cried after reaching a safe place. And after the liberation of the region, “Volunteer-68” team drove into populated areas in ambulances and picked up people with limited mobility as well as everyone else who wanted to evacuate.

Recently, “Volunteer-68 Humanitarian Aid Center” NGO and Vostok-SOS Charitable Foundation initiated the opening of a temporary shelter in Kharkiv for low-mobility population groups and people with disabilities who are being evacuated from front-line communities.

For reference: on September 6, 2022, Ukrainian troops launched a major counteroffensive in Kharkiv region. Subsequently, Kharkiv region was completely de-occupied.

• casualties
• occupation
• volunteers
• Kharkiv
• evacuation

Before becoming a farmer, Natalia Koval taught at the Kharkiv National University of Economics. In 2011, her husband suggested starting a farm and Natalia agreed. In 2022, their family farm in one of the villages of Kharkiv region had more than three hundred cows and 12 employees. With the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the farm was occupied.

Families with children remained in the village, and the farm became their salvation. After all, milk was distributed there for free, as well as bread baked by farm employees. The farm had its own generator, and thus electricity. Sometimes one could even catch a mobile connection there.

Occupiers took Natalia’s husband “to the basement,” he miraculously managed to get out. Today, the farm is recovering after all the horrors it experienced.

For reference: on September 6, 2022, Ukrainian troops launched a major counteroffensive in Kharkiv region. Subsequently, Kharkiv region was completely de-occupied.

• animals
• occupation
• volunteers
• women
• Kharkiv

On September 2-3, volunteers of the Brave to Rebuild project will be dismantling the rubble of buildings destroyed by the all-out invasion of Russia. They will work in Irpin, Horenka, and Hostomel in the Kyiv region: 

For reference: The Brave to Rebuild project aims to help residents of the de-occupied territories of Ukraine. Volunteers are restoring housing and social institutions damaged as a result of Russia’s full-scale aggression against Ukraine. Volunteers from Europe, the United States, Canada, and Australia are also involved in the project. 

• volunteers
• Kyiv