Themes by tag: volunteers

Eight years ago, Lesia Mandur moved from Avdiivka, Donetsk region (the city has been occupied since February this year) to Irpin, Kyiv region. At the beginning of the full-scale war, she had to leave home again.

After the russian retreat from Kyiv region, Lesia returned to Irpin. And at the beginning of 2023, she founded a volunteer movement that makes energy bars for the military. Parishioners of one of the local churches (about 10 women) joined the initiative.

Volunteers make 44 kilograms of energy bars every week, which amounts to more than 500 bars. The ingredients include various nuts, cranberries, dates, dried apricots, dried plums and apples, raisins, sunflower seeds and honey.

This week, the volunteer movement faced difficulties – they could not work due to power outages. After all, a special device for grinding food is used in production, and it requires electricity. So now they are collecting fuel to start using a generator starting next week and continue working.

• volunteers
• women
• Kyiv

Founded in the early weeks of russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the PowerKit project began with five friends and has since grown to over 100 volunteers from across Ukraine and abroad. The project’s mission is to supply the Ukrainian Armed Forces with free-of-charge, powerful, and user-friendly power banks. Each PowerKit power bank features a red LED strip, USB outputs, and a special connector for charging military radios.

In addition to supporting the military, the project has an environmental focus: repurposing disposable electronic cigarettes. These devices contain lithium batteries, which are well-suited for creating rechargeable powerful power banks.

Since its inception, PowerKit volunteers have produced 5,015 power banks, reusing 200,600 e-cigarettes in the process.

Journalists are invited to meet the project team and report on their work in Kyiv.

• volunteers
• Kyiv

Lars Fersters, a Swedish citizen and former sailor, has embarked on a mission alongside the Kyiv-based volunteer group, Dobrobat, to restore the home of a senior woman in Irpin. Her dwelling place sustained significant damage from shelling during the spring of 2022 and requires meticulous reconstruction.

Fersters expressed his inability to idly watch as Ukrainians suffer from russian attacks, prompting him to leave behind his domestic affairs and join Dobrobat as a volunteer.

For context: “Dobrobat” is a volunteer construction unit dedicated to swiftly restoring housing and social infrastructure facilities in de-occupied territories.

• volunteers
• Kyiv

A women’s volunteer fire brigade emerged in Rivne Oblast at the onset of the full-blown invasion. Spearheaded by Alla Karpiuk, head of the Velyka Omeliana village community, the brigade sprang into action after Karpiuk’s firsthand experiences battling blazes, including three fire incidents involving homes and dry grass, when under coordination with firefighters, she helped save people’s property. 

Comprising 21 volunteers, the fire brigade boasts diverse backgrounds, with members ranging from deputies and accountants to saleswomen. Even a widow, grappling with the war’s toll, has joined the ranks.

Currently, the team is immersed in rigorous training provided by the State Emergency Service, honing skills in first aid, fire hose manipulation, fire extinguisher operation, and water management to earn their professional certifications. 

Journalists, upon arrangement, are welcome to engage with brigade members for firsthand insights, either in person or online.

• volunteers
• women
• Rivne

Anastasia Astafieva is one of the best tattoo artists and tattoo removal specialists in the capital. After the start of the full-scale invasion, Anastasia was approached by a military man who wanted to have his tattoo removed. There was gunpowder residue embedded into the skin of his face after an explosion. Anastasia tried to remove these specks with a laser, because her device can also be used for such tasks. The result became noticeable after the first session. And after a few procedures, Anastasia completely restored the soldier’s skin. He, in turn, told his brothers in arms about the tattoo artist. This is how the woman obtained her first clients with injuries from explosives. Nowadays, in addition to gunpowder residue Anastasia also removes pieces of soot and earth from people’s faces, as they also get under the skin during an explosion. Anastasia doesn’t charge military and civilians who have suffered as a result of the war.

• casualties
• volunteers
• women
• Kyiv

Olga Abdalla, Tetiana Shcherbak and Elena Ernandes-Rodriges are volunteers and founders of the Bez.Doma charity initiative. In 2014, when russia first attacked Ukraine, the women came together, brought food for wounded soldiers in a hospital in Kyiv, and later began assisting children’s shelters. In the winter of 2017, Olga, Tetiana and Elena thought about how to support the homeless. Then the women decided to join the Help the Homeless initiative, came to the capital’s Podil and distributed more than a hundred sandwiches to those in need, particularly, the homeless, as well as the elderly. The team that worked in Podil took the next step and started taking care of those in need at the capital’s railway station.

On February 24, 2022, the Bez.Doma initiative announced a break, and volunteers responded to the requests of the military. Food, generators, and charging stations were sent to the soldiers. After three months, the team decided to resume the activity of the initiative, however, they had to start from scratch. After all, most people went abroad. 150 people came to the first distribution of food, later this number increased to 400. Internally displaced persons who needed support joined the homeless. Every Saturday, volunteers distribute food, basic necessities and medicine. In addition, last year Bez.Doma together with the Help the Homeless initiative created a shelter for those in need. The shelter is designed for 40 people, and it currently houses 25 people.

• casualties
• volunteers

Since the onset of the full-scale russian invasion, Olha Konoval has dedicated herself to volunteering. Initially, she focused on purchasing drones and thermal imagers for the Defense Forces. It was during her first trip to the East that Olha met her future husband, Serhii, the commander of the Steel Hundred company, known by his call sign Nord. What was intended to be a brief volunteer mission turned into a four-month stay with Serhii. To buy a thermal imager for him, Olha sold her car. Additionally, she began crafting jewelry from spent shell casings, using the proceeds to support the soldiers. Serhii soon embarked on a project to manufacture FPV drones, aiming to supply the military with high-quality equipment.

In January 2024, the couple married and soon after produced their first batch of drones.

Tragedy struck shortly after their wedding when Olha learned that Serhii had been killed during a combat mission in the Donetsk sector. Despite her profound loss, Olha continued their work, setting up a drone workshop and assembling a team of engineers. To date, they have produced 250 drones. She named her business NORD-DRON in honor of Serhii. Olha views this endeavor as her form of revenge against the enemy for the loss of Serhii and other fallen soldiers.

For reference: Currently, Olha Konoval is in Ternopil but plans to return to the East soon.

• dead
• military
• volunteers
• women

Anton Shelest developed an interest in 3D technologies while studying at the Ivano-Frankivsk National Medical University. While still a student, Anton assembled a 3D printer himself based on a project he found on the Internet. Later, he tried to make 3D copies of human bones on another printer. With the beginning of the full-scale invasion, Anton gathered a team of like-minded people in Ivano-Frankivsk who had 3D printers and set up the production of parts for weapons and drones for the military.

And recently, a doctor turned to Anton with a request to create a prosthesis for one of his patients: the soldier’s leg was amputated, and the bones on his other leg still hadn’t started to heal. In addition, a half of the soldier’s palm was amputated. Anton’s task was to create a temporary prosthesis that would facilitate recovery, as due to the palm injury, the patient could not use crutches. As a result, Anton came up with the idea for a patch for the soldier’s hand, with which the veteran could hold on to a walker, and later crutches. The manufacturing process took several months, and the soldier received this prosthesis for free.

Currently, Anton helps fighters who come in touch with him directly. However, in the future, if he can bring together a special team, he will start making such prostheses on a permanent basis.

• volunteers
• Ivano-Frankivsk

In the South of the country, particularly in Mykolaiv and Kherson regions, volunteers of “Let’s do it Ukraine” movement are currently working on drying and disinfecting premises damaged due to the explosion of the Kakhovka HPP dam. Journalists are welcome to cover the work of volunteers and communicate with local residents.

Under the auspices of the AWO International and with the financial support of Aktion Deutschland Hilft the All-Ukrainian youth movement “Let’s do it Ukraine is implementing the project aimed at eliminating the consequences of the Kakhovka HPP dam explosion “Overcoming the consequences of the flood in Mykolaiv and Kherson regions, helping households and social infrastructure objects: cleaning, disinfection, restoration works, preparation for winter.”

A total of 192 households will be gradually restored as a part of the project. Organizers, volunteers and specialized companies will help people dry the premises, carry out disinfection and pest control measures. In addition, some of the participants will even receive resources for carrying out basic works on liquidating flood consequences, and special equipment will be provided free of charge to speed up repairs.

For reference: one of the largest man-made disasters in Europe occurred on June 6, 2023, as the russians blew up the Kakhovka HPP dam. 600 km2 of territory was flooded, 30 settlements came under water in Kherson region, and 31 more in Mykolaiv region.

A huge wave of water from the Kakhovka Reservoir washed away everything in its path – garbage dumps, sewers, cemeteries, animal corpses, dangerous chemicals, etc. This contaminated water stayed in the houses for several days. In order to live in these premises, they must first be properly dried and disinfected.

• casualties
• ecology
• reconstruction
• russian crimes
• volunteers
• Kherson
• Mykolaiv

Maryna Shazhko began taking care of homeless animals more than 10 years ago. When city services started shooting stray dogs and cats in Bakhmut, Donetsk region, a woman brought a stray animal home for the first time to save it. Later, together with a team of volunteers, Maryna started the Bakhmut Animal Protection Society “Lada” NGO. On February 24, 2022, Maryna, shelter volunteers and 160 dogs were in Bakhmut. At first, the woman did not even think about moving, she hoped that the war would bypass the city. However, in August 2022, after the second explosion near the shelter and the death of one of her dogs, Maryna started the evacuation. All the animals had to be transported at once, the cages barely fit in the cars. They decided to take the dogs to Dnipropetrovsk region, where they had to pay a huge rent for a new place.

Meanwhile, animals from hotspots are still being brought to the shelter. The number of rescued pets has already reached 200, including dogs from Chasiv Yar, Krasnohorivka and Marinka. Every day, Maryna has to wake up at 5 in the morning, walk her own dogs, buy food for the animals of the shelter and go there to take care of the animals in the shelter. In addition, the woman did stop working as a teacher.

• animals
• casualties
• occupation
• volunteers
• Dnipro