#StandWithUkraine

Volunteers continue to support the children, women, and men of Ukraine, even from one of the smallest countries in Europe. Two Maltese cousins, Lorna and Douglas, made their way to Moldova to assist a Community Centre in Dancu Tabita and other NGOs in Ukraine in their work with Ukrainian refugees.

People and civil society organisations are moving heaven and earth to support those fleeing from the war in Ukraine. This is visible across Europe and in particular in Poland, where solidarity has taken over almost every town. Jakub shared his testimony of what it is like to work in a nongovernmental organisation in Poland, and the challenges to readapt facilities and activities to support Ukraine refugees

On February 24, at 4am, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine. More than a month later, missile attacks on military and civilian infrastructure are taking place across the country every day. Martial law has been declared in Ukraine and for more than a month Ukrainian people have been living under military law. Civilians are taking shelter in basements due to constant attacks, there is no food or water in hot spots, and the occupiers are disrupting green corridors and preventing the delivery of humanitarian aid. New reports of terrifying actions by Russian soldiers (like raping teenagers or killing innocent children) are emerging every day.

This story comes from the Vinnytsia oblast, in the West of Ukraine, and it is about the driver who saved the Mariupol women’s football team. Until the very last moment, the team did not want to leave the city. But then, they decided to go. Half of them left with their families to the Vinnytsa region, but some of them still remained in the city.

“The Ukrainian army has fought back, and Russians have realised that they cannot invade Kharkiv easily. They have intensified the bombings and airstrikes”, says Maksym Levytskyi, a former Ukrainian police officer who now works for the EU Advisory Mission in Ukraine.

Jonas is doing his bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Sociology at the Technical University of Dresden. Before starting his academic path, he worked as a German and English teacher at the German cultural centre for one year in the southern Ukrainian city of Odesa. Since 24 February, Jonas has done his best to support Ukraine and its people, outside and inside Germany. We decided to have a chat with him to understand what young people in Germany can do and how they can support Ukrainians.

As the war started, so started an intense activity on Wikipedia. A lot of new articles appeared about the war, the battles, the sanctions, that were very low standard and also reflected the battlefields of contradictory interests and narratives. Typically, people would learn via a tweet or an Instagram post about a battle being fought in Ukraine, create a poorly-written stub article without any reference stating that the Ukrainian army had won the said battle, and a few minutes later another anonymous user would appear and delete any mention about Russian casualties and transform the status of the battle from “Ukrainian victory” to something like “outcome unclear”.

Since 24 February, when Russia invaded Ukraine, Anželika has done her best to support Ukraine and its people, both inside and outside Latvia. She has been active in her local organisation 3D friends, and with the Red Cross. We spoke to Anželika to understand what young people in Latvia can do and how they can support Ukrainians.