Snowfall in Kyiv: winter is here

I’m pensive this evening.

I was rifling through my various feeds and I stopped to look closely at some photos of the snowfall in Kyiv. Winter is here. Putin timed the attacks striking critical infrastructure for this moment.

I had a received a note from a journalist friend near Kherson. She told me that she had been sitting in a cafè because there was no heating, electricity or internet where she was staying. “My head is about to explode,” she said. Despite the cold and extreme discomfort, she would be continuing her work to report events and findings, and then she added that she wasn’t alone, and that the entire city was one family.

Iryna Voichuk @IrynaVoichuk

"Good morning, #Kharkiv” Snowy, beautiful, unbreakable.

My steaming tea is right here beside me: I reach for it to warm my hands. My wooly shawl on my shoulders for the draft that makes its way up the basement stairs. Right now, I can’t help but think of my journalist friend near Kherson, typing away on her phone to get information to her editor, her fingers numb her mind focused on the task.

And I’m wondering how all the other Ukrainian families are keeping warm tonight. Are they huddled together? How about the men, women and children who can hear the bang and burst of Russian fire? It must be frightening, sitting in the dark, and not knowing if you’ll make it to the morning.

This haunts me.

Oleksandra Matviichuk @avalaina

I have no light and heating now in my home after the Russian attack on critical civil infrastructure in Kyiv, but I, like all other Ukrainians, have a lot of warmth in my heart. We are all know for what we are fighting for. #StandWithUkraine️ Illustration Nikita Titov

Here’s that feeling again. I get angry at the people who still can’t see the brutality of the Russian attacks and insist on blaming the Ukrainians for wanting their own state, or the West for being free and democratic.

I’d like to shake the Dickens out of those who complain about the increase in prices- food, gas, electricity. We aren’t truly living the consequences of Russian aggression as the Ukrainians are: not physically, emotionally, practically or economically.

I won’t be giving my family Christmas gifts this year. I’ll be donating to local charities on the ground in Ukraine for whatever they need to keep warm and survive the winter.

I urge you to do the same. I hope you’ll consider it.

Thanks for reading,

Mo

José Andrés @chefjoseandres

Everyday better in Kherson!! @WCKitchen Thanks to all of you! 6k Food Bags! 30# each that equals 120k meals! Distributed across 8 points in the city. No electricity but gas yes, allows people to cook at home…We will bring big quantities of water tomorrow too! #ChefsForKherson

DONATIONS…some suggestions

United24: launched by the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy as the main venue for collecting charitable donations in support of Ukraine. Funds will be transferred to the official accounts of the National Bank of Ukraine and allocated by assigned ministries to cover the most pressing needs.

Razom for Ukraine was founded in 2014 to respond to the humanitarian crisis. Their initial fundraising efforts brought in over $100,000 to support protesters in Ukraine during the ongoing conflict. Since then, they’ve carried out various international projects to support Ukraine and Ukrainians abroad.

The Prytula Foundation was founded in 2020 by Serhiy Prytula, a Ukrainian presenter and activist, to provide aid to Ukrainians in need. Since then, the organization has shifted their efforts to provide military supplies and support to the Ukrainian army after the Russian invasion. Today, they maintain their headquarters in Kyiv, Ukraine.

World Central Kitchen (WCK), established in 2010, is an organization that deploys chefs directly to disaster areas to provide hot meals to those in need. Since February, WCK has provided over 100 million hot meals and meal kits to those in need in Ukraine and neighboring countries.

Vostok SOS is a Ukraine-based non-governmental organization (NGO) that assists areas of conflict within Ukraine. The organization accepts donations to help aid local people, evacuate the vulnerable and provide trauma support after shelling.

Community Organized Relief Effort (CORE) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to immediate crisis response. CORE is working in Poland and Romania to help support Ukrainian refugees. Donations provide cash assistance to displaced families and distribute hygiene kits with soap, hand sanitizer, toothbrushes, thermal blankets and other essential hygiene items.

Lifeline: a national, professional, suicide prevention and mental health support hotline, operating 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Ukraine too often loses veterans to suicide, and this problem needed to be addressed, Lifeline Ukraine was established to provide help for veterans and their family members first and foremost, the hotline now serves all people from Ukraine in any language they chose.

Harri_EST🇪🇪🇺🇦 @Harri_Est

Here are some of the winter boots, warm socks etc, which have arrived to our warehouse. It's already snowing in Ukraine with negative degrees and we are trying to push out the gear to units as quickly as we can. Thank you all for the support! #OneTeamOneFight💪