At the end of March 2024, the Stand with Ukraine team visited Uzhhorod, a Ukrainian city near the Slovakian border in the Zakarpattia Oblast. With a population of 115,000 before Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, Uzhhorod has become a hub of solidarity, welcoming several million displaced people in the early months of the war.
We met with Nataliya and her team from the Ukrainian Medical Aid Committee, established in 2000, which provides support to people with disabilities and runs an orphanage for children with special needs. Over the past two years, the committee has launched numerous initiatives to assist Ukrainians affected by the war. They manage three housing centers for displaced individuals who have fled Russian bombings, including a shelter for single mothers with children, which we had the opportunity to visit. This shelter temporarily hosts displaced people, helping them find housing and employment while offering psychological support. Currently, it is home to 12 women and 10 children, including a 9-month-old baby.
We were particularly moved by the association’s collaboration with the French organization SAFE. Over the past two years, nearly 200 trucks have traversed Europe to deliver essential supplies from France to Ukraine. Every month, individuals and companies donate necessities such as food, baby supplies, beds, crutches, wheelchairs, hygiene products, and medical equipment like medicines, defibrillators, oxygen tanks, ventilators, and bandages.
We visited the logistics hub, opened just three days after the war began in 2022. Here, donations are sorted and redistributed to Ukrainian cities and frontline hospitals based on their needs, including Kharkiv, Dnipro, and Zaporizhzhia.
This humanitarian bridge is sustained by global and European generosity. We encourage you to support their vital work by following their updates on Instagram (@camz_ua) and Twitter (@AideMedicaleUkr; @AssociationSAF3).
To contribute and help send the next humanitarian truck:
Donate here
