The Army, church and volunteers were the most trusted institutions in Ukraine before the war. The number of people who want to volunteer in Ukraine has been growing since 2014 when the war began.
Since February, 24, 2022, 43 500 volunteers applied through the Ukrainian Volunteer Service platform alone, and about 100 000 new users joined online. Volunteers have been critical in coordinating daily rescue missions to save not only thousands of human lives, but also a huge number of the country’s non-human population – pets, farm animals, zoo animals and wildlife.
The universal trust to the volunteers, their 8-year long practice in field conditions, superhuman resilience and well-established horizontal connections are one of the major resources that the Army of Ukraine relies on today.
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valery Zaluzhny said that the Ukrainian army was strong because there were thousands of volunteers next to him and behind him – people who have become the blood system of the army.
In Ukraine in Flames #49, we will tell several stories on how Ukrainian civil volunteers facilitate the Ukrainian victory.
Speakers:
- Oleh Baklazhov, representative of DESPRO NGO, volunteer
- Dmytro Vodovozov, drummer of the Antytila band, volunteer
- Bohdan Kelichavyi, mayor of Kopychentsi, Ternopil oblast
- Arsen Kelichavyi, volunteer.
UKRAINE IN FLAMES project is created by Ukraine Crisis Media Center, Ukrainian Catholic University’s analitical center and NGO “Euroatlantic Course”. We are aiming at searching a loud support for Ukraine in the war started by Russia on the 24th of February 2022.
If you want to support Ukraine against Russian aggression, check the link with recommendations by Ukraine Crisis Media Center – https://uacrisis.org/en/help-ukraine.
NGO Euroatlantic Course collects donations to support Ukrainian Army and civilians – https://eac.org.ua/en/main-page/.