How can you help Ukraine?
Verified support channels with sources.
February 24th, 2022 at 4 am, Russian armed forces have attacked Ukraine without any prior declaration of war.
Russian invasion forces performed missile, air, and artillery strikes against the civilian population while claiming contrary in the media. Pray you never learn how it feels chatting with your mother while watching her neighborhood carpet-bombed with Russian Grad missiles in media and socials.
Surprisingly to the entire world, the people and the Armed Forces of Ukraine showed incredible feats of resistance to invaders, while the tech community launched the biggest cyber-counteroffensive to date.
The global worldwide concern and support for Ukraine are inspiring, and it warms the heart seeing how many people around the world cannot stay indifferent and care about each other in times of need.
I get asked a lot, “how can I help Ukraine?”
Here’s the consolidated list of Ukrainian verified support relief channels. It’s nowhere near full and doesn’t include all kind offers for help worldwide. If you know any — let me know and I’ll add it to the list after confirming it’s legit.
An official call for help from Ukraine on Twitter
Ukraine’s official Twitter has posted several ways to show your support.
- Providing financial help through confirmed Ukraine’s National Bank channels.
- Requesting your country’s officials to show support for Ukraine and join the sanctions and bans of the Russian resources and media.
- Joining millions of people protesting around the world.
You can also get in touch with your local Ukrainian embassy and ask for more ways to help the Ukrainian refugees.
Petitioning NATO to close airspace over Ukraine
Declaring the sky over Ukraine a global no-fly zone would immensely relieve pressure on Ukrainian Armed Forces and stop Russian fighter bombers from harming the civilian population in cities and villages.
Filing a petition takes less than 1 minute. You also have to leave some basic contact information for your voter registration. OpenPetition.org can keep it anonymous if you wish.
UPDATE: The petition has been fulfilled, and OpenPetition is filing a formal request to NATO.
Come Back Alive charity foundation to support the Armed Forces of Ukraine
The Come Back Alive is an English-speaking branch of the Return Alive Foundation established in 2014 to support the Ukrainian Armed Forces after the Russian-fueled insurgency in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions and the takeover of Crimea.
Come Back Alive is providing material and technical assistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine, as well as indirectly influencing the Armed Forces and other state institutions, strengthening the capabilities of the army, and developing strong military culture.
Ukraine is called “the Shield of Europe”, and in no small deal owes the title thanks to the efforts of Come Back Alive and other foundations.
Cryptocurrency donations
On Saturday 26th, just two days after the Russian invasion, Ukraine’s official Twitter account tweeted out a call for community donations through Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), and the Tether stablecoin (USDT).
The vice prime minister and minister of digital transformation of Ukraine, Mykhailo Fedorov, confirmed on his Twitter account that the call for donations was real and asked people to #StandWithUkraine.
These wallets have received over $20 million in cryptocurrency as of publication, astounding the world and showing that crypto finance is a rapid and very powerful crowdfunding tool.
Humanitarian relief efforts to help Ukraine
If you are against providing support that might end up helping armed forces in conflict, consider these nonprofit humanitarian relief organizations, which primarily focus on medical assistance and helping children and women.
Red Cross Ukraine
The main aim of the Red Cross Society activities is to ensure human life protection, prevention, and mitigation of human suffering during armed conflicts, natural disasters, catastrophes, and accidents. Red Cross also provides support to medical services of the armed forces, public healthcare services, and assists public authorities of Ukraine in their activities in the humanitarian field.
According to the Red Cross Charter, the objective is achieved unbiasedly, without any discrimination based on nationality, race, gender, religion, language, class, or political convictions.
UNICEF relief efforts to save the children of Ukraine
Conflict in Ukraine poses an immediate threat to children. UNICEF is working to scale up life-saving support for children and their families.
UNFPA relief efforts for women and girls
United Nations Population Fund is the United Nations sexual and reproductive health agency. Their mission is to deliver a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled.
UNFPA's priority now is to safeguard the health and rights of refugee women and girls, including to give birth safely and to live free from violence and abuse.
The UN Refugee Agency UNHCR
During times of displacement, UNHCR provides critical emergency assistance in the form of clean water, sanitation, and healthcare, as well as shelter, blankets, household goods, and sometimes food.
UNHCR also arranges transport and assistance packages for people who return home, and income-generating projects for those who resettle.
Public Good and CNN Impact Your World charity coordination
As Russian forces attack Ukraine, civilians suffer. When those affected flee their homes and seek shelter, many will rely upon humanitarian aid from charities on the ground. You can help by donating to one of the charitable nonprofit organizations listed on the website powered by Public Good and CNN.
Global Giving Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund
All donations to the Global Giving Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund will support humanitarian assistance in impacted communities in Ukraine and surrounding regions where Ukrainian refugees have fled. GlobalGiving’s local partners are bringing relief to terrified and displaced communities, and they need resources to continue their life-saving work.
Your donation to the Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund will provide:
- Shelter, food, and clean water for refugees
- Health and psychosocial support
- Access to education and economic assistance
- And more
Help refugees fleeing Ukraine
Over 700,000 Ukrainian refugees at the time of publication, mostly consisting of women and children managed to escape the aggression through the borders of Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary, and Moldova.
Over 200,000 Ukrainian citizens are stranded abroad worldwide with no ability to return home as the air flights are canceled and transportation crippled in the country.
AirBNB refugee accommodation
Because of the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, people urgently need temporary emergency stays. If you have available space, you can join Airbnb.org to help accommodate refugees.
EU4UA emergency housing refugee accommodation
EU4UA’s goal is not to replace NGOs who do an incredible job at welcoming and providing support to refugees. While they have no experience doing what they do, they’re good at building tech solutions and scaling them.
EU4UA tool is here to simply match two populations who could not meet without a simple and efficient platform.
Thank you for the support
There was an amazing creative going around Ukrainian Instagram that I want to share with you.
In times like these:
- Your apartment size and decor don’t matter when you have to sleep in a bomb shelter.
- Your clothing brand doesn’t matter when you sleep on the floor.
- Your car model doesn’t matter when roads aren’t safe, and there’s nowhere to go.
- What matters is people who text you every few hours asking “How are you? ❤️”, “Are you ok? 🙏”.
Thank you for reading and considering supporting Ukraine and the freedom it represents and fights for in the face of blind aggression and greed.
#StandWithUkraine 💙💛
