A Letter from our CEO

Published: January 21, 2026

A Letter from Our CEO

As this new year begins, Ukraine is facing its most severe winter since the start of the full-scale invasion.

In recent days, temperatures in Kyiv have fallen to –20°C (-4°F) as Ukraine’s electrical grid continues to be systematically degraded by years of Russian missile and drone attacks. Millions of Ukrainians in cities across the country are living through freezing temperatures with unstable access to heat, electricity, and water. The result is a humanitarian crisis unlike any Ukraine has faced during the war so far.

Parents plan their days around scheduled power outages, with utility companies publishing blackout times by neighborhood – often as long as 16 consecutive hours. Hospitals ration whatever power the city can spare. Heated tents are appearing in courtyards between apartment buildings scarred by drone fragments. First responders answer calls knowing that Russian “double-tap” strikes increasingly target those who arrive to help.

This is not an emergency that passes in a single news cycle. It is the daily reality of a nation still under full-scale assault after nearly four years.

Much of this no longer makes the front page.

What is less visible – but no less real – is the cumulative effect of these conditions. When electricity fails, hospitals strain. When heat is unreliable, chronic illness becomes acute. When first responders are killed, entire communities lose lifelines. And when political wavering pressures Ukraine to reach premature compromises with its aggressor, it is Ukrainian civilians – and future generations – who absorb the cost. This winter is forcing millions of Ukrainians back into survival mode, while testing whether the United States and its allies will substantiate their commitments.

This is the context in which Razom enters 2026.

Our work has never been about reacting to headlines alone. It is about ensuring that Ukrainians have the support, systems, and global partnerships needed not just to endure war—but to emerge from it with agency, dignity, and strength. This year, Razom will continue investing across five core areas: supporting first responders and medics on the front lines; strengthening Ukraine’s healthcare system; backing grassroots organizations serving the most vulnerable; advancing strong, principled Ukraine policy in Washington, D.C.; and connecting Ukrainian voices, culture, and innovation to the global mainstream.

Taken together, these efforts serve a single purpose: a secure, livable, and connected Ukraine capable of surviving this war, leading its own recovery, and standing as a model of democratic resilience and security for the world.

Global support for Ukraine cannot depend solely on moments of crisis. It must be built and sustained through strategy, partnership, and long-term commitment. That is the work ahead of us. And it is only possible because of you.

Thank you for standing with Ukraine, especially when the story feels harder to follow, and the outcome less certain. Your continued engagement matters more than ever.

With gratitude and resolve,

Dora Chomiak
Chief Executive Officer
Razom for Ukraine

What Razom Is Doing Right Now

That commitment is not theoretical. It is operational. Since November 2025 alone, Razom has delivered 118 generators and 175 mobile charging stations to frontline medics, emergency crews, and community organizations – keeping critical services running during prolonged blackouts. Since the start of the full-scale invasion, more than 200 generators have been placed in community hubs serving displaced families, older adults, and people with disabilities.

In Kryvyi Rih, where repeated missile and drone attacks force emergency responders to work under constant threat, Razom is supporting the State Emergency Service of Ukraine with mobile heated emergency tents and infrastructure. These allow responders to establish temporary rescue points during attacks – safely, visibly, and in freezing conditions.

In Poltava, local partners report having electricity for only one to two hours per day. A youth organization supported by Razom now relies on charging stations to stay operational at all – briefly entering cold buildings once or twice a week just to charge equipment, submit reports, and coordinate volunteer work.

At a social-cultural center supported by Razom, a single generator now powers heating pumps, lights, and programming for children, women, and older adults. “If not for your support, most of these activities would have been postponed until spring or not happened at all,” the team wrote.

For families, the impact is even more direct.

At a family-type children’s home caring for 13 children, including displaced children and children with disabilities, the generator Razom provided runs up to 12 hours a day, powering heating, water pumps, lights, and laptops. “If not for you, it would have been much harder to survive last winter,” the mother wrote. “About this one – there would be no way at all.”

At a residential care facility housing 50 elderly and chronically ill residents, a charging station provided by Razom now keeps the heating system running during blackouts. “This is not just technical support,” the director wrote. “It is protection of health and life.”

Why Support Razom – Especially Now

Razom’s strength is not scale alone. It is trust, proximity, and precision. Razom works directly with local partners who know where systems are breaking – and where relatively small interventions can prevent catastrophe. We don’t duplicate services. We fill gaps others can’t reach, often under conditions where speed, flexibility, and local relationships make the difference.

As Dora writes, Razom’s work is about more than endurance. It is about ensuring Ukrainians retain agency, dignity, and the ability to hold the line – even in the dark. This winter is testing more than infrastructure. It is testing whether support for Ukraine holds when the crisis becomes chronic instead of dramatic.

Let’s be clear: Ukraine is being pushed into the cold on purpose. People are surviving because generators are running, heated shelters are standing, first responders are equipped, and communities are refusing to collapse. Razom is there – in the dark, in the cold, in action.

But this work does not continue without you. If you are waiting for the right moment to help, this is it.

Donate now. Your support funds life-saving winter response on the ground.
Share this reality. Silence benefits the aggressor.
Engage. Policy decisions made now determine survival later.

Ukraine will endure. The question is how much suffering we allow before we act.

Stand with Ukraine.
Stand with Razom.

Kharkiv: On the Frontier of Resilience

Published: January 9, 2026

Few cities embody the word frontier as powerfully as Kharkiv. It sits just 25 kilometers from the Russian border, close enough that aircraft can reach the city in minutes. It has lived under constant aerial threat since the first days of the full-scale invasion, yet it continues to function exceptionally well. Those brave enough to visit are immediately struck by the spotless streets, flowers and decorations set up to beautify areas previously scarred by missiles and drones, and punctual public transportation that was made free of charge for all residents immediately after the start of the invasion. If not for the plywood covering many windows and defensive barricades at the city’s entrance – one might think they are in a safe city in Western Europe. Much of this ability to withstand the daily attacks and offer a sense of order to the residents comes from systems the city has created in wartime – systems that allow Kharkiv to detect danger quickly, warn people in time, and respond in a coordinated way.

At the center of this effort is the Kharkiv Situational Center (KSC), the only civilian defense hub of its kind outside Kyiv. Here, a team of young civil protection workers monitors live feeds, tracks incidents on an integrated city map, and coordinates everything from utility repairs to emergency rescue.

The Heartbeat of Kharkiv

“The Situational Center is the heart of Kharkiv,” says Bohdan Gladkyh, the city’s Director for Civil Protection and head of the KSC. “It sees everything that happens in the city and directs every response – from fire brigades to medics. It’s the pulse that keeps Kharkiv alive.”

Built in just three months through a partnership of the city, local businesses, volunteers, and international donors, the KSC was a feat of wartime engineering. Not only was it considered nearly impossible to complete such a facility in this timeframe, but bringing so many services under one command to cooperate is not an easy feat in any circumstances – much less while each individual system is stressed to the maximum. But the city was able to work out a structure where the State Emergency Services, EMS, police, firefighters, and even utilities work together and coordinate seamlessly for the safety of Kharkiv residents.

Its digital map tracks every hydrant, road, and danger zone; its cameras monitor hundreds of live feeds; its analysts coordinate all emergency and utility services in real time. When an emergency situation arises – whether a complex attack on the city or a simple household fire – the staff at KSC can evaluate the situation through the live camera feeds, pull up complete information about the affected infrastructure, and dispatch necessary services (fire, medics, utilities) to the site depending on the real needs on the ground.

When war turned Kharkiv into a constant target, this “heart of the city” became its shield. But even the most sophisticated coordination system is only as strong as its communications. And in Kharkiv, when power and cell towers fall, silence can be deadly.

When the Signal Means Survival

During blackouts or heavy bombardments, mobile networks collapse within minutes. Towers fall, base stations burn out, and with them the ability to direct responders.

To close that gap, Razom provided radio repeater equipment – the backbone of a secure digital network now linking city hall, emergency services, and municipal companies. The system keeps the signal alive even when everything else fails.

“At first, our rescuers had no stable signal,” Bohdan says. “During blackouts, we were blind. Once the repeaters were installed, communication never failed again – not once.”

He remembers the night that proved just how essential that link is.

“Two months ago, during a double-tap attack, our teams were already working the site of an initial strike when a dispatcher called out on the radio: ‘Rocket incoming!’
Twenty-eight seconds later, the second missile hit. Everyone had time to get into the shelter. Every single person survived.”

A “double-tap” strike is a tactic where a second missile is launched at the same location shortly after the first, often targeting the rescuers who arrive to help. During the first impact, the explosion destroyed a nearby cell tower. As soon as the tower failed, mobile phones in the area lost service completely – even Bohdan’s two SIM cards showed no signal.

“Both of my SIM cards were dead,” Bohdan said. “The cell tower was gone. The only thing that worked was the radio network you helped us build.”

What he meant was that the only functioning communications line was the city’s digital radio network. While emergency crews were already on the ground, a dispatcher monitoring air activity saw that a second missile had been launched toward the same site. Because radios don’t rely on cell towers or commercial networks, the dispatcher was able to relay the message and every responder received it instantly. They had 28 seconds to get into a shelter. The second missile landed about 20 meters from where more than a hundred people had been standing. More than a hundred responders – utility workers, firefighters, and medics – were saved because the repeater network carried that single warning.

Today, that system covers the entire city. The mayor, department heads, and all critical service units carry connected radios. It ties directly into the automatic air-raid alert system that interrupts local radio stations to warn drivers on the road. The network is powered by generators and designed with redundancy: if one repeater goes down, another instantly takes over.

“I don’t see any alternative to digital radio communication,” Bohdan says firmly. “Without it, there is no coordination, no timely warning – and no chance to save lives.”

His conclusion is simple and urgent: every major city in Ukraine needs this system.

Innovation Beneath the Ground

That life-saving network reaches far beyond the Situational Center’s walls into Kharkiv’s schools, hospitals, and neighborhoods.

During one of our visits to the city this fall, several guided aerial bombs struck different districts just as we toured one of Kharkiv’s newly built underground schools. Sirens blared, and messages from Bohdan’s radio crackled through the thick concrete walls. Even while offsite, he was able to coordinate real-time responses across multiple impact zones – dispatching rescue crews, rerouting traffic, confirming that nearby shelters had opened to civilians.

It was a living demonstration of how vital communication is and how the city’s commitment to protection now extends below the surface of the earth.

Kharkiv’s underground schools are a direct answer to life on the front line: fully functional learning spaces that double as certified bomb shelters. Each can host 700-800 students for classes and up to 2,000 people during air raids. They are equipped with filtration systems, independent power, and water reserves. Ten are already operational, with more under construction.

One of these schools was hit directly by a missile in 2023 – and held firm.

“That was our test in real conditions,” Bohdan says. “Everything worked: the blast doors, the filters, the ventilation. The building took the hit, and everyone inside was safe.”

During each air-raid alert, hallways open to residents from nearby buildings, turning the school into a community refuge. Thanks to the same citywide communication system,

alerts arrive in time for people to reach shelter, and teachers can continue lessons safely underground. In addition to the standalone underground schools, learning spaces have also been creatively integrated into the metro stations – one of which was depicted in Kateryna Gornostai’s documentary “Timestamp”. Kharkiv’s engineers are now expanding the model even further – planning not only new schools but even the country’s first underground kindergarten. It’s education as civil defense, learning as resistance.

A City That Refuses to Break

Kharkiv’s population has shrunk by nearly half since the full-scale invasion, yet those who remain embody an unshakable resolve. Streets are cleared, utilities restored, children return to class – acts of quiet defiance performed every day under fire.

“I have made my choice,” Bohdan says simply. “I am staying.”

He has worked for the city for a decade, first in digital transformation, now in civil protection. In Ukraine, “civil protection” or “civil defense” is a function that is not administered by a single agency. It is a coordinated system that includes emergency dispatchers, firefighters, medics, utility crews, and shelter managers – the people who keep a city functioning during missile strikes, blackouts, and other crises. Essentially, it is everyone who defends the civilian population but is not in the armed forces – a role that is as important as it is demanding during a full-scale invasion. And so like many on his young team, Bohdan sleeps little, works fourteen-hour days, and endures the constant stress of alarms and loss. The hardest moments, he admits, are when children die.

“We are a frontier city – not only of defense, but of solutions,” he says. “When something breaks, Kharkiv finds a way to make it work again.”

The Situational Center’s average employee is twenty-nine years old. Together they’ve rebuilt a modern civil defense system once considered impossible. Their early-warning network has ensured that not once in the past year did a missile land in Kharkiv without a prior alert. Other municipalities now look to them as a model for resilience.

Together on the Frontier

Kharkiv stands as both shield and blueprint – proving that, even under siege, a city can innovate, organize, and care for its people. Razom is proud to have supported this frontier of resilience – to equip those who refuse to give up, who keep communication alive in blackout conditions, and who demonstrate that information, when shared swiftly and securely, saves lives.

The work that began in Kharkiv must now expand across Ukraine. The technology exists, the expertise is proven, and the will is unstoppable. What is needed is partnership – the same spirit of razom, “together,” that built the Kharkiv Situational Center in record time.

When Civic Activism Becomes a Full-Time Job, the Mission Stays the Same

Published: January 6, 2026

Ella Petrenko was 26 years old when she founded the NGO Bilozerka Center for Regional Development. What began as an after-work passion project in her home village of Shyroka Balka, Kherson Oblast, has grown into a full-fledged organization with a team of 30 employees and volunteers dedicated to empowering local communities.

“I was born in a village, studied in Kherson, but I always wanted children in villages to have access to cultural and sports opportunities,” said Petrenko. “That’s why I eventually returned to work in the village.”

Her inspiration came from youth workers and civic activists she met in Poland, Denmark, and Sakartvelo. From the very beginning, her organization has intentionally focused on rural communities. “It’s not that we purposely ignore the city of Kherson,” she explained. “It’s just that rural communities are our focus.”

The Bilozerka Center began with youth projects and educational programs. Over the years, it has expanded to support democracy development, environmental awareness, and civic participation. When Russia launched its full-scale invasion, the work of the NGO shifted dramatically. “After Feb. 24, we had to reorganize completely,” she said. “For the first time, we started distributing humanitarian aid.”

When the full-scale invasion began in 2022 and Russian forces occupied Kherson Oblast, the NGO had to adapt quickly. During the occupation, they were quietly delivering humanitarian aid.

Though Petrenko had always juggled her NGO work with a job at the Migration Service, she made a big decision in 2024 and resigned to focus on the Bilozerka Center full-time.

“That shift was a turning point for me,” she explained. “I realized that doing good work is not enough—you have to do it efficiently and sustainably.”

As the team grew and the projects expanded, so did the operational challenges. Without strong internal systems, burnout set in. “We never had written internal policies,” she said. “We always worked based on trust and intuition. But now, with a larger team and more stress, that’s not enough.”

That’s when she discovered the Sylnishi (Stronger) grant—part of Razom’s effort to build the organizational capacity of its grantee partners.

“Before, we had support from Razom for specific projects,” she said. “But the Sylnishi grant gave us something more important—support for internal growth. That’s what we were lacking.”

Through Sylnishi, the Bilozerka Center received both funding and mentorship to strengthen its strategy, fundraising, and internal communications. They reviewed their mission and goals, developed clear operational policies, and began crafting a strategy for the next three years.

“For the first time in ten years, we sat down as a team and asked ourselves who we are, what our goals are, and what we want to change in our communities,” Petrenko said. “It helped us slow down and reflect.”

One of the biggest takeaways was the importance of staff wellbeing. “We work with communities in crisis every day—violence, trauma, displacement,” she said. “But we hadn’t created any internal support systems for our team.”

With the Sylnishi support, they organized team retreats and introduced mental health resources. “Burnout was a real threat,” she admitted. “Now, we’re trying to build a healthier workplace culture.”

The grant also helped them design a new fundraising strategy. Petrenko acknowledged that previously they relied heavily on a few donors. “We want to diversify, build resilience, and engage more with the communities we serve,” she said.

Despite the challenges, Petrenko remains deeply motivated. Her hope for Ukraine’s future is rooted in the grassroots.

“I see how change starts in small communities,” she said. “It’s not just about big reforms in Kyiv. It’s about what we do in Bilozerka, in small towns and villages, every day.”

She believes that supporting local NGOs isn’t just about charity—it’s a long-term investment in Ukraine’s democratic future. “We’re the ones working with people face-to-face. We know their stories, their needs, their strengths.”

For Petrenko, civic activism is more than a job. It’s a calling.

“I don’t need to motivate myself to keep going,” she said. “When you’re surrounded by people who believe in the same things, who do their work from the heart—it gives you energy.”

Looking ahead, she hopes more organizations can access support like Sylnishi.

“These grants are about more than money,” she said. “They give us time to reflect, to grow, and to build organizations that will be here for the long run.”

With your support, Ukrainian grassroots organizations grow stronger, boosting their impact.

From Famine to Fertility: How Ukrainians Are Reclaiming Food Security with Razom’s Support

Published: November 18, 2025

Every year in late November, Ukrainians around the world light candles in their windows to honor the millions of lives lost during the Holodomor – the man-made famine engineered by the Soviet regime in 1932–1933. It was not a natural disaster but a weapon of extermination, designed to break a nation by starving its people and erasing its farmers.

For Ukrainians, food has never been merely sustenance – it is memory, dignity, and defiance. And today, nearly a century later, the aggressor’s tactics have evolved but not changed.
Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, grain silos have been bombed, fields mined and burned, ports blockaded, and farmers targeted. Once again, food is used as a weapon – this time to undermine Ukraine’s economy, global food supply, and the will of ordinary people to stay and rebuild.

But Ukraine fights back not only on the battlefield. Every garden planted, every greenhouse restored, every seed sown is an act of resistance. Through its grantmaking and partnership network, Razom for Ukraine supports those who refuse to let destruction define their future. One such partner is the CF Free Borsht Initiative, whose project “Earn on the Farm” helps displaced Ukrainians and local residents regain both food security and livelihoods.

Growing Hope Amid War

With Razom’s $30,000 grant under the Razom Jobs program, Free Borsch launched an intensive training initiative across Odesa, Mykolaiv, and Vinnytsia oblasts, aimed at helping internally displaced persons (IDPs) and locals start small-scale farming.

Participants – many of whom fled occupied or frontline regions – joined online and in-person sessions to learn everything from vegetable and berry cultivation to hydroponics, marketing, and risk management. Despite constant air raids and disruptions, the results far exceeded expectations.

By the end of the program, over 400 people became direct beneficiaries, including 147 individuals who completed the full course and more than 260 family members they brought into the work. Many of those graduates, in turn, shared what they learned with neighbors and peers, bringing the total reach of the project to more than 600 people across three regions of Ukraine. Even more inspiring, 59 participants have already launched micro-farms or new agribusiness ventures – real families creating real income and food stability in communities under threat.

“We made our course simple, practical, and human,” says Oleksandr Pavlovskyi, director of Free Borsch. “For many displaced families, farming became a way to feed their children, to heal from trauma, and to feel in control of their future again.”

Stories from the Field

Viktoria Kryvonos, 45, fled the destroyed city of Lyman in Donetsk region with her husband. In Poltava oblast, they started from scratch – just two pairs of hands and 1.5 hectares of rented land.

“Thanks to the ‘Earn on the Farm’ program,” Viktoria says, “we learned about greenhouse cultivation. We built a small greenhouse, planted cucumbers, and sold our first harvest for a good price.”

That “small” greenhouse of 60 square meters produced 460 kilograms of cucumbers, earning the couple over 23,000 hryvnias and giving them confidence to expand next year.

Anzhelina Andrusenko, 43, was displaced from the flooded, occupied city of Oleshky in Kherson region. Settling with her family in Lviv oblast, she too started over – this time under a plastic greenhouse roof.

“We built a tiny greenhouse, set up drip irrigation, and grew our first cucumbers,” she says. That first crop yielded 800 kilograms, generating more than 36,000 hryvnias – their first income in exile. “Now I know this is our future,” Anzhelina adds. “We can stand on our own feet again.”

In the Mykolaiv region, where air raid sirens punctuate every workday, Tetiana Buhlakova, 46, found solace and purpose in cultivating beauty.

“I learned how to propagate chrysanthemums,” she explains. “Every single cutting took root!”
She grew 200 chrysanthemum bushes for sale, plus 500 strawberry seedlings, turning knowledge into income and pride:
“This course didn’t just teach me farming – it reminded me that I can create life even when everything around feels uncertain.”

One of the program’s most inspiring community leaders is Oksana Marton, who turned her small family plot in Kharkiv Oblast into a flourishing chrysanthemum garden. What began as a simple effort to restore beauty after months of occupation has grown into a shared space where neighbors gather, talk, breathe, and remember what peace feels like.

For Oksana, these flowers are more than decoration — they are protection.
“We’re not just tending to plants,” she says. “We’re taking care of the mental health of the people in our village. The garden gives them something living to hold on to.”

Her chrysanthemums have become a symbol of quiet resilience: a reminder that even in places scarred by war, communities can nurture hope one blossom at a time.

And in the frontline-adjacent Chernihiv region, 32-year-old Mykola Sylenko built a 160 m² greenhouse and harvested 1.2 tons of early cucumbers despite constant shelling.

“The biggest lesson I learned,” he says, “is that you must think ahead. Problems come fast in farming – and in war – but when you plan, you overcome. I’ve already made my first sales. It’s a successful start.”

Cultivating Livability

Food security in wartime is about far more than calories. It is about stability, dignity, and belonging. Every greenhouse erected and every seed sown says: We are still here. We will live.

Through projects like Free Borsch, Razom is rebuilding Ukraine’s capacity to feed itself – empowering individuals to turn soil into sustenance and knowledge into livelihood. This is part of Razom’s broader commitment to ensuring livability in Ukraine: a future where people can stay, rebuild, and thrive despite the war’s cruelty.

At a time when Russia seeks to make Ukraine unlivable, Razom and its partners are working to ensure that communities across the country not only survive but flourish – through education, healthcare, entrepreneurship, and opportunity. Supporting projects like Free Borsch is one of the many ways we help sow the seeds of that livable future.

Together, We Grow

From the Holodomor’s silent fields to today’s shelled farmland, Ukrainians have learned that food can be both a weapon and salvation. By helping families grow their own harvests, Razom transforms survival into strength – and despair into resilience.

As we remember the victims of the Holodomor, we honor them best by ensuring that no Ukrainian ever faces hunger or hopelessness again. Join us in making Ukraine more secure, more resilient, and more livable. Together, we plant the future.

Kharkiv Under Siege: Evacuations, Resistance, and the Plight of Vovchansk and Lyptsi

Published: May 14, 2024

The city of Kharkiv and surrounding areas in northeastern Ukraine have been at the forefront of the war since Russia’s invasion in February 2022. Despite relentless shelling and attacks and because of Ukrainians’ toughness and fortitude, the city remains in Ukraine’s hands.

This year, there has been an escalation in fighting around Kharkiv, with Russia launching a new offensive in early May 2024.

Ukrainian forces are battling to hold back the Russian advance, with the villages of Lyptsi and Vovchansk being among the most vulnerable places. As the fighting intensifies, the number of people forced to flee their homes continues to rise. The most recent reports indicate that more than 5,900 people have been evacuated from the region, highlighting the desperate situation for civilians.

Vovchansk:

The town of Vovchansk, once a bustling community of 20,000 people, has been reduced to a ghost town due to the ceaseless bombardment. Only a few hundred residents remain, trapped in a war zone with dwindling supplies and limited access to essential services.

Razom’s Partners and Grantees are on the Ground:

“During the evacuations, all volunteer teams came under fire. One of the vehicles was completely shot up by the occupiers. The driver was wounded, but luckily everyone survived, thanks to the fact that this particular vehicle was armored. Most of the vehicles have “volunteer” written on them, but this does not stop the enemy. Civilians were also among the injured, who were wounded by Russian occupiers with weapons. People carry small bags with them, because there is no time to linger, and they did not plan to leave their homes. Among them are many middle-aged people (50+) for whom it is difficult to leave their home, their property, their livestock, everything that made up their life. However, evacuation is necessary to save lives,” says Vladislav Kulov, Kharkiv Media Hub, Razom’s partners.

Lyptsi:

Just south of the ravaged Vovchansk lies Lyptsi, a village of roughly 4,500 people. While not as heavily bombarded as Vovchansk, Lyptsi’s fate is just as brutal. The village was occupied in the early days of the war by Russia and then retaken by Ukraine later in 2022. However, with the renewed offensive, Lyptsi finds itself back in the hot zone. Residents there are facing renewed shelling or possibly another occupation.

Razom has been working tirelessly to facilitate evacuations and provide aid to those displaced by the war.

Razom’s Partners and Grantees on the Ground:

“We are evacuating people from Lyptsi. Indeed, not only people. Today there were two dogs, chickens with chicks, a guinea pig, and a dozen ducklings. People are scared, sometimes very nervous. Most of them have already been under occupation. They say: ‘We won’t survive another time; they will kill everyone’. The process can be very difficult, some people hope that it will pass somehow, that there is still time.” – Oleksiy Almazov, Ukrainian Frontiers (Українські Рубежі), one of Razom’s grantees.

Your Support is Crucial!

The people of Kharkiv and the Kharkiv region are facing unimaginable hardship. With your support, Razom can continue to provide life-saving assistance and help to evacuate.

Donate to Razom for Ukraine today and make a difference in the lives of those affected by the war.

Together, we can stand with Ukraine and help them overcome this dark chapter in our history.

Thank You for Supporting Razom’s Kakhovka Dam Response

Published: June 30, 2023

An update on our Kakhovka dam response and how you can continue to support our work addressing the devastating consequences of the catastrophe, and a plea to advocate for #UkraineInNATO in the run-up to the Vilnuius NATO Summit on July 11-12. Get plugged in to our advocacy work to learn about what Ukraine needs, now, to win.

Dear Friends of Razom,

Thank you so much for your generous outpouring of donations and support following the urgent appeal to help victims of the devastation caused by russia’s destruction of the Kakhovka dam on June 6th. The consequences of this disaster — human suffering and ecological devastation — will likely be felt for years to come.

Very early on our team understood that to respond effectively, we needed to find long-term solutions. That’s how within a couple of weeks since the disaster, 10 water purification systems are already being installed in settlements across Kherson and Dnipro regions where there is no more water supply. This will provide drinking water for up to 36,000 people per day (more than 1 million per month). Razom is also providing for the replacement materials needed to service the stations long-term and for the water quality to remain high. We had worked effectively with WiseWater, an ingenious Ukrainian manufacturer who adapted these filtration systems with German parts for minimum human intervention and maximum efficiency and reliability, since May 2022 to help supply drinking water to Mykolaiv in the south and Konstantinivka in Donetsk region after russians bombed water pipelines there.

Our emergency response in Kherson also included Razom Relief releasing grants to several grassroots organizations within our network to mobilize quickly to offer humanitarian aid, evacuations, and refugee support in areas north of the region. Our partners Rescue Now, set up a base in Kherson that serves as a logistical hub for humanitarian aid for numerous NGOs and as a temporary shelter for evacuees. With support from Razom, they purchased 5 five-seater boats, 8,500 liters of bottled drinking water, 41 water filters, 600 water disinfection tablets, 300 blankets, 30 tourniquets, 38 fishing suits, 6 Ecoflow charging stations and hundreds of liters of fuel for the buses that transport the humanitarian aid. Meanwhile our partners, “Zakhyst” from Khmelnytskyi, are able to support up to 1,000 refugees with basic essentials and therapy in partnership with our “Razom With You” project.

Razom is multifaceted support for Ukraine which means that Razom Advocacy has been hard at work mitigating the longer term consequences of this disaster and helping Ukraine prevent future russian-made catastrophes. Over 2,000 advocates in our network across the US were mobilized to contact their Congressional representatives and ask for support for the resolution declaring Ukraine’s invasion as genocide (H.Res. 154 / S.Res. 72). You can join that network here. The team has also worked to connect Ukrainians deeply affected by the flood with major media outlets so that the stories of Ukrainians in the region are heard.

You can find a deeper report of our Kakhovka Dam response here on our website.

Donate to Razom

Our team at Razom Advocacy is laser focused on advocating for policy that will help Ukraine achieve swift victory.
In the run-up to the Vilnius NATO Summit on July 11-12, we’re calling on the United States to join allies like France and the UK to invite Ukraine into NATO. Ukraine, Europe’s best hope for lasting peace and security in Ukraine and Europe. Join us on social media by posting about #UkraineInNATO – check out our thread and join us!
Want to be more involved? Our team has launched a weekly series of talking points/legislative asks for nationwide advocacy efforts. This document provides a list of critical legislation and messages about what Ukraine needs, now, to win.
Also our next Ukraine Action Summit will take place on October 22-24, 2023 so save the date and join us so that we can reach more of our elected representatives! In April, our team and the American Coalition for Ukraine convened gathering over 300 constituents from 34 states to receive advocacy training and meet with their members of Congress to advocate for policies to help Ukraine. Together, we reached 33% of US Congress.

Join our Advocacy Network

Over the past several weeks, various Razom team members have traveled to Ukraine, London, and Oslo to connect with and learn from civil society leaders, further strengthen our partnerships, and hear directly from people on the ground on priorities, efforts, and challenges surrounding the war. We are lucky to work with such dedicated and inspired individuals, partners, and allies.

It was an honor to participate in the Oslo Freedom Forum and share stories of resilience and blueprints for victory with the global community of activists present. Eva Kurilets, Razom’s Executive Director in Ukraine, spoke on a panel alongside Taiwanese legislator and metal band singer Freddy Lim, Syrian refugee and human rights activist Omar Alshogre, and Washington Post journalist Josh Rogin, highlighting the solidarity between Syrians, Ukrainians, and the Taiwanese in their fight against a network of violent, autocratic regimes. It was spectacular to hear and see so much solidarity and support for Ukraine across so many different communities and struggles for freedom, human rights, and dignity and connect with like-minded and motivated civil society leaders from around the world.

A Razom-supported feature documentary Rule of Two Walls had its World Premiere at Tribeca 2023 with 4 sold out screenings, each attended by the filmmaking team as well as the artists that were featured in the documentary to make sure there is a strong Ukrainian representation at one of the largest international film festivals in New York City. What’s more, this talented team walked away from the festival with a Special Jury Prize for Human Rights and Artistic Expression!

Klondike will have its US theatrical release on August 4th, 2023 from Samuel Goldwyn Films!

Razom proudly supported Klondike at its Sundance Premiere – and it is one of the most acclaimed titles from last year’s Sundance, where it picked up the top directing awards in its World Cinema Dramatic category. Maryna Er Gorbach’s Klondike premiered just weeks before russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Set in 2014, Ukraine’s Oscar entry for International Feature follows a pair of expectant parents living in eastern Ukraine near the frontlines of the Donbas war. After an international air-crash catastrophe elevates the tension enveloping them, pregnant Irka (Oxana Cherkashyna) refuses to be evacuated and leave her home, even as their village is captured by russian armed forces.

Razom is partnering with PBS to support the US theatrical release of an award-winning documentary 20 Days in Mariupol opening July 14th at the Film Forum in NYC.

February 2022: As russian troops advance on the Ukrainian city of Mariupol, a small crew of Associated Press reporters are trapped amongst the besieged civilian population. 20 DAYS IN MARIUPOL — winner of the 2023 Sundance Audience Award for World Cinema Documentary — is the unflinching visual chronicle of this harrowing ordeal. Ukrainian war correspondent Mstyslav Chernov (he directs, shoots, and narrates) and colleagues are the only international correspondents left in the city, witnesses to the first sighting of a “Z” on a russian tank (a declaration of war), random shelling, the bombing of a maternity hospital, the digging of mass graves, and russia’s eventual encirclement of the city. Their images of war crimes would soon go viral, potently exposing russia’s monstrous lies that deny their targeting of Ukrainian civilians, and earning the AP team two 2023 Pulitzer Prizes: for Public Service Journalism and Breaking News Photography.

You can get your tickets here.

To celebrate Crimean Tatar Flag Day and the Crimean Tatar Muslim holiday of Kurban Bayram, you’re invited to join us tomorrow, Sat July 1st at the Ukrainian National Home to celebrate Crimean Tatar culture through music, dance, and food. Do not miss this opportunity to learn more about the indigenous people of Ukraine! More info and here.

If you’re in the Berkshires July 1st or 2nd, then don’t miss this event!

With an immersive installation that will transform the theater into an ancient Ukrainian forest, this production centers around a classic Ukrainian art film of the same name. It pushes the boundaries of traditional musical performance while exploring what a group of talented, multicultural musicians have created, using traditional Ukrainian folk music as source material, and sharing immigration and refugee stories.
Details & tickets here.

PROBASS ∆ HARDI– Ukraine’s top trending electronic band is launching its first tour in the US!
Their hit songs such as “Good Evening, Where Are You From? (Good Evening, We Are From Ukraine)” and others have been streamed over 80 million times.
Get your tickets here before they sell out!

Thank you so much for reading this newsletter (and forwarding it on!), for keeping up to date with Razom, and for your support of Ukraine. We’re so glad you’re here.

Stay razom.

Razom Emergency Response to the Kherson Flooding

Published: June 15, 2023

Within hours after the destruction of the Kakhovka dam, Razom employed its developed network of grassroots organizations in Ukraine to assess the needs and start helping people in the Kherson region.

Russian deliberate actions caused a humanitarian emergency. Water from the Kakhovka water reservoir flooded wide areas, endangering and forcing thousands of civilians to leave their homes.

Our partners, Rescue Now, have been evacuating civilians and animals since the first hours. With a $25k grant provided by Razom, they have also been delivering needed supplies, including drinking water, food, hygiene products, evacuation boats, and charging stations. The team coordinated with governmental first responders to reach all places in need, despite the constant shelling and missile attacks on the region. Within only 5 days, Rescue Now also set up a humanitarian base in Kherson, which serves as a logistical hub for humanitarian aid for numerous NGOs and as a temporary shelter for evacuees.

Rescue Now, with support from Razom, responds to the emergency on the ground in Kherson

Razom Health team worked with the Ministry of Health in the Kherson region and local NGOs and went to Kherson within the first day. We delivered medicine and protective clothing to local hospitals taking in patients and survivors of the floods. In the following week, our drivers embarked on multiple trips to continue supplying hospitals. Our team in Kyiv packs the supplies while a smaller team loads up the vans and sets out to make the deliveries of aid all over the affected areas of Kherson. This way, we ensure that not a single minute is wasted.

Razom team in Ukraine works daily on humanitarian deliveries to the Kherson region

Our team members making the deliveries speak to people on the ground and learn what their needs are to communicate them to the Razom community, including our large network of local NGOs. Many of our partnering organizations and grantees are on the ground in the Kherson region as well. Volonterska, HelpGroup, Stezhka Dodomy, Ukraina SOS, Fight for Rights, and many others have been delivering humanitarian aid to people in the region.

NGO Volonterska delivers humanitarian aid from Razom in the Kherson region

Two days following the destruction, NGO “Zakhyst” from Khmelnytskyi met the first evacuees. Using a $50k grant, they support the evacuation of 1,000 people from the flooded areas of the Kherson region, welcomed and provided them with essentials such as hygiene products, clothing, and food right at the train station upon their arrival. The organization also provided evacuees with psychosocial support.

GO “Zakhyst” welcomes refugees at Khmelnytskyi train station

While out teams continue to support people amidst humanitarian crises, Razom also works to mitigate the long-term consequences of the disaster and help Ukraine prevent future russian-made catastrophes.

On the day following the destruction, Razom Advocacy team in DC immediately picked up the work. The destruction of the Kakhovka dam fits the centuries-old pattern of colonial violence and is yet another manifestation of Russian genocidal intent in Ukraine — we work to make sure the world hears that. Therefore, we reached out to more than 2,000 people in our advocacy network and mobilized them to contact their Congressional representatives and ask for support for the resolution declaring Ukraine’s invasion to be genocide (H.Res. 154 / S.Res. 72).

Join Us and Help the Effort

We have also been working to connect Ukrainians affected by the flood with media outlets so that their story can be heard by the world and increased our engagement with elected officials and their staff to keep decision-makers aware of the latest updates directly from the ground in Kherson.

The destruction of the dam caused an environmental disaster and permanently disturbed the region. As a result of russian terror, the Kakhovka water reservoir disappeared, leaving tens of thousands in the entire south of Ukraine without access to drinking water. Razom Relief team earlier installed multiple water filtering stations in Mykolaiv and Donetsk regions together with Ukrainian partner Wise Water, and now we are working to procure these stations in Kherson and provide stable access to water.

Kherson still needs help. We continue supporting evacuees who lost their homes and delivering life-saving medicine to hospitals that are taking people from affected regions. Our teams in Ukraine, alongside our local partners, will make more trips to the Kherson region to bring humanitarian aid to those in need. Razom Relief team talks to local organizations to start future projects in the region.

We work with our numerous partners in Ukraine and employ all our resources to ensure the help arrives when and where it is needed, and we ask for your support.

Donate to support our ongoing relief efforts in the Kherson region

Razom and Ukrainian mail carrier “Nova Poshta” – now working together to victory!

Published: March 14, 2023

Razom and Nova Poshta signed a memorandum of cooperation, which provides for cooperation on psychological rehabilitation and career counseling of veterans, inclusivity programs for the company’s clients, provision of tactical first-aid kits to Nova Poshta employees working in front-line areas, and more.

“We are extremely grateful to Nova Poshta promptly responding to our invitation to cooperate. This is an excellent example of true corporate social responsibility and a powerful manifestation of the leadership’s civic stance, which the company has demonstrated more than once. Thanks to our cooperation, we will be able to help people suffering from the war even more effectively and increase the volume of humanitarian aid,” says Evelina Kurilets, Executive Director of Razom in Ukraine.

In addition, Nova Poshta became a partner in the Razom Toy Drive project. The company’s couriers will personally deliver birthday gifts to the children of fallen heroes.

“As part of the project, we will not deliver parcels, but dreams! For the recipients – the children of the Heroes – our couriers will turn into real magicians who will deliver a fulfilled wish from hand to hand. The plan is to send thousands of parcels, and therefore to receive thousands of happy children’s smiles!” says Olena Plakhova, Director of Reputation Management of Nova Poshta.

“Nova Poshta” is a Ukrainian international group of logistics companies, the leader of express delivery in terms of the volume of parcels delivered in Ukraine. The company provides businesses and individuals with a full range of logistics and related services. It was founded in 2001.

The “Humanitarian Post of Ukraine” program was created by Nova Poshta as a response to russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2014. Since then, it has become a reliable logistical arm for the volunteer movement of Ukraine. Learn more about the program and how to use it at https://humanitarian.novaposhta.ua/

Razom Opened Free Psychological Support Center in Khmelnytskyi

Published: March 7, 2023

Razom has opened its third psychological support center – now in Khmelnytskyi – all under our “Razom With You” project.

On February 27, Razom’s reps in Ukraine along with the organization “Zakhyst” opened a “Together with You” (“Razom з Тобою”) Psychological Support Center in the Ukrainian city of Khmelnytskyi. Free assistance will be provided here to those affected by the war: internally displaced persons, families of prisoners of war and deceased, relatives of military personnel and others.

The center’s team of experienced psychologists and social workers will help these individuals adapt to new living conditions and cope with the psychological impact of their war-related experiences. Those interested in the center’s services can easily make an appointment with a psychologist or request a consultation online.

Similar “Razom with You” centers also operate in Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk. The opening of this new center in Khmelnytskyi was made possible by a generous grant from Direct Relief – our sincere thanks to them!

Support Razom’s mission to improve the mental health of those affected by the war – learn more about Razom w ith You and please consider making a donation today.

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Razom Health Powers Up Ukrainian Hospitals

Published: February 27, 2023

This winter, Razom Health team, together with Americares, Zdorovi Agency, and Patients of Ukraine, delivered 11 high-power generators to Ukrainian hospitals located near the frontlines and in partially occupied territories.

In October 2022, russia put extra effort into targeting and massively destroying civilian infrastructure in Ukraine. Regular waves of missiles and kamikaze drones were aimed at power plants, transmission lines, and other civilian objects. In November, it got to a point where some regions lost power, heat, and water entirely. The air raids damaged over 50% of the power system. Until this day, emergency blackouts in some areas of Ukraine last 10-12 hours or even more.

Following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, a big part of Razom’s budget has been allocated to aid medical facilities in Ukraine. Razom Health team quickly mobilized to help Ukrainian healthcare system and provided overwhelmed healthcare facilities with critical medicines, medical supplies, and equipment.

Caring for the Country by Caring for its People: Lessons from the Razom z Toboyu Forum in Bucha

“You Did Not Leave Us Alone”: Inside a Mission Where Every Gesture Matters

Razom’s partnership with Americares has been instrumental in supporting Razom for Ukraine’s mission. Since March 2022, Americares has provided over $70 million of aid to 74 organizations assisting those affected by the war in Ukraine. To Razom, they have generously donated crucial hospital supplies in the early stages of the war and continue being an ally in aiding the Ukrainian healthcare system.

Yoanna Ivaniv, Razom Health coordinator of Americares partnership, says working with them has been a great success. With the Americares grant of $250,000, Razom officially started a project to supply Ukrainian hospitals with high-power generators.

...Americares' Ukraine Response Team was actively looking for ways to support Ukrainian hospitals' energy needs… The relationship we've had with Razom since the early-days of our response, coupled with their clearly laid-out plan, made the entire team at Americares comfortable supporting Razom in such a critically needed and time-sensitive project.

Jack O'Rourke – Deputy Field Team Lead, Americares Ukraine Response

The first step was contacting our partners on the ground – Zdorovi Agency and Patients of Ukraine – to determine which hospitals were the priority. Both NGOs worked on aiding and developing healthcare in Ukraine before the war and developed advanced logistics and reporting systems. They vet the hospitals, complete thorough monitoring protocols, and have full transparency in their reports.

Razom Health worked with Patients and Zdorovi for many months, together completed multiple projects, and developed a trusting relationship. These organizations helped select the hospitals in need using the following criteria:

immediate proximity to the frontlines
multiple departments
ED (Emergency Department)
ICUs (Intensive Care Units)
multiple ORs (Operating Rooms)
heavy patient flow
ability to build a platform for generator installation

Initially, with the data from the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, 22 medical facilities were selected for the project. Razom sent energy specialists and engineers to assess the facilities’ needs and capacity. As a result, 11 hospitals signed the agreement with Razom and started building the sites for the generators.

Meanwhile, Razom made a procurement offer using Prozorro – a decentralized public platform that ensures open access to procurement orders (tenders) in Ukraine. There were two competitive offers from Ukrainian companies, and the one with more experience in the field was chosen.

So far, 9 of 11 generators have been delivered and installed in hospitals in the Dnipro, Kryvyi Rih, Sumy, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv, and Odesa regions. With $40,000 saved from the grant, Razom plans to procure and deliver another generator to one of the hospitals affected by the war.

Razom Health Generators_Kryvyi Rih Region 3

Razom Health Generators_Kryvyi Rih Region 2

Razom Health Generators_Kharkiv Region 2

Razom Health Generators_Kryvyi Rih Region 5

Razom Health Generators_Kharkiv Region 1

Razom Health Generators_Kryvyi Rih Region 4

Razom Health Generators_Kharkiv Region 3

Razom Health Generators_Kryvyi Rih Region 1

Nataliia Tulinova, a founder and CEO of Zdorovi Agency, has recently visited 21 medical facilities in Kherson, a region that remains under severe missile attacks. She says Kherson is not yet a part of the centralized database for medical facilities in Ukraine because it was under occupation when the database was created. Therefore, they do not receive the aid as promptly as other regions.

One of the most pressing concerns is landmine injuries. As terrifying as it sounds, the hospitals need surgical drills and saws used for amputations. Neurosurgical microscopes, ICU beds, commode wheelchairs, and diagnostic equipment like portable ultrasound and x-ray machines are also on the list of required equipment for patients found under collapsed buildings and injured by shellings and explosions.

Thank you for helping and being Razom.

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