Help people survive. A new challenge for local authorities during the war in Ukraine
russia’s war against Ukraine has put entire cities, towns and villages on the brink of a humanitarian catastrophe. At a time when Ukrainian Defenders are fighting fiercely for the homeland on the frontlines, hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians in towns and villages are fighting for a chance to survive under shelling, lacking food, water, medicines and basic utilities.
Regardless of the intensity and consequences of fighting, the elderly, people with limited mobility, lonely people are staying in the “hot spots”. The war put them on the brink of survival. The fate of these Ukrainians now depends on charity and volunteer organizations, on humanitarian aid.
Since the beginning of war, philanthropists and volunteers have come together to help those who need it most. They engage Ukraine’s international partners.
It is extremely important for the assistance to be systematic and targeted. To prevent situations when the humanitarian aid is delivered first to those who simply applied earlier, leaving nothing left for those who need it most. So that there are no cases when the hospital receives medicines that do not match their patient profiles, or in amounts that exceed the demands. So that the defenders on the frontline can get the things and equipment they need right there and now.
Local authorities and Ukrainian lawmakers play an important role in establishing this process. They, as authorized persons, know the needs of their voters, as well as the peculiarities of the local infrastructure. They have tools to establish systematic and targeted support for both the military and civilians.
As an example of such a tool, I will cite the activities of the Darnytsia Relief Fund. It was created at the initiative of Mykola Konopelko, a member of the Kyiv City Council, with the aim to support the civilian population as well as the Defenders of Kyiv and other cities.
The Fund has organized volunteer centers in the offices of Kyiv City Council deputies, parliament members and humanitarian centers under the leadership of city and district military administrations.
Since the first days of war, the Fund’s volunteer center has been providing assistance to the territorial defense and civilian residents of Kyiv and other settlements in the country. In particular, it supports the elderly, low-income people, families with children and other citizens in need with daily food, medicine and other basic necessities. It also provides commodities, equipment, medicines, food for Kyiv hospitals and territorial defense units both within the capital and in Kyiv Oblast. The fund contributes to the strengthening of territorial defense in the capital and the oblast. It also finds technological solutions for the defense of Kyiv and makes efforts to prevent humanitarian catastrophes in combat zones.
The Darnytsia Relief Fund has established cooperation with philanthropists in Europe and the United States. Friends of Ukraine from Poland, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Spain and the United States send numerous humanitarian consignments to Ukraine. In many cases, by railway. Every day, the Fund’s volunteers make every effort to ensure that the aid quickly reaches those who need it.
The work is organized around a clear targeted request and appropriate rational distribution. As Mykola Konopelko has been working in his constituency for two years already, he is well aware of the people’s needs.
For example, at the request of the Darnytsia District Veteran Organization and self-organizations of citizens, the fund’s volunteers bring hot lunches to 450 residents of the district every day. These are the elderly, low-income individuals, single mothers with babies. Anyone may ask for help with medicines, food or hygiene products by phone or through Darnytsia Relief Fund and Mykola Konopelko Facebook pages. And they will receive the help they need. The Volunteer Center of the Darnytsia Relief Fund accepts applications at the following phone numbers: (044) 344 98 13, (067) 568 4360, (063) 301 4944, (095) 890 7767 (from 10:00 to 18:00 daily).
The Fund has provided crucial equipment and items for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Kyiv Police and Territorial Defense. These are anti-tank hedgehogs, mattresses, sleeping bags, thermal clothing, lanterns, drones, generators, bulletproof vests, digital night vision scopes, helmets, boots, first aid kits, stoves, power banks, medicines.
The fund helped to deliver from abroad the essential equipment for the life of Kyiv city — the Starlink systems. These are Ilon Mask’s Space X Company systems that provide satellite Internet connection for Kyiv’s critical infrastructure.
The Fund’s activities also support health care facilities in Kyiv. The organization supplies medicines and the necessary equipment to ensure uninterrupted patient care. These are manual ventilators, tubing anchors, syringes, masks, inhalers, medicines, operating room equipment.
It is Ukrainian local authorities’ war duty to make people’s lives easier, help them survive, and to use all available mechanisms to achieve this. Targeted assistance funds, established and supported by local government members, is one of such mechanisms. I encourage all members of local governments to establish the pipeline to help your voters and all Ukrainians.
Anyone who has the opportunity and desire to provide financial support for Ukrainian Soldiers, our volunteer centers, daily assistance for civilian Kyiv citizens, can do it simply and personally by donating to the following accounts:
Glory to Ukraine! Glory to Europe! Life above all!
russian warship, go f@ck yourself
