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The Russian invasion of Ukraine has led to a humanitarian crisis, displacing millions of Ukrainian families, putting civilians and soldiers on the frontlines in cities and towns turned into warzones. Thousands have already been killed or wounded, including civilians, according to officials. And those in poor health or dealing with medical issues have been left scrambling to survive.
As horrifying videos, photos and pleas for help on social media emerge from Ukraine, including from the country’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, you are likely wondering how you can help. But the crisis in Ukraine has led to scams and fraud on social media and online, with scam artists looking to take advantage of those who want to help.
There are many verified and legitimate organizations, groups, charities and fundraising websites that you can turn to. Give.org provides tips on how to verify other charities not listed below. The Ukrainian military is also looking for support (details here from the Kyiv Independent.) A Reddit list of verified charities is also helpful.
We have put together a list of some of the places that are legitimately helping Ukrainians in need. If you have a suggestion for another charity or fundraiser, please email Heavy news editor Tom Cleary at tom.cleary@heavy.com.
Here are some charities, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), relief efforts and aid groups that are verified and working to help the people of Ukraine:
Keep Ukrainian Scholars & Journalists Safe GoFundMe
The European Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, a nonprofit, non-governmental organization, is supporting journalists and scholars who are spreading Ukraine’s story from the front lines. A GoFundMe was started to support them.
Brandon Spars, who started the GoFundMe, wrote, “My friends in Ukraine—scholars, journalists, and translators—urgently need supplies such as tourniquets, hard body armor, plate carriers, first aid kits, trauma bandages, and medical supplies. There are no small or big donations; any amount will make a difference. This fundraiser will provide immediate assistance to people who are in desperate need. I have never been inspired so deeply by a cause, but I have never worked with such amazing people who are now fearing for their lives. The money you donate will go directly to individuals I know and care about very much. Please help!”
Journalists who have been working with the EUASA told Heavy the scholars and journalists have learned first-aid skills and have helped bring supplies to elderly scholars in Ukraine. They have been traveling in and out of Ukraine to buy supplies and bring them home, including water-cleaning devices.
The Ukrainian Humanitarian Fund & Other Verified GoFundMe Campaigns
GoFundMe has set up a hub with links to all of the fundraiser campaigns the charity site has verified as being legitimate. GoFundMe writes, “As Russia invades Ukraine, GoFundMe is committed to helping the individuals and families seeking shelter, security, and peace. Every fundraiser is reviewed to make sure that funds are delivered to the correct recipients. We’re also verifying that donors and organizers are acting in compliance with US and international laws, including global financial laws and regulations and evolving economic sanctions. Donate to Ukraine relief efforts today to help the people of Ukraine in this time of need.”
The list includes the Ukrainian Humanitarian Fund, which is collecting, “Tax-deductible donations will be distributed to verified nonprofit organizations providing relief to those impacted.”
The International Rescue Committee
The International Rescue Committee, a global humanitarian organization that has been in existence since the 1930s, set up a fund to help Ukraine. The IRC’s website says, “Families affected by the Ukraine crisis need your help. The IRC is on the ground in Poland and preparing to support displaced families. Your emergency gift will help us provide food, medical care and emergency supplies to refugee families in countries like Ukraine, Afghanistan, Syria, and Yemen. Please give what you can today.”
Voices of Children Ukraine
Voices of Children Ukraine has been providing help to children who have been affected by the Russian military’s actions in Ukraine since 2015. “Thanks to you, we provide psychological and psychosocial support to children. It helps them overcome the consequences of armed conflict and develop. Today, during the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, we are providing non-stop assistance to affected children and families from all over the country, providing emergency psychological assistance, and assisting in the evacuation process,” the charity’s website says.
This charity is based in Ukraine.
United Help Ukraine
United Help Ukraine is raising money for medical supplies, humanitarian aid, wounded warriors and to raise awareness.
Razom, a Grassroots Organization Providing Humanitarian Support in Ukraine
“Razom’s Emergency Response is the SOS button that is pressed in times of need. We created this project to provide urgent help and support in face of an extreme and unforeseen situation in Ukraine. Today, the sovereign nation of Ukraine has to deal with the most horrendous and catastrophic emergency – a brutal invasion. Razom is responding to this by providing critical medical supplies and amplifying the voices of Ukrainians,” the charity’s website says.
FARA Foundation: Providing Help to Refugees in Romania
The Fara Foundation has set up a fund to help Ukrainian refugees who are now in Romania, according to its website.
Polish Humanitarian Action: Helping Those Who Have Been Displaced to Poland
Polish Humanitarian Action is, ” providing humanitarian aid including food and other forms of support to people who had to leave their homes. Our actions include people affected by conflict both internally displaced as well as refugees coming to Poland.”
Keep Ukraine’s Media Going: A Fundraiser to Help Ukrainians Telling Their Story on the Ground in the Warzone
A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to help Ukrainian journalists who remain on the ground tell the story of what is happening in their country. “They have shown extraordinary courage, but the reality on the ground is that most operations cannot continue from Ukraine alone. This fundraiser is aimed at helping media relocate, set-up back offices and continue their operations from neighboring countries,” the campaign says.
Help Children With Cancer in Ukraine
This Global Giving verified fund helps children who are battling cancer amid the crisis in Ukraine. It supports the Tabletochki Charity Foundation.
“The war has begun in Ukraine. Children with cancer undergoing chemotherapy and heavy treatment in hospitals are in double horror and stress. They are separated from their families. We don’t know how long the medicines reserves will last. We ask you to help Ukrainian children with cancer win their battle during this cruel, unjust war,” the foundation says. “The war has begun in Ukraine. Russia has attacked from all sides and everywhere. Every Ukrainian is terrified and in great danger. All the resources in the country aim to provide our security. Children with cancer undergoing chemotherapy and heavy treatment in hospitals are in double horror and stress. Most children are now being treated in hospital damp, moldy basements, which act as bomb shelters. The project will help to keep treatment of children with cancer in Ukraine, who are fighting 2 cruel wars now.”
The foundation adds, “Our aim is that no child in Ukraine will die of cancer. We continue our work despite everything, even during such dangerous and uncertain times. Today your support is needed like never before so that we can provide timely access to quality medications, thus saving the lives of more children.”
UNICEF
The long-running charity UNICEF has created a fund to help children in Ukraine. The charity’s website says, “Children are the least responsible for armed conflict in Ukraine, but they suffer most from its consequences. Your 100% tax-deductible donation will help UNICEF ensure that Ukraine’s children have access to safe water, nutrition, health care, education and protection. Less than 3% of funds go to administrative costs.”
“UNICEF’s emergency response teams and partners are ramping up efforts to deliver safe water to families in communities where water systems are barely functioning,” the charity says. “They are providing health care, nutrition and education support where services are severely lacking or have shut down entirely. And they are focusing on protecting children from violence, exploitation and abuse in the face of increased threats of gender-based violence and the risk of harm from mines and other explosive remnants of war. Humanitarian needs are greatest for an estimated 3.4 million people, including 510,000 children, living in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of the country, where child poverty rates top 65 percent and 57 percent respectively.”
Project C.U.R.E.: Support Ukrainian Hospitals Directly
Project C.U.R.E. is providing financial support to hospitals in Ukraine.
“Project C.U.R.E. meets global health challenges at the community level every day by delivering critical medical supplies to hospitals, rural clinics and community health centers in need in developing countries. Your gift will give the most vulnerable patients, families and children around the world access to healthcare and access to hope,” the website says.
Support the Kyiv Independent News
The Kyiv Independent has set up a fund to help it continue its English-language newsgathering efforts on the ground in Ukraine’s capital city.
“Ukraine is facing an unprecedented attack. The Kyiv Independent continues to work, bringing the world trusted, important information about the facts on the ground,” the GoFundMe says. “We need your support in this difficult and unpredictable task. From cyberattacks, bombings, ground invasions – it is hard to predict what the days ahead will bring and what we will need to respond.”
World Central Kitchen
Chef Jose Andres and the World Central Kitchen is providing food to refugees who fled from Ukraine.
The Global Empowerment Mission
The Global Empowerment Mission has set up a fund to help Ukraine.
The Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund by Global Giving
Global Giving has set up the Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund. “Russia has invaded Ukraine in the biggest state-against-state attack since World War II. Millions of civilians are caught in the middle of an escalating war and humanitarian crisis, and casualties are rising. Your donation to this fund will support Ukrainians in need, with a focus on the most vulnerable, including children,” the charity’s website says.
“All donations to the Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund will support humanitarian assistance in impacted communities in Ukraine and surrounding regions where Ukrainian refugees have fled. GlobalGiving’s local partners are bringing relief to terrified and displaced communities, and they need resources to continue their life-saving work,” Global Giving says. The funds will be used for shelter, food and clean water for refugees, health and psychosocial support and access to education and economic assistance, among other things.
“GlobalGiving is one of the most reliable and trustworthy charities in the world. We have a four-star rating and nearly perfect score from Charity Navigator due to our stability, efficiency, sustainability, and commitment to transparency, in addition to accreditation from the BBB Wise Giving Alliance,” the charity site says.
Save The Children’s Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund
Save the Children has set up a fund to help in Ukraine. The charity says, “Ukraine’s children are in grave danger of physical harm, severe emotional distress and mass displacement. Save the Children is concerned for children caught in the middle of armed conflict, forced from their homes in freezing temperatures, and exposed to injury, hunger and cold.”
It adds, “Your donation to Save the Children’s Ukraine Crisis Relief Fund can help provide children and families with immediate aid, such as food, water, hygiene kits, psychosocial support and cash assistance. Together, we can protect children in crisis.”
The International Medical Corps
The International Medical Corps is providing support on the ground in Ukraine. “International Medical Corps relieves the suffering of those affected by conflict, disaster and disease, often in difficult and dangerous environments. We deliver vital healthcare services and training that help devastated populations move from relief to self-reliance,” the charity says.
Sunflower of Peace
Sunflower of Peace is named for the official flower of Ukraine. The charity prepares and provides medical aid backpacks and first-aid kits to paramedics and doctors on the frontlines, according to its Facebook page. The charity was started in Ukraine in 2014 by Katya Malakhova .
“Each backpack has the ability to save up to 10 lives: Ukrainian soldiers, civilians, volunteers, and children. These backpacks are designed for a second level of medical care in terms of combat action, according to the standards of tactical medicine (Tactical Combat Casualty Care), namely the level of paramedics, arrow-sanitary department,” the charity says. “The backpack’s contents are specially designed to be used by highly skilled military combat groups – marines, special forces units and intelligence. These groups operate in areas without access to medical facilities or Emergency Care. Therefore, it’s crucial that each combat group have a soldier capable of acting as a medic on the spot. Each backpack is designed for groups of 5 to 10 people and includes a variety of first aid supplies: bandages, anti hemorrhagic medicine like Quikclot and Celox, medical instruments, and a means for survival in extreme conditions.”
Revived Soldiers of Ukraine
According to its website, “Revived Soldiers Ukraine (RSU) is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing aid to the people of Ukraine so that they may fulfill fundamental rights and freedoms such as right to life, right to appropriate and affordable medical care, freedom of belief and freedom for an adequate standard of living.”
Its mission is, “In partnership with the global community Revived Soldiers Ukraine works to promote awareness as to human rights and freedoms while delivering humanitarian aid to those in need. … To provide medical aid and sustainable living standards to soldiers of Ukraine and members of their families as well as to those people who suffered and were affected by military conflict in ATO zone (anti-terrorist operation in Eastern Ukraine).”
Ukrainian Red Cross
The Ukrainian Red Cross is working on the ground in Ukraine and in areas where refugees from Ukraine are being displaced to. The Red Cross says, “For its part, the Ukrainian Red Cross has sprung into action distributing more than 30,000 food and hygiene parcels and assisting with the evacuation of people with disabilities. On Monday night alone, Red Cross teams provided basic food and necessities to over 8,000 people sheltering in subway stations during the shelling. Additionally, teams have provided first aid training to 2,000 people in metro stations and bomb shelters. Across the country, more than 3,000 staff and volunteers are supporting firefighters, medical and civil protection units. Meanwhile, volunteers are welcoming people at reception centers set up in schools and coordinating with partners like the Polish Red Cross to assist people at the border.”
The Red Cross adds, “Red Cross and Red Crescent partners in the region are rolling up their sleeves to assist with the dire humanitarian crisis as it unfolds. In Poland, Hungary, Slovakia, Romania, Moldova, Croatia, Lithuania and Russia, Red Cross teams are providing support to displaced people. Teams are distributing food, water, clothing, bedding, hygiene sets, blankets and even handing out SIM cards so that families can stay connected amid the turmoil. In some locations, Red Crossers are pitching tents while others are opening their homes or preparing state-run evacuation centers for refugees. Red Crossers are also providing much-needed mental health and emotional support during this frightening time.”
Project Dynamo
Project Dynamo, which started as a group to help rescue Americans and allies from Afghanistan during the 2021 withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops from the country, is now assisting with evacuations from Ukraine.
Lifeline Ukraine
Lifeline Ukraine provides suicide prevention support and help to Ukrainians suffering from mental health crisises.
Come Back Alive
Come Back Alive is a fund to help the Ukrainian military. The fund provides military equipment and other support. It was founded in 2014 during Russia’s invasion of Crimea.
Hospataliers
According to its Facebook page, “Hospitallers” is a volunteer paramedic organisation. It was founded by Yana Zinkevych at the beginning of military action in 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea and initiated warfare actions in the South of Ukraine with the assistance of the Russia-quasi-controlled forces.”