Mariupol came under Ukrainian control in May 2014 and has remained so since. However, there have been numerous attacks by pro-Russian forces that have killed dozens of Mariupol residents (in January 2015, 29 residents were killed during a DNR attack on the city). Today things have somewhat normalized – people go to work in the giant steel mills, coal is brought from outside the city, and the restaurants are open to the public.
The war, of course, is still heavily felt with military points scattered around the city. Mariupol is also representative of the large scale volunteer work that many Ukrainians and non-Ukrainians have now become accustomed to: civilians have become experts in military matters and help in almost every possible way to reduce the threat to the lives of the residents of Mariupol.
One of the most passionate and well-known volunteers is Ivanka. The Ternopil area native makes food for the soldiers and the volunteers in Mariupol. Her weapon is a ladle rather than a gun. The cheerful older woman seems more at home here than she would be anywhere else. She runs her kitchens with a small staff of about 10 people taking shifts preparing, delivering, and handing out food. The large pot ovens are heated using wood and store gallons of borsch a day. On this particular day, she informed her workers that they were receiving a donation of fresh vegetables from some of the local Mariupol residents. When asked if there was anything she needed for food preparation, her answer was a simple “No, we have everything we need now.”
Ivanka began her volunteer work on the Maidan, after which she drove to the front “for the boys” in Kramatorsk and Sloviansk. She went to the Maidan because there were children there; she felt like she had to defend the kids that could have been her own grandchildren. She insists that the way the Berkut beat the protesters, one “doesn’t even beat their own dogs or cats in that manner.” She herself was beaten by the police and her “entire spine was black and blue.” Her family did not know this, but she adds, “No one can stop me from helping Ukraine and they know that I would have gone out here either way.” The Maidan was won “by the people,” she says, and the Heavenly Hundred died for Ukraine and whatever issues the country has, it will eventually win since “we won’t allow [defeat] and we will fight to the last to defend it.”
After the Maidan, she was driven around the front in an ambulance and delivered food and clothing. Ivanka adds that “without the volunteers, I don’t know what our boys would have done” out on the front. In May, she came to Mariupol from the ATO front lines with humanitarian aid and food because “even here you have to help people since they can’t get the same things as the rest of the country.” Ivanka insists that she’s not afraid of volunteering this close to the front because “[She is] a Ukrainian woman who believes in her country and wants it to be free.” “The enemy invaded our land,” she says, “and we can freely walk around our own state…We didn’t invade their territory, they came onto ours.”
During her interview, Ivanka also points out that the Russian land claim to the Donbas is fictitious at best since “Rostov is Ukrainian, the Don is Ukrainian…I know, I read Ukrainian history so I know full well what happened in the past.”
This war has had a significant effect on increasing Ukrainian volunteerism and has also created some unlikely links between Ukrainians and the rest of the world. The Ukrainian volunteer organization “Patriot,” for example, has offices in various cities of Ukraine including Mariupol. Ihor Ivakin is the representative of the organization there. He has helped distribute humanitarian aid like medicine and food along with aid for the military within and around Mariupol. In his interview he sarcastically thanked the Russians for their gifts of GRAD and SALO rockets to his city while also insisting that they are actively trying to “Ukrainianize” the city in order for Putin to have as little leverage there as possible with his propaganda campaign. “Basically, the war has showed Putin that the Ukrainian people are united,” he said.
One of the projects that “Patriot” is working on is sponsored by the United Methodist Committee on Relief, which has provided the front-line Ukrainian city with financial assistance to buy special anti-shatter film for hospitals and kindergartens. The pilot project is also sponsored by Global Medic and Global Fire. The project is very much needed to defend the most vulnerable in the city from potential injuries that could result from windows shattering during an attack.
The film was installed by Canadian volunteers from Global Medic and Global Fire in a maternity hospital of Mariupol. They have also trained local Ukrainians to be able to apply the film on other buildings in Mariupol once the Canadians leave. Patrick Bradley, a member of Global Fire, insists that the film is important as one can hear the ceasefire being broken in the distance of the city by automatic gun fire and bombings. If the bombings come any closer, the film will safe-guard patients and hospital staff. Two other Global Medic volunteers, Don Jorgensen and Simon Noiseux, became involved with the project because they wanted the Ukrainian people to see the real results of Canadian help.
Iryna Sliusarenko, the senior midwife of the maternity ward, thinks the project is wonderful and is very thankful for it. Another nurse, Natalia Marchenko, also believes that the film project is incredibly important as the hospital is located in a region within striking distance of an artillery attack. Sliusarenko says that they constantly hear the artillery fire coming from east of the city. The hospital, much like the rest of the city, has had to cope with the reality of being so close to a war zone. They have prepared an emergency evacuation plan, and every nurse has an exit route to the basement of the building where beds, incubators, and other equipment are set up for deliveries and newborns.
Civilians are not the only ones receiving food, aid, and protective measures. The military is also being aided by Ukrainian volunteers. Vilni Liudy (“Free People”), for example, recently delivered 5 wrist-band Garmin Foretrex 301 GPS units along with an EXPS2 holographic weapon optic that will allow the soldiers to target better in their line of fire for up to 600 continuous hours. They also provided long-range radios, light-weight armoured plates, silencers, and ankle boots that they purchased using money collected by the Ukrainian-Canadian diaspora. Serhi Kuzan, head of Vilni Liudy, insists that “every hryvnia spent on these boys for technical equipment is contributing to our victory over the enemy.” This particular volunteer group has even managed to organize tons of water and firewood deliveries to the front around Mariupol, allowing Ukrainian soldiers to stay hydrated and warm during the cold winter months.
As it stands, it is unlikely that this war will end in the near future. Given the Ukrainian government’s continual struggle with problems such as endemic corruption, there will be a need for volunteers to remain active in the coming months. The soldiers will need continued support and the most direct way for them to receive this is through the volunteers that provide everything from food, water, technology, life-saving bullet-proof vests and moral support. Almost every volunteer group needs financial aid to survive, and this financial struggle is sure to continue in the coming weeks and months.
Larysa Zariczniak
One of the most passionate and well-known volunteers is Ivanka. The Ternopil area native makes food for the soldiers and the volunteers in Mariupol. Her weapon is a ladle rather than a gun. The cheerful older woman seems more at home here than she would be anywhere else. She runs her kitchens with a small staff of about 10 people taking shifts preparing, delivering, and handing out food. The large pot ovens are heated using wood and store gallons of borsch a day. On this particular day, she informed her workers that they were receiving a donation of fresh vegetables from some of the local Mariupol residents. When asked if there was anything she needed for food preparation, her answer was a simple “No, we have everything we need now.”
After the Maidan, she was driven around the front in an ambulance and delivered food and clothing. Ivanka adds that “without the volunteers, I don’t know what our boys would have done” out on the front. In May, she came to Mariupol from the ATO front lines with humanitarian aid and food because “even here you have to help people since they can’t get the same things as the rest of the country.” Ivanka insists that she’s not afraid of volunteering this close to the front because “[She is] a Ukrainian woman who believes in her country and wants it to be free.” “The enemy invaded our land,” she says, “and we can freely walk around our own state…We didn’t invade their territory, they came onto ours.”
One of the projects that “Patriot” is working on is sponsored by the United Methodist Committee on Relief, which has provided the front-line Ukrainian city with financial assistance to buy special anti-shatter film for hospitals and kindergartens. The pilot project is also sponsored by Global Medic and Global Fire. The project is very much needed to defend the most vulnerable in the city from potential injuries that could result from windows shattering during an attack.
The film was installed by Canadian volunteers from Global Medic and Global Fire in a maternity hospital of Mariupol. They have also trained local Ukrainians to be able to apply the film on other buildings in Mariupol once the Canadians leave. Patrick Bradley, a member of Global Fire, insists that the film is important as one can hear the ceasefire being broken in the distance of the city by automatic gun fire and bombings. If the bombings come any closer, the film will safe-guard patients and hospital staff. Two other Global Medic volunteers, Don Jorgensen and Simon Noiseux, became involved with the project because they wanted the Ukrainian people to see the real results of Canadian help.
Civilians are not the only ones receiving food, aid, and protective measures. The military is also being aided by Ukrainian volunteers. Vilni Liudy (“Free People”), for example, recently delivered 5 wrist-band Garmin Foretrex 301 GPS units along with an EXPS2 holographic weapon optic that will allow the soldiers to target better in their line of fire for up to 600 continuous hours. They also provided long-range radios, light-weight armoured plates, silencers, and ankle boots that they purchased using money collected by the Ukrainian-Canadian diaspora. Serhi Kuzan, head of Vilni Liudy, insists that “every hryvnia spent on these boys for technical equipment is contributing to our victory over the enemy.” This particular volunteer group has even managed to organize tons of water and firewood deliveries to the front around Mariupol, allowing Ukrainian soldiers to stay hydrated and warm during the cold winter months.
