As the power returns following one of the now frequent electricity cuts that ripple across Ukraine, Kylyna Kurochka logs on to her laptop and finds herself faced with dozens of messages, each one begging for help.
“I’m 73 years old, my husband 78. We are IDPs (internally displaced people)… I have cancer and I have to have chemotherapy… We would be very grateful to you…”
Until 12 months ago, Tarilka, the organisation Kurochka works for as a project manager, was a small food bank on the edge of the western Ukrainian city of Lviv. Now, it is one of hundreds of national NGOs and volunteer initiatives responding to the human suffering caused by Russia’s invasion, which began almost one year ago, on 24 February.
In the past year, Ukraine has received pledges of almost $17 billion in bilateral humanitarian aid – a number equivalent to more than half of all international humanitarian assistance in 2021. But despite the massive infusion of resources, Ukrainian organisations and volunteer initiatives on the front lines are struggling to secure much-needed financial support – even while acting as crucial intermediaries for international NGOs (INGOs) and UN agencies.
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