The undermining of the Kakhovskaya HPP by the occupiers became one of the biggest Russian war crimes during the war. Immediately after the event, the Foundation’s team began working to help local teams deal with the consequences of the blast as quickly as possible and provide the local population with the necessary support. Together with the European Union, we provided emergency support to 7 organizations that were working in the region at the time of the disaster and with whom we already had previous experience of cooperation.
“The problems of the flooded Kherson Oblast are not just the problems of the people of Kherson, they are the problems of each of us. – says Viktoria Stokratyuk, manager of the Civic Sustainability program. – We can’t just turn a blind eye to it, so at least through the tools that the Foundation can use, we get involved and help.”
We are talking about all 7 organizations that we supported as part of helping the people of Kherson in connection with the explosion of the Kakhovskaya HPP.
Union of journalists “Alternativa”
The organization grew out of the Kherson Plus shopping center in Kherson. During the occupation of the city, the media did not cooperate, so when it became too risky to work, journalists changed the nature of their work – instead of shooting stories about the problems of local residents, they tried to help them solve these problems. First of all, through the distribution of humanitarian aid, which was managed to be received from the unoccupied part of Ukraine.
Alternative’s new job was compared to that of journalism: here, too, you need to be able to find people, communicate with them, build trust, collect requests and be able to decipher them correctly. Up to 20 activists of the organization were in the Kherson Region throughout the occupation, part of the team helped organize humanitarian shipments from other cities. Thus, for 255 days of occupation, they managed to help 25,000 Kherson residents. “Alternative” was one of the few organizations with which the Foundation worked to help the Kherson people before the liberation of the city.
Currently, about 30 people work or volunteer in the organization, who continue to provide humanitarian aid to the population. Part of the grant will go towards the purchase of the most necessary items for those who are helped by “Alternative”, but the majority of the funds will go to support the team that risks their lives every day, delivering humanitarian aid to communities under constant shelling.
Eleos – Kherson
“Eleos” works throughout Ukraine, and one of the organization’s offices also worked in Kherson. After the occupation of Kherson, the office was first looted by the occupiers, and as a result of the explosion of the Kakhovskaya HPP, it was flooded. Restoring the work of the Kherson office was one of the priorities of the joint project “Renaissance” and “Eleos”.
With the support of the Foundation, the humanitarian hub “I am at home” is currently operating in Kherson. The Center for Emergency Social and Psychological Assistance operates on its base. In addition, Eleos provides humanitarian aid and helps with the evacuation of Kherson people to safer cities in Ukraine, including placing displaced persons in the organization’s own shelters.
A social worker, a lawyer, and a psychologist work at the center. So far, more than 800 residents of Kherson have been able to receive the necessary assistance: restoration of documents, legal consultations, psychological support for children and adults, including those who were held captive and/or tortured by the Russian occupiers. Help is provided both individually and within self-help and mutual support groups. And, of course, Eleos continues to provide humanitarian aid to the most needy.
Rescue Now
Like other organizations, Rescue Now provides humanitarian aid, but its activities are not limited to this area. In cooperation with “Renaissance”, the organization conducts research and collects information about the problems and needs of communities in the region, the availability of water and electricity, the intensity of shelling, as well as monitoring the state of the ecological situation in Kherson region, after which recommendations for communities and the civilian population will be formed.
They share the information collected by the organization with community heads and local officials, help to establish a connection between local residents and representatives of the authorities, so that the latter respond to needs more quickly. At the same time, they advise the local residents themselves about the possibilities of receiving help, and also coordinate the coordinated work of public organizations and volunteers in the Kherson region, who have the resources to close requests from communities.
Another aspect of the organization’s work is safety training. Rescue Now instructors conduct training for representatives of CSOs on pre-medical assistance, mine, fire and sanitation safety, etc., with further dissemination of knowledge to local residents along with necessary humanitarian assistance.
Help People
The organization started working in the first days of the full-scale invasion and in a few months was able to establish an effective system of evacuating people from the territories of hostilities. A year and a half ago, activists transported people in their own vehicles, but today the initiative has turned into one of the most powerful humanitarian organizations in Ukraine, whose evacuation flights are carried out daily.
Help People combines humanitarian aid and population evacuation. In one direction, the cars are filled with humanitarian workers, and back – with people in need of evacuation. In total, since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, it was possible to take almost 33 thousand people who were in danger to safe places. More than 16,000 people from this number are residents of the Kherson region. And despite the fact that the organization’s team works in extremely difficult conditions, sometimes coming under enemy fire, and in some cases the drivers were even detained by the occupiers, the evacuation does not stop.
The organization is also one of the few that helps Ukrainians leave the occupied territories. Thanks to the incredible efforts and coordinated actions of the team, more than 1,440 residents of the temporarily occupied regions were finally able to find safety in the territories controlled by Ukraine or in EU countries.
Business association “We – People of Kherson”
Before the full-scale invasion, the organization worked in Kherson, but part of the team was forced to evacuate and opened an office in Odessa. The basis of the organization’s activity is humanitarian aid for the residents of the Kherson region. As with other organizations in this cohort, the activists organize the delivery of humanitarian aid themselves, and the Foundation provides support for the team.
The focus of the joint project with “Revival” is to help the Antonivska community. This is one of the communities of the Kherson region that suffers the most from shelling. Today, the number of residents in the community has decreased almost 5 times compared to 2021 and is about 4 thousand people. Two-thirds of them are elderly people, and the rest are those who are left to care for and help them. There is no electricity supply in the community (local residents use generators), and there are still difficulties with water supply. The organization helps the residents of the Antonivska community to prepare for winter, buys coal for heating, considers the purchase of gas stoves, etc.
In addition, “We – the people of Kherson” communicate with the authorities and the community itself, collecting the needs of residents to systematize the necessary requests from the victims, and transferring them to the top, providing advice and recommendations for local officials, as well as coordinating with 6 volunteer hubs working with the community. To make life easier for the residents of the community, the organization employs a lawyer who provides legal advice for people about compensation, receiving assistance, etc.
Most
“Most” is one of several mass media in Kherson that continues its work and tells Ukraine and the world about the situation in the city and region. At the time of the explosion of the Kakhovskaya HPP, part of the team was directly in the city and were the first to cover the events and collect the stories of the victims.
The publishing team is not permanently located in Kherson, but constantly visits the city and other communities to communicate with residents and be in the center of events. Often it is the journalists of Most who are the first to raise important issues and problems to the surface, becoming irritants for the public life of the Kherson region.
As part of joint work with the Foundation, Most was able to expand the team of journalists, which will allow the publication to publish more materials about the life of the Kherson people. Also, the grant partially covers the issue of sustainability of the publishing house in Kherson, both through the purchase of equipment such as generators, and through training in the field of cyber protection, mine safety, etc.
Association of the Ukrainian Peacekeeping School
The Ukrainian Peacekeeping School is a project for the development of local leaders, which since 2014 has united around itself a community of those who understand the issues of community development and social processes in communities.
The joint project of “Renaissance” and the Peace School is aimed at researching the situation in Kherson region, in particular in communities affected by occupation and shelling, forming recommendations for local authorities, conducting networking between activists of different communities, exchanging experiences between representatives of occupied and de-occupied communities for better planning of future work after the liberation of the Ukrainian South.
The organization’s experts monitor the situation in the region, study current problems and requests, etc. They are helped in this both by local activist partners who are part of the network, and by representatives of local authorities who have long cooperated with the School. Thanks to this, the authorities can work better, more consistently and more efficiently to solve the current and future problems of communities.
