As you know, there's a humanitarian crisis going on in Ukraine and your help is urgently needed.
This winter will be life-threatening for millions of people in Ukraine.
- Dr Hans Henri P. Kluge, WHO Regional Director for Europe
SITUATION:
Ukraine is facing a harsh winter with temperatures that will reach -20°C, and that are on average below 0 on 105 days/year.
The energy infrastructures are heavily damaged:
- All of the 15 nuclear reactors in Ukraine have been taken out from the network due to a decrease in frequency, a situation that is likely to happen over and over.
- 40% of the Kyiv (Kiev) oblast is still without electricity.
- Ukraine’s Ministry for Communities and Territories Development said that as of Sept. 22, 349 pieces of critical heating infrastructure had been damaged in the war.
- Apart from heating plants, thousands of miles of heating-system pipelines are vulnerable to artillery and airstrikes.
- People in Kyiv (Kiev) are queuing to collect water from public wells in the pouring rain.
- The pace of restoration to household consumers is slowed down by difficult weather conditions made worse by the freezing and rupture of wires in distribution networks.
- As a testimony to the impossible situation, surgeons had to perform heart surgery on a child using a torch light as a blackout occurred.
- According to the United Nations in the south of Ukraine, people have no water, electricity or heat, and food is scarce.
HOW PEOPLE ARE SURVIVING:
These are some of the voices from people living this hell on earth:
I woke up cold. The heating and electricity are off, again. Water is there. But it might not last.
- Tymofiy Mylovanov, 47
I have a daughter, a granddaughter, a mother who is 92 and cannot move and I have to come here and fetch at least 40 litres of water every day.
And that’s if we don’t bathe. Only for drinking and washing clothes for the kid and linen for my mother.
- Lidia, 58
Last January, the temperature was around -20°C [-41ºF]. Imagine that without electricity or heating.
- Nikol Goldman, 18
I have no way of getting warm. It is even colder in my apartment than outside
- Sergi Volodimir, 58. He lives with his three brothers in a house with no windows and broken doors. They try to keep as warm as they can with a wood stove.
Life in Bakhmut is hard, very hard. Impossible.
It is only 3 degrees inside our house. We are freezing. We are waiting for a stove, they told us to put our names on the list and wait.
My husband is 82 and he's too frail to be evacuated. How can I leave him? There are no doctors here. No nurses. Nothing is here.
We are in the stone age and no one in the world can help us. When will it end?
- Oksana, 75
Of course we are afraid, we are very afraid of the difficulties that may come this winter.
But we agreed to get through these difficulties together, and the main thing is that Russia does not win.
- Lyubov, 70
CALL TO ACTION:
What's needed at most now is to prevent people from freezing to death.
As electricity and central heating are becoming more and more unreliable at every strike, the need to secure a way to keep warm is critical.
People need warm clothes, blankets and wood stoves to have a chance.
Shelterbox is an NGO that has helped 1 millions people in over 10 years and are now using the great majority of all donations they receive to Ukraine.
Depending on your location you can choose which shelterbox's branch to donate to:
- UK: through paypal here
- US: though card/paypal/venmo/gpay/appleplay here
- Canada: through card/paypal here
- Australia: through paypal here
- Euro zone: through bank transfer using these bank details
SHELTERBOX ITALIA – ONLUS
IBAN: IT 03 Z 03069 09606 100000121688
Concept: Name, Surname, Donation to Shelterbox- Other zones: please choose one of the branches above based on your preferred donation method
HOW MUCH TO DONATE:
Of course, how much you can donate depends on your income and your living situation, but bear in mind that this is a once in a lifetime, life or death situation.
Also, such a donation can be the best gift for your loved ones this Christmas.
This is how much each donation can help according to the Shelterbox website:
- 40 euros: thermal blankets for a family of five
- 115 euro: winter clothes for a family of five
- 600 euros: winter clothes for a family of five, plus a wood stove and furniture of wood to go through the winter.
Thank you for having made it this far, if you've any questions please reach out to me directly.