Helping Ukrainian Friends

March 24, 2022 (One Month after the invasion of Ukraine)

My name is Russell Jones. I am raising money to help Ukrainian friends living through a war they did not ever want!! I am asking for help for single mothers, single women and their families hoping to survive the war. This is the story of my connection to my Ukrainian friends...

 

In 2016, I visited Russia with three close friends to watch the World Hockey Championships. It was a wonderful trip and even more interesting for me because I studied Russian History/Political Science while at University. During the trip, I met several people in Russia and discovered that Slavic people were very friendly. I kept communicating with friends in Russia and also with some Ukrainians I met that were working in Russia. In 2017, I finally had a chance to visit Ukraine. The first city I visited was Odesa, and I fell in love with this city and its people on the Black Sea. I have also spent some time in Kyiv, Kharkiv, and a city known as Bila Tserkva. (White Church)

 

Immediately, I liked the warmth and friendliness of the Ukrainian people. Men, women, mothers and fathers have all treated me well! Since my initial visit in 2017, I have made many trips to Ukraine and made many friends. I keep in touch with 19 different friends and families.

 

So here I am now!!! I am compelled to come to the aid of friends who cannot leave Ukraine and other friends who are now refugees. If I do not fight for them, who will?

 

Single women and single mothers in Ukraine often receive no help from anyone. Fathers of children rarely pay any child support. Families tend to be very small, and families often have only one child. When the parents get older, there are no senior facilities. The well-being of seniors falls on their children and grandchildren. Seniors are primarily cared for by their daughters and granddaughters until they pass away.

 

The average salary of a single woman in Ukraine is approximately $350-$450 per month. Every day can be a struggle. Now, people are not working because of the war. During the Covid Pandemic, many women had no income because they received no sick pay, vacation pay, etc. There is also no unemployment insurance or government stimulus payouts like in our country. Over the past three years, I have sent aid to help with family illnesses, medical treatments, prescriptions, dental work, clothes, rent, food and numerous other causes. I have even given money to help pay for a headstone. If anyone has concerns, don't hesitate to contact me, and I will be happy to provide MoneyGram receipts. I am asking for help through this GoFundMe initiative to assist these wonderful people.

 

With these facts in mind, I would like to tell you the story of three women.

(I must cover their faces with the Ukrainian Flag to ensure their safety if the Russians succeed in occupying their cities. This is because Russia has some of the best facial recognition systems in the world. If the city falls where one of these women lives, sites such as GoFundMe.com will be combed by Russian IT professionals, and people receiving help from American Charities will be in great danger.)

 

Olga's Story - March 24, 2022 (One Month after the invasion of Ukraine)

 

The first story is Olga's story. She is the woman on the cover of this GoFundMe page. She has been a close friend and very important to me for several years. She has a wonderful eight-year-old daughter. She has raised her daughter alone with some help from her mother since her daughter's birth. Olga is unable to leave Ukraine. Her single mother lives in the same city and cares for Olga's 85-year-old grandfather, who can barely walk. Olga cannot abandon her family, as they are her only family. They are all she knows in life. Please think about this! Could you leave your mother and elderly grandfather to fend for themselves alone against a foreign invasion?

 

Olga has told me if things become so bad that her daughter's life is in danger, she will leave. But until that happens, or if that happens, she has no savings and has often depended on me. Who will help her pay for rent, food, electricity, heat and personal items in the future?

Please help me help Olga and her child survive this war!

(Below is a photo of Olga and her daughter during Christmas 2021 - 60 days before the war began)

 

 

Autumn 2023 - 20 months since the war began.

70-80% of the time during winter there is no electricity, heat, phone or internet service. This is because of attacks on Ukraine's infrastructure by Russia. Olga's daughter often has not been able to attend school and online classes happen only one or two days each week because there is no power/internet. She has been in an actual classroom environment for only 8 months since the pandemic began in March 2020.

Olga still cannot work. There is no work unless one works for the government, is in the military, or is a medical professional caring for wounded soldiers.

They have never been to a restaurant for a meal since I left in January 2022. They have not enjoyed seeing a movie in the cinema for more than 2 years, or even visited the beach in the summer. (The beaches are often filled with land mines to protect them from invasion)

Olga has had difficulty supplying food and other necessities due to inflation over the past year. Inflation in Ukraine due to the war is 50% above 2021!!

Galina's Story - March 24, 2022 (One Month after the invasion of Ukraine)

 

This is the story of Galina. Galina has been my good friend for 4 years. She is trained as a lawyer and works in the court system in Ukraine. She earns a substantial salary for a Ukrainian woman of approximately $700 per month.

Galina (photo below) is a single mother with a 5-year-old daughter who will stay in Ukraine because she refuses to abandon her elderly mother, who suffers from emotional and neurological problems. Galina's father lives in St. Petersburg, Russia but she has not seen him for 18 years. So her mother and her 5-year-old daughter are her only family. Her mother makes very little money as she can only work some part-time hours in a clinic cleaning medical rooms.

Galina has been told she will be called back to work but she does know when this will happen. She will not be paid until she returns to work and she has no idea when she will ever return to work! So she must enter this war as a single mother with a young daughter without any income. Her life is a life of complete uncertainty!!

 

 

Autumn 2023 - 20 months since the war began.

Galina is experiencing a similar life to Olga. 70-80% of the time in winter, there is no electricity, heat, phone or internet service. This is because of attacks on Ukraine's infrastructure by Russia. Galina sent me the photos below of what her city often looks like at night. All is dark except for red traffic lights left on so that someone walking is not in total darkness. The white lights far away are where a hospital is located. Hospitals have emergency generators that provide power because power is crucial to treat wounded soldiers from the ongoing war.

Galina was called back to work but was informed her new salary would be less than 40% of what her salary was before the war. Then in July 2023, her position working for the courts was eliminated. She is currently searching for work but has found nothing.

_________________________________________________________________________

Olya's Story - March 24, 2022 (One Month after the invasion of Ukraine)



 

I have known Olya since 2018. She is a single woman who worked in a small clinic in a city of approximately 100,000 in southeast Ukraine called Severdonetsk. Her city was near the zone occupied by pro-Russian forces in 2014. She earned approximately $325 per month before the war but could survive because she inherited her apartment when her mother passed in 2020.

Olya was born into an unusually large Ukrainian family of three children. When she was 13, her brother, only 15, passed away suddenly. Then six months later, her father died suddenly. She says her father died from a broken heart after losing his only son. So Olya was left with only an older sister and her mother.

 

The older sister moved to western Ukraine and married when Olya was 18. In January 2019, her mother was diagnosed with cancer, and over the next 14 months had endless treatments until she passed away in May 2020. Since that time, Olya has been alone and struggling.

I spoke with Olya on February 10, 2022, and asked how she was doing. I asked if anything was different because the world knew about the Russian military build-up on the Ukrainian border. She told me the sounds of rockets and explosions in the distance were much louder than in the past. (Olya lived only about 30 miles from where there was fighting between pro-Russian troops and Ukrainian troops since 2014)

 

On February 18, Olya texted me that she could not take the explosions all night anymore and was afraid. She was on a train toward western Ukraine. She met her sister, who is pregnant and her brother-in-law. She said she had packed just one suitcase and her cat, which was all she was taking. Olya said she was very emotional because she had no idea if she would ever see her apartment again!

 

Her sister did not live far from Lviv, 40 miles from the Polish border. She and her sister and brother-in-law waited to see what would happen. On February 24, Russia invaded Ukraine. So the following day, on February 25, they started their journey to the Polish border. Everything was chaos, with people trying to leave Ukraine.

 

When they finally reached the border, her sister's husband was informed he needed to return to Ukraine and fight. So Olya and her sister crossed into Poland with the sister being five months pregnant but now with no husband.

 

People at the Polish border offered rides, and a man drove them from the Polish border to Prague, Czechia. (They were very fortunate that this driver was a good man. During this period, unknown numbers of Ukrainian women and children were victims of human trafficking - google this subject for more information). Once in Prague, they were given a free room for one week, but they were responsible for all other expenses. They needed to then relocate to a small town about 70km from Prague because they could not afford to live in Prague. Ten days later, I sent a message to Olya to see how she was doing. This was her text message in response:

 

"Hello, Russell!

How am I doing, and is everything okay with me? No, not good at all! I am in a foreign country; my hometown is being wiped off the face of the earth, and my house may have already been damaged. Maybe I'm already homeless...

 

Here we were given housing for a month, and then we need to look for another one and rent it. My sister feels bad, she is constantly tired, and she is 5 months pregnant. We have little money, and people from my hometown are asking for help. I have nothing to give them.

 

I am in a village where almost no one speaks English and it is problematic to find any job. I am depressed."

 

Olya is bilingual and speaks Russian and English.

(I attached two photos of her hometown below, followed by a photo of Olya)

 

Please help me help Olya and her sister survive being refugees in this war!

 

 

 

Olya sent me the video below showing me where she had lived before the war. Her home was in the city of Severdonetsk. These are Russian soldiers below in what was known as Hotel Mir before the war. One of the white apartments being destroyed at the end of this video was her apartment! The apartment where she once lived with her family before the war! This apartment was all she owned in life!!

In April, Olya's sister decided to return to Ukraine and live with her husband's family. It was too difficult for her to be in such an uncertain situation while she was seven months pregnant.

Olya moved to Turkey in June as she had a Turkish friend who offered her a place to stay for a few weeks. She is an intelligent woman who speaks English fluently along with Russian. She is still in Turkey but struggling very much.

Autumn 2023 - 20 months since the war began.

I recently received the message below from Olya:

"Hello Russell

Yes, I still live in Turkey. But it is quite expensive to live here; Turkish authorities are constantly increasing prices for everything and introducing strange taxes. For example, a tax on sales in Turkey was suddenly introduced a few months ago. I have no money so everything is so hard.

I got permission to live here until next summer, but I do not know what to do then. Very often I want to return to Ukraine…

But not now.

I go to Turkish language courses, but it's difficult for me. It seems my memory has deteriorated"

My Final Comments Autumn 2023 - 20 months since the war began.

In this GFM page, I primarily focused on three women; two are single mothers. I also communicate and help several other victims of this war that I have not mentioned to keep this GFM page reasonably short. They also badly need help!

I sadly write that now life for these people is much worse now than when this war began one year ago. Now they are suffering through attempts by Russian forces to destroy the country's infrastructure. Most people especially during winter, live through long periods with no power, heat, or water!! It seems inevitable this war will continue indefinitely!

Please realize that in addition to having little access to basic utilities like water and electricity, these people with very little money must buy other expensive items to survive. These items include lamps to see in the dark, as westerners use for camping. Several battery packs are needed to perform basic survival cooking and refrigeration needs. These items can each cost $30-$50. Each one equates to 10-15% of an entire month's salary in Ukraine. Remember, the average Ukrainian family lives on $350-$400 per month!

Earlier I mentioned that inflation is estimated at 50% compared to one year ago, before the war. As well, I must mention the devaluation of the Hryvnia. This is the Ukrainian currency. In January 2022, 26 Hryvnia = $1 US / now 37 Hryvnia = $1 US. So, not only are they facing 50% inflation, but their currency has also lost 30% of its value since the war began.

I am trying to help a few families I know and care about. Your assistance is helping specific families. Families with children I have hugged and taken to the carnival or taken ice skating. Real people who contact me when they are afraid, sad, cold or have a toothache that needs the care of a dentist. These people are part of my heart and soul. These are people who believe in family. People who would not leave Ukraine for a much easier life because they cannot and will not leave their mother or grandparents alone. Their families are sacred to them! So please...I ask again if you will help me help them!!

Thank you!!

Russ

 

 

 

1) 100% of all contributions will be distributed to these Ukrainian families.

All contributors may ask to receive a statement of where funds are disbursed.

2) In the unlikely case that any contributions are not used, they will be donated to an appropriate Ukrainian Charity that will be thoroughly vetted.