JANUARY 2024 UPDATE
Friends of Ukraine,
In this update, I would like to tell you about the very important holiday presents that YOU have made recently.
You have helped 138 elderly people in Ukraine to feel some Christmas mood. They are retired and can’t work anymore and they live alone. Their pension is less than 200 USD monthly and it is definitely not enough to have a decent living. These are just some of the thank-you pictures:
We did our best to make these presents both useful and festive. They included a nice pack of sweets, as well as canned pork, fish, rice, buckwheat, oil, cheese and pasta.
Supporting the elderlies is a continues project and you’re welcome to join us.
With the help of our Australian friends, we have made it possible for Dmytro to buy a Mavic Enterprise 3T drone with a night vision camera. You have seen Dmytro in our Children of Ukraine update. Dmytro is 19 and he was part of the infantry unit. He has already been wounded. After recovery, he took a drone pilot course and he’s back to the front. His family and friends have managed to raise 3650 USD and we covered the remainder of 2150 USD to buy the drone.
We have kept supplying heaters which are so needed at this time, bulletproof helmets and headphones to protect ears, electric generator units, power stations, Starlink units, chainsaws, and electric instruments and we’ve been helping to fix vehicles. We have provided new car batteries, wearing parts, as well as new tires. Good tires are so important because getting stuck in the mud means becoming an easy target. It’s about life. As well as all other items.
These are the special candles for use in trenches. They were made with love by the students of Khmelivka gymnasium and we sent them to the front as well:
Have a look at this video. It has been recorded for you by the infantry of the 14th Mechanized Brigade. They are grateful to all CSUF donors from different countries:
There’s another very important ongoing project that we should be proud of. It has to do with the rehabilitation courses for wounded soldiers in a private clinic of Bodro. This time, you have paid to help Volodymyr and Oleksandr. The treatment has been a meaningful holiday present for both of them and for their families too.
The village of Dovhenke in Kharkiv Province where Volodymyr comes from does not exist anymore. It was burnt to ashes. Volodymyr’s family had to move abroad and they live in Germany now. This picture was taken at the train station before they left:
Volodymyr’s place of work does not exist anymore either. He was a high rigger at the Azovstal steel factory before the hot war. It became the place of heavy fights during the siege of Mariupol.
Volodymyr was called up in March 2022. He was shell-shocked and got severe leg injuries as a result of the enemy’s fire near Toshkivka village. He was operated several times. After a short treatment, he returned to the army, but problems persisted. His ability to perform combat tasks is limited. He can walk with the help of a cane only. He got to the Bodro clinic directly from the current place of service.
Oleksandr was deemed unfit for military service after an explosive injury, a severe wound to the head and a shrapnel wound to the left shoulder that he got not so long ago, on May 25, 2023.
His recovery is long due to the significant brain damage. Oleksandr is only 38 and he received a first-degree disability. He’s the father of 3 children. He’s a former miner and life can be tough for his family but it’s most important that he’s alive.
We would like to help other wounded soldiers this month and I invite you to join us. It all would not all be possible without your help. Thank you for your care and your good deeds.
Love from Ukraine.
Andriy