APRIL 2023 UPDATE
Friends of Ukraine,
We hope you had a sunny, peaceful, and memorable Easter holiday. Hrystos Voskres! Christ Has Risen!
The Easter spirit of renewal has a very special meaning in our lives in Ukraine today. We all hope for a new light and many do as much as possible to bring this moment closer.
It would not be possible without you and we are very grateful for your ongoing support. We would like to bring you up to date on our current activities and achievements that help Ukrainians to keep going and keep our faith in the bright future.
We will start with the ongoing project of supporting the forgotten. The people you will see in the photos below are mostly retired or handicapped and their monthly pension is often less than 100 USD. They live in poverty and they can’t afford basic things not to say about the holiday Easter meal. The war made things even worse. We did our best to bring them a bit of the festive spirit.
We have prepared 182 sets that include some of the key dishes that are usually served for Easter breakfast in Ukraine: an Easter cake, sausage, bacon, saltison, horse reddish, some fresh cabbage to make a salad, sweets, and tea.
The relative safety of these, as well as many other Ukrainians, is possible due to the soldiers at the front. What are things there like right now?
Although we do not know when and where the counteroffensive will take place, and how effective it will be, we can get a general feeling of what’s happening due to different inquiries of support that come from soldiers and units at different places at the front. We are receiving more inquiries now and many of them are of urgent nature. It’s often the matter of life and death.
The day before Sasha was killed in action, I talked to him on the phone. We agreed to help his unit with a drone that they need for investigation to detect where the enemy is coming from. Most drones they had were lost in fights and they need several of them.
We’ve kept cooperation with Sasha’s unit despite Sasha’s tragic death. We have bought another drone with the help of the CSUF donors. Both Sasha’s sister and our volunteer Nastia donated money to buy one more drone.
The vehicles and the equipment used by the soldiers are given names quite often. One of the drones was named after Sasha and Sasha’s image was painted on it. The drones have already been delivered by Sasha’s father. Sasha will keep protecting and helping his friends even after his death.
We have kept providing some important supplies to different soldiers and units at the front. Our support is targeted and we know real needs. The supplies include Starlinks, power stations, radiophones, thermal cameras, tourniquets, gas tanks, sleeping bags, and other items.
We also help to equip the units that are getting ready to be sent to perform the coming counteroffensive. This is a 4-wheel drive vehicle that we have bought recently.
A big thank you for the vehicle and other important equipment:
My university friend Sergiy has sent some photos from the front recently.
This is a message from the front line near Bakhmut. Sergiy sent this on Easter Sunday and he wanted to thank all donors to the CSUF. You are making a difference.
It’s important to keep going.
The challenges we are facing are huge.
Together we are strong.
Love from Ukraine.
Slava Ukraini!
Andriy