Humanitarian Aid in Ukraine: The Essential Volunteers in the War

A number of volunteers are on duty to help in Ukraine. They also drive close to the front to supply Ukrainian soldiers with auxiliary material, among other things.

A village in the Zaporizhia region, south-eastern Ukraine. In complete darkness, Ulrich Waldmann and his team unload the last relief supplies from their car with a green camouflage pattern. The color is intended to protect the group in their work at the front. The German from Ahaus near Münster had no contact with the military until a year ago. At the time he was living with his wife in Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine, experienced the shelling of the city and decided to help.

Today, the Ukrainian military medics near the front greet him with hugs, handshakes and beaming faces. Waldmann is one of tens of thousands of volunteers who provide the Ukrainian army with a wide variety of goods. In this case, these are mainly so-called IFAKs – a small first-aid kit that every soldier carries with him: “We have now brought more than 20 with us here. We already have numerous, more than 70 to various other units here everywhere delivered to the southern front in Ukraine. And now, so to speak, we’re giving the rest of what’s left as relief supplies.”

Many want to help in Ukraine

According to an investigation by a British humanitarian aid analysis group, civilians from around the world have set up 1,700 non-governmental organizations to help Ukraine in the war in just the first few months since the Russian invasion began. There are probably even more now. They evacuate civilians, rebuild destroyed settlements, procure drones or supply the troops with food – many aid initiatives in Ukraine have specialized. They generate donations via online appeals.

This is also important for Ulrich Waldmann. He takes a look at the bags that the men have heaved out of the car and spread out in front of the military medics: “I would say it’s almost 2,000 or 3,000 euros that we just handed over, here in particular because they’re just too expensive . A single IFAK alone costs 80 euros. And if you add 25 to that plus generator, plus sleeping bags, plus the medicine that we just handed over – that’s well over 2,000 euros.”

Paramedics in Ukraine: “Necessary things for us at the front”

To finance this, Waldmann and his team of foreigners and Ukrainians cooperate with several small foundations. He often gets specific information from the army units about what is needed, he says. And so he not only supplies bandages and first-aid kits, but also blankets, food, water filters and flashlights in addition to sleeping bags and generators. In the small village in Zaporizhia, Jan, a medic for the Ukrainian army, is beaming. All the relief supplies are urgently needed, he says: “It’s very important, these are absolutely necessary things for us at the front. You can see what’s going on here. Any help for our soldiers is an important part. 80 percent, maybe even 100 percent of our cars come from volunteers alone.”

Some initiatives have grown into large organizations

The movement of the so-called Wolontery – of volunteers – is not new. When the war began in eastern Ukraine in 2014, the state and army were on the ground. Although Ukraine was not defensible, it put up fierce resistance even then. Since then, old women have been sewing camouflage nets, engineers building drones, former event managers producing bulletproof vests and actors using their celebrity to collect donations for the army. Some initiatives have grown into large organizations over the years. One of them is the Powernys Schywym Foundation (translated: come back alive) – which has been trying to save the lives of as many soldiers as possible since 2014.

It has grown again since the start of the major Russian invasion, Ivan Naumenko explains in his office in Kyiv: “We are not volunteers, we have professional employees. On February 23 we had 27 full-time employees. Now there are between 60 and 70. I know not the exact number, but all who came to us in February and March were volunteers and then became full-time staff.

The foundation generated the equivalent of more than 120 million euros in donations last year, says Naumenko. Hundreds of night vision devices and thermal imaging cameras could be bought from them. But not only that, in the meantime a license has even been obtained to buy and import military goods. Among other things, the Ukrainian army was able to get three Turkish Bayraktar drones and eleven armored vehicles. “It’s nothing the state can’t do,” says Naumenko. “It’s just a much longer process because of various financial and bureaucratic limitations. In fact, both the state and various voluntary initiatives play in the same team. But there is a big financial gap that can hardly be covered.”

Material on a grand scale

The foundation procures material on a large scale. Contacts with the military are now so close that, according to the latest reports, a member of the foundation is even supposed to take on an official post in the Ministry of Defence. Ulrich Waldmann and his team are far from that. But that’s not their goal either. He is proud to be a volunteer. He does not receive a salary, only an expense allowance that is enough to survive.

But after a year of war he also has good contacts with the Ukrainian military: “The contacts then usually guide us to the units themselves. We then go out and have to be relatively close to the front lines,” he said. “Sometimes it’s 40 kilometers, sometimes ten kilometers and then you meet the relevant units on site, so to speak, at the hospitals or directly at the military units and then hand it over on site to simply ensure that it gets where it needs to is needed.”

Many trips to the front – personal fates

Waldmann himself no longer remembers how many such journeys he has already made to the front. But every trip to the soldiers is like coming home, he says. Over the months he has developed close personal ties to the men and women in the army. Their individual destinies touch him. To help them, he is on duty almost day and night.

But it is rather the hesitant politics of the West that makes him tired. “The fact that the decision was finally made, for example that tanks would be sent to Ukraine after a year of death and suffering here. And it will take a while before this help is actually implemented. I don’t think we’ll be there before March in the Ukraine will see the first tanks roll and during that time civilians will die again. Our soldiers in Ukraine will continue to bleed and die. Simply because the aid is not arriving on time. And yes, maybe that makes me tired.”