Military experts thought Kyiv would fall within days when Russian tanks crossed the border into Ukraine in February 2022. They didn’t take into account something that no algorithm could measure: the web of mutual aid that exists both within the country and across borders. This has been just as important to survival as any military strategy.
Resilient interior architecture
Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine changed civil society in Ukraine.
Ukrainians were already getting ready before international aid groups could get involved. In the first few weeks of chaos, volunteer groups formed at an amazing rate.
Teachers took on the role of logistics coordinators. Software developers made apps to keep track of humanitarian needs. Restaurateurs turned their kitchens into field canteens, making thousands of meals every day for families who had to leave their homes, as well as for territorial defense forces.
The war changed the way Ukrainian society worked. Solidarity, built on trust, working together, and a shared sense of national and personal purpose, became more important.
Even when the enemy tries to break their will, mutual aid has reminded the people of Ukraine who they are as a people.
When a volunteer brings supplies to a frontline position, when a displaced family gets housing from strangers, or when a community kitchen feeds people who have lost everything, it’s not just a business deal. They are ways for people to show that they are human when someone is trying to make them less human.
Instead of falling apart in the face of hardship, Ukrainian society has come together and stayed strong.
The global network for citizen diplomacy
Ukraine has become stronger because of the help it has received from unofficial sources outside of its borders. While governments squabble over aid supplies and international organizations deal with difficult financial or logistical problems, regular people and informal NGOs have come up with their own ways to get resources, raise money, and speak out.
The Ukrainian diaspora, which includes millions of people in North America, Europe, and other places, moved quickly. Within weeks of the invasion, Ukrainian community centers became important places for getting things done. People stored things in church basements while groups of people from different cultures became groups that raised money. These people didn’t work for well-known humanitarian NGOs. They were teachers, accountants, and small business owners who worked together to get and move millions of dollars’ worth of medical supplies, tactical gear, and other things.
Private citizens from Ukraine and other countries also played a big part in helping to house and support the millions of Ukrainians who had to leave their homes and became refugees in host countries that took them in, or who became internally displaced persons.
And It’s truly amazing how many people from countries as different as New Zealand, Norway, the US, and the UK, who don’t have Ukrainian roots, have come together to help the people of Ukraine by organizing the delivery of important humanitarian and other aid.
Many of these volunteers have put themselves in danger and gone through hard times to bring this help directly to the people who need it – even to those who are close to the front line.
Think about how much money social media fundraisers have raised for things like drones, generators and ambulances. These programs give people a new way to help others. They are open, not centralized, and directly connected to the people who need help.
People with small social media followings usually take care of their own accounts. When a Ukrainian soldier tweets that they need thermal imaging equipment and people from all over the world send them money to buy it and bring it to them in less than 48 hours, we are seeing something that has never happened before: real-time, peer-to-peer international solidarity.
How they fill in the gaps
This ecosystem doesn’t replace formal government help or well-known international groups; instead, it works with them and often speeds them up.
The UN has been in charge of coordinating all of the help for refugees, while informal groups have provided housing and other support so that refugees can leave right away.
While governments figure out how to get military gear, private companies bring small-unit gear like night-vision goggles and tourniquets that save lives every day. International NGOs set up field hospitals, and volunteers help them run them by driving people to and from the hospitals, translating, and keeping things in order in the area.
Unofficial groups can also go to places that official groups can’t. They move faster, take bigger risks, and deal with red tape that would stop other businesses in their tracks. They offer services that don’t fit into official categories, like psychological treatment, efforts to keep culture alive, and small business grants that help people feel normal in the middle of chaos.
The weakness of long-term commitment
But there are some big problems with this system. Donor fatigue isn’t just something you feel; it’s a real condition that can be measured. It’s getting harder to keep up the early intensity as the war goes on into its fifth year. People who do volunteer work also get tired. Small NGOs run out of money. The media and the public lose interest.
It’s also hard to work together when no one is in charge. These operations are strong because they can create change and be real, but this can sometimes cause problems, like doing the same thing again, not covering all the bases, or not working at all. It’s still hard to make coordination better without making it too bureaucratic, which would make it less useful.
Why it’s important
Russia’s goal has always been to outlast both Ukraine’s resistance and the West’s interest. Russian President Vladimir Putin thinks that democracies don’t last long, that support will fade, and that Ukraine will be left behind. The only way to stop this plan is for everyone to help each other and connect Ukraine to the rest of the world.
These efforts show a basic truth: real human devotion, when it is fully understood and put into action, can stand up to strong force. They show that regular people can make support systems that work just as well as those of states when they follow their conscience instead of their own interests.
It’s not a question of whether Ukraine needs more help as the fighting goes on; it clearly does. Will everyone in the world who has given their time, money, and emotional energy to help Ukraine stay alive keep their word? The answer can be just as important as any help from the military or diplomacy.
A volunteer in Kharkiv, a donor in Kansas, and a family that had to leave their home in Mariupol and stay with a host family in Munich are all connected by a thread that is weak but strong when it is constantly being added to. It is made up of millions of small acts of conscience, and it is what keeps Ukraine’s past and future together.
Not only the soldiers on the front lines are heroes; private citizens who help the victims of war by bringing them food, moral support, and hope are also heroes.
Thank you to all of them.
The views expressed are the author’s and not necessarily of Kyiv Post.