Help Ukrainian refugees

So many readers have asked us to do something. To save lives, to donate shelter and relief, to offer a first concrete help. And to give a sign of closeness to the people of war-torn Ukraine. So in February, during the most dramatic days of the conflict, we started a fund-raising campaign. In just a few weeks, thousands of donations arrived: this is how we are using them.

In Cernivci, Rivne and Leopoli we have built 3 villages where every day we host 1,800 people: families who have lost everything because of the bombs, to whom we offer immediate shelter and a hot meal. The centre offers 1500 square metres covered by tensile structures with clinics, kitchens, canteen, play area for children, camp beds for sleeping. It is called “Villaggio Specchio d’Italia”, named after our sister non-profit organisation, Specchio d’Italia, and is located 30 km from the Romanian border. An indispensable project, because more and more people do not want to leave their homes. Not only that: hundreds of refugees welcomed in Italy in the first weeks are now asking to return to Ukraine, to the areas of the country where they can finally live in safety. This is why we have activated a free shuttle service to facilitate repatriation.

In the first phase of the emergency we sent dozens of shuttles, buses and trucks loaded with food and medicines from our Turin office. They reached the border with Poland and Romania and then came back to Italy, bringing families fleeing the violence. In this way we rescued over 600 people and delivered hundreds of tonnes of humanitarian aid. In the province of Cuneo and in Turin we have set up several collection centres, where citizens and businesses can continue to donate basic necessities that are delivered directly by our vans.

A telephone line was also set up in Turin for the displaced people welcomed in Piedmont. In cooperation with the volunteers of the Ukrainian Consulate, we distributed 1,000 financial aid packages of 500 euro each. For single women and their children, we have developed an assistance and integration programme called “Forza Mamme Ucraine“, which follows the model of a similar experience we have been carrying out for years in Turin. We offer sports courses, playtime and visits in and around the city.

These initiatives are carried out in synergy with the Piedmont Region, which has entrusted us with the task of coordinating fundraising and the development of solidarity projects for displaced persons.

In Ukraine, there is also the city of orphans. It is called Rivne and is located in the northwest, a few kilometres from the border with the dreaded Belarus, from where many of the missiles in last week's attack on Kiev, Lviv and other cities in the country were launched.

Here, Specchio began operating last week, starting the construction of an emergency tent in the most central square and beginning to support the many families who found themselves without their fathers, who had fallen at the front. “The Rivne division of the Ukrainian army,” explains the governor of the metropolitan city, Alex Tretiak, “was the first to oppose the Russian invasion, as early as 24 February at dawn in the Kiev oblast, and it is the one that suffered the most casualties. In the city alone, we have almost 100 war orphans and their mothers. These are people we must not only assist economically, but also by sharing their tragedy”.

Alex Tretiak, a former seminarian, is the rising star of Ukrainian politics. He is 36 years old and the youngest governor of a metropolitan city: he has been leading the Rivne district for two years. Elected on the lists of former President Poroshenko, who was beaten by Zelensky in 2019, he immediately erased all divisions when the conflict broke out: “Now we have to put up a united front and we are all on the same side”. Zelensky appreciated this and now often consults him. Rivne is a very delicate area because it borders Belarus from which attacks are expected at any moment: “Missiles have fallen on the city, devastating the airport and some other logistical facilities. Now we know that in Luninets, just 50 kilometres from our border, there are ramps for Iranian kamikaze drones, and we are objectively afraid”.

But the real drama could come not from Belarus but from the energy cut: “Ours is the coldest area in the country, and not only because it is in the north. The blockade of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, which is by far the most important in Ukraine but which is in Russian hands, would affect us most of all. Without power here there is a real risk of freezing to death. We fear it much more than the drones”.

There is practically no time to find alternative solutions: “In some municipalities it was already close to zero degrees last week. Many people have gone back to wood, even collecting it in the woods. Luckily, there is no shortage of trees here. But very few people have suitable stoves and there are no more on the market...”.