How To Help Ukraine

We could never have built BizNexus without our teammates and friends from across the Ukraine, -mostly based right in Kyiv.

It’s been an ominously quiet week for our distributed team without our daily meetings, hangouts, Slack chatter….

Our hearts are with all of Ukraine at this time.

For anybody looking to take whatever action you can to help, we’re publishing and will be updating links to the organizations that are popping up at such a rapid pace to offer assistance to Ukrainians in this moment.

Do your own research on the organizations listed as we’re simply aggregating and giving visibility to the trending organizations making an impact as they surface, putting these front-&-center, for you to be able to review, engage and help.

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Live News & Event Tracking From Ukraine

A Ukrainian teammate of ours passed this site along and we’ve been relying on this heavily alongside direct communications. The liveuamap.com site provides real-time news updates and tracks events across the country as they happen.

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9 Meaningful Ways You Can Help Ukraine

From Global Citizen

Ukrainians have put together a list of organizations where you can donate to help people affected by the crisis. Those organizations include:

Medical Supplies and Humanitarian Aid

1. Nova Ukraine, a Ukraine-based nonprofit, provides citizens with everything from baby food and hygiene products, to clothes and household supplies. Donate here.

2. People in Need is providing humanitarian aid to over 200,000 people on the ground. For those most in need, they provide food packages, emergency shelter, safe access to drinking water, hygiene items, and coal for heating. Donate here.

3. The Ukrainian Red Cross does loads of humanitarian work, from aiding refugees to training doctors. Donate here.

4. International Medical Corps is on the front lines and prepared to help citizens with emergency health care services, as well as mental health and psychosocial support. The agency is also keeping the pandemic top of mind throughout the crisis by priotitizing COVID-19 awareness and prevention services, to help keep displaced citizens safe from the pandemic. Donate here.

5. CARE International is responding to the crisis by providing Ukrainians in need with food, hygeine kits, psychosocial support services, access to water, and access to cash. Donate here.

6. Helping Children Affected by War

   • UNICEF Ukraine is repairing schools damaged by the bombings and providing an emergency response to children affected by the conflict. Donate here.

   3. Supporting Journalism

   • The Kyiv Independentdescribes itself as “created by journalists who were fired from the Kyiv Post for defending editorial independence.” You can help keep the curtains up for the independent Ukrainian English-language media outlet by donating to its Patreon or GoFundMe fundraiser.

   • Ukraine World is an independent English-language multimedia project that emerged from a volunteer initiative helping international journalists during the 2014 “Revolution of Dignity.” Support it by donating to its Patreon.

   4. Supporting Refugees

   Of course, for many Ukrainians, the threat of full-scale war is driving them to seek safety in neighboring countries.

   In a statement, Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said: “We have already seen reports of casualties and people starting to flee their homes to seek safety.”

   Accordingly, the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR) has stepped up its operations and is working with governments in neighboring countries "calling on them to keep borders open to those seeking safety and protection.” Germany has already offered Poland help with refugees.

   You can help support refugees by donating here. 

   5. Supporting the LGBTQ+ Community in Ukraine

   In times like these, LGBTQ+ members are often even more marginalised and exposed to vulnerability than usual. OutRight Action International is stepping up to make sure that they are not left behind and that they are protected in this time of crisis. The organization will be helping to support LGBTQ+ groups and organizations on the ground who are setting up shelters and providing safety for citizens. All donations made to OutRight will go directly to the cause. 

   You can donate here. 

   If you are unable to donate, or would like to do more to support LGBTQ+ citizens, the you can also sign up to OutRight's newsletter here to stay up to date on the crisis and how it is affecting LGBTQ+ Ukrainians. 

STAY INFORMED

Follow the News Regarding the Ongoing Situation With Trustworthy Sources: 

The Kyiv Independent

The Kyiv Independent has been a leading voice on the front lines, covering a timeline of ongoing events since the beginning and highlighting those who have been most affected by the violent attack. The English-language outlet is continuously reporting on how the invasion and conflict are impacting citizens, the economy, as well as Ukrainian foreign politics. Keep up to date on its website here, or on the Twitter page here. 

The New Voice of Ukraine

Covering news in three different languages — English, Ukrainian, and Russian — the New Voice of Ukraine has not only covered breaking news, but has released informative analyses on the situation that detail how the situation led to this point, and is continuously publishing op-eds by Ukranian scholars and experts that help to give a view of tone of the situation. Read more on its website here.

Ukraine World

While Ukraine World is not posting breaking news and timeline updates on its website, it is very active on its social media accounts. Its independent journalists on the front lines have gathered first-hand footage, and it is using its account to share other informative sources that its followers can refer to in order to keep up to date. Follow Ukraine World here. 

Kyiv Post

The Kyiv Post is the only non-independent media outlet on this list, and it is important that those following state-funded outlets are aware that they are affiliated with the state. Having said that, the outlet has been at the forefront of delivering breaking news directly from government and national offices, releasing statements from ministry officials, military leads, and other dignitaries. You can read more on its website here, or follow it on Twitter here. 

Follow Informational Accounts on Social Media:

If your first source for receiving and consuming news is social media, then follow these accounts and turn on your notifications to stay enlightened on breaking stories as well as ways you can help citizens. 

Stand With Ukraine

Uploading concise, yet well-informed Instagram posts and stories, Stand With Ukraine is a community page that has been dedicated to sharing knowledge wrap-ups based on the ongoing situation, as well as ways that followers can support citizens from wherever they are. You can follow it here. 

Svidomi

Get updates on the ongoing conflict as they happen from this Instagram account — the English version of a Ukrainian social media-based media outlet — which is sharing brief, yet frequent posts about exactly what is happening on the front lines, and who is being most impacted. Stay informed by following the account here. 

Ukranians in Solidarity

This is an Instagram account that has posted digestible information on how followers can support Ukrainian citizens, and has used the platform to upload messages of solidarity for citizens in the country. Previously the account has been used to stand in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement, and taught Ukrainian citizens how to be an ally to people of color. Give it a follow here. 

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Want to support the people in Ukraine? Here's how you can help

From NPR

UNICEF

UNICEF supports health, nutrition, HIV prevention, education, safe drinking water, sanitation and protection for children and families caught in the conflict in Ukraine.

Médecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders

MSF runs a range of activities in Ukraine working with local volunteers, organizations, health care professionals and authorities to help people travel to health care facilities and access prescribed medications.

Voices of Children

The Ukrainian organization's Charitable Foundation helps provide psychological and psychosocial support to children affected by the armed conflict, according to its website.

Voices of Children's efforts of support for kids include art therapy, video storytelling, providing mobile psychologists and even individual help for families.

Sunflower of Peace

The nonprofit organization is raising money to prepare first aid medical tactical backpacks for paramedics and doctors on the front lines.

Each backpack is designed for groups of 5 to ten people and includes an array of first aid supplies — such as bandages, anti-hemorrhagic medicine and medical instruments, according to the organization's Facebook page.

International Committee of the Red Cross

This Switzerland-based organization is aiming to help people affected by the conflict and support the work of the Ukrainian Red Cross.

Save the Children

Save the Children, based in London, helps to deliver lifesaving aid to vulnerable children in Ukraine and around the world. According to its website, the organization says it is on the ground in the U.S. and other parts of the world "delivering essential humanitarian aid."

"We are gravely concerned for children in Ukraine, Afghanistan and around the world who might be caught in the middle of armed conflict, forced to flee their homes and exposed to injury, hunger and sub-zero temperatures," the organization writes in a statement online.

UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR)

The international organization aims to provide emergency assistance to families in Ukraine — providing aid such as cash assistance and opportunities for resettlement in the U.S.

"UNHCR is working with the authorities, UN and other partners in Ukraine and is ready to provide humanitarian assistance wherever necessary and possible. To that effect, security and access for humanitarian efforts must be guaranteed," the organization said in a statement.

CARE

CARE is raising money for its Ukraine Crisis Fund, which will provide immediate aid including food, water, hygiene kits, support services and direct cash assistance.

The humanitarian organization aims to raise $20 million and help at least 4 million Ukrainians. It says it will prioritize women and girls, families and the elderly.

International Medical Corps

The global nonprofit has been delivering primary health care and mental health services in eastern Ukraine since 2014, and is raising funds to expand those services for people affected by the latest conflict.

It says cold weather and economic insecurity in the leadup to Thursday's attack have left nearly 3 million Ukrainians relying on humanitarian assistance to meet their basic needs, a number that is certain to rise nationwide.

Its Ukraine team is preparing to deploy mobile medical teams to provide emergency and primary health services, mental health and psychosocial services and COVID-19 awareness and prevention services for people who have been displaced.

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Want to go fight for Ukraine? Here’s what to do.

From The Military Times

Under siege by its much larger and more powerful neighbor, Ukraine has been so far able to slow down Russia’s attack, a senior U.S. defense official said Sunday morning.

But there is a long fight ahead.

“The Russians have been frustrated. They have been slowed. They have been stymied, and they have been resisted by Ukrainians, and to some degree, they’ve done it to themselves in terms of their fuel and logistics and sustainment problems,” the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to brief reporters. “But as I said earlier, we would expect them to learn from these issues and adapt to them and try to overcome them. So I think we all need to be very sober here. in recognizing that this is combat, and combat is ugly, it’s messy, it’s bloody, and it’s not wholly predictable.

And to that end, Ukraine is calling on foreigners who want to help.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has created “The International Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine.”

It is a new effort, a Ukrainian official tells Military Times, to help bolster the fight.

Several veterans have reached out to Military Times interested in helping Ukraine.

Before you go, this is what you need to know, according to the official, who spoke to Military Times Sunday on condition of anonymity in an interview repeatedly interrupted by ongoing airstrikes.

Here’s what veterans, other U.S. citizens or anyone else interested in helping out, need to know.

1. Apply to the Embassy of Ukraine in your country with the intention of joining the Foreign Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine (ask a military diplomat or consul for details). Applicants can visit the Embassy in person, call or send an email to start the process.

2. Get your documents in order. This includes an ID, a passport to travel abroad, documents confirming military service or work with law enforcement agencies and participation in combat.

3. Arrive at the embassy with documents for an interview with the defense attaché and the settlement of any visa issues with the consul.

4. Write an application for enlistment in the Territorial Defense of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for military service under a contract on a voluntary basis. (This is in addition to Step 1.)

5. Receive instructions on how to arrive in Ukraine and what to bring. Military clothing, equipment, helmet, body armor, combat gloves, tactical glasses, belts and vests are recommended. “It is not obligatory,” the official said, “but a foreign soldier in his national uniform looks good for the International Legion.”

6. Go to Ukraine in an organized manner. Representatives of Ukrainian embassies, consulates (abroad) and Territorial Defense in Ukraine will provide assistance on the way. Contacts will be provided at the Embassy of Ukraine in your country.