Three months of full-scale military invasion of the territory of sovereign Ukraine by the Russian occupation forces have proved that our country can defend itself and that Ukrainians have extraordinary consolidation potential, including in uniting the efforts of the entire civilized world. Among other things, during the war in Ukraine, the volunteer movement kept functioning with even greater activity. Its representatives in the Zakarpatska oblast have discussed current tasks during a meeting at the Uzhhorod Press Club. The NGO "Medical Aid Committee in Zakarpattya" was represented at the event by the organization's lawyer Eugenia Melesh.
"On February 24, we quickly took in the situation and by the end of the day we sent letters to all our partners with the information about the situation in the country, in Zakarpattya and about urgent needs that have already existed due to the arrival of many of migrants. It was also about medical institutions, and about the institutions where these persons would be placed. Another important aspect is the information component, namely the cooperation with foreign journalists who came to us to prepare publications about the war, later the topic of Ukraine was fueled by them in European countries. This also helped to mobilize European society, including charitable communities, to help our state. In fact, the prompt response to the situation contributed to the fact that in a few days we received the first humanitarian aid in Uzhhorod, then all this aid was distributed among local shelters and with the support of our partners it went to other regions of Ukraine – the Kyivska, Kharkivska, Mykolaivska, Donetska, Luhanska, Zaporizka oblasts and other regions. That is, where there was an urgent need for food, medicine, hygiene products, clothing, bed linen, etc." - said at the meeting Eugenia Melesh.
She also added that in addition to humanitarian tasks, the Committee solves related work tasks, such as logistics, search for storage facilities and fuel, processing hundreds of requests, etc.
Representatives of the Transcarpathian Military Support Movement (H. Yartseva), UzhNU Volunteers NGO (H. Melehanych), Uzhhorod Creative Volunteers (Yu. Dub), Zakarpattia Volunteers NGO (V. Reipashi), Gastronomic Battalion of Zakarpattia (V. Popovych) also spoke about their current affairs, plans and needs. These and other volunteer communities in the region are united by the specifics of daily tasks – they are to be solved here and now, they cover several conditional scopes: assistance to the military, migrants, coordination of actions with the authorities, constant communication with international partners. Despite such a volume of work and the rhythm of its implementation, Transcarpathian volunteers demonstrate extraordinary endurance, efficiency and coherence.
So let’s keep working, joining forces for the victory of Ukraine!