Help Kids in Ukraine in Time of War

Dear Friend,

Today, February 24, is a day of remembrance. It marks four years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a war that continues to shatter lives, families, and homes across the country.

Seventeen-year-old Nikita is living through this reality.

Nikita is originally from Donetsk. In 2014, his family was forced to flee their home and rebuild their life from scratch in Odesa. Today, they are determined not to lose their home again, even as the city faces daily attacks that bring destruction, power outages, and constant fear.

But war is not the only struggle Nikita is facing.

In mid-January, Nikita noticed alarming physical symptoms. Within days, his life changed completely. After urgent medical examinations, he was referred to the National Cancer Institute in Kyiv, where doctors diagnosed him with cancer. He has already undergone surgery to remove a malignant tumor and is now preparing for further treatment that cannot be delayed.

Sport has always helped Nikita stay strong. He started judo in primary school and football in sixth grade. In 2025, after years of discipline and hard work, he signed his first professional football contract. Today, he continues studying remotely and dreams of returning to the football field.

Across Ukraine, many children like Nikita are fighting serious illnesses while living through war. For families who have already lost homes, stability, and safety, life-saving treatment is not guaranteed.

Your support helps ensure that both little children and young people like Nikita can access the care they need, continue treatment without interruption, and move closer to recovery and the lives they dream about.

With your help, healing continues in Ukraine, even in the midst of war.

Dear Friends,

Thank you for your kindness that brings hope to children living through war in Ukraine. 

Sadly, the war drags on with no clear end in sight. Russian attacks on Ukraine spare no one – not even children. Recently, drones and shells struck a kindergarten in Kharkiv and a pediatric hospital in Kherson.

And yet, amid this destruction and loss, children in Ukraine keep striving not only to survive, but also to heal and dream.

Like 9-year-old Radomyr, who fled his home in the Mykolaiv Oblast in southern Ukraine, searching for safety and hope. But in their new home in Poltava, life turned upside down once again when he was diagnosed with cancer.

So, Radomyr had to travel to Kyiv for treatment at Okhmatdyt Hospital, where he and his mother spent two long months. After this difficult hospitalization, he was finally able to continue therapy in a day hospital while living at the Dacha Family House. There, for the first time in months, they found what they had been missing: calm, warmth, and a sense of home.

A quiet and thoughtful boy, Radomyr often preferred spending time in his room instead of joining group activities with volunteers. But everything changed when a guest from Lviv visited Dacha, someone who shared his passion for making videos. You can see them together in the photo: new friends, sharing a heart with their hands.

This autumn, Radomyr and his mother returned to the hospital for another round of treatment. Yet now, they are no longer alone. With your support, they have a community that cares and a place where a child can still dream, heal, and make friends, even amid war.

Thank you for sharing your hearts with children like Radomyr. You make healing possible.