Razom Team – Who Are We?

Published: April 2, 2022   

Many of our supporters and followers ask the same question – who are Razomers? And we, as always, answer that Razom is our volunteers, Razomers, whose hearts ache for Ukraine, who give their time, expertise and energy in pursuit of a common goal – a strong and independent Ukraine!

All of our photos show only a fraction of Razom volunteers. Today, Razom is comprised of:

  • 200+ active volunteers in the US (and a few hundred more who help periodically)
  • 20+ volunteers in Canada
  • 20+ volunteers in Poland
  • 50+ volunteers in Ukraine
  • dozens of partner organizations
  • procurement teams, logistics, sorting, warehouse platform developers, warehouse operators, drivers, communicators, financiers, donor support team, advocacy team, lawyers, protest and charity concert organizers, and an entire team responding to endless emails and phone calls

Our teams’ intense cooperation and hard work have resulted so far in:

  • more than 200 tons of cargo sent to Ukraine: tactical medicine, hospital medicine, civilian drones for safe medical delivery, walkie-talkies, telephones, rations
  • delivered goods to Zhytomyr, Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Luhansk, Donetsk, Dnipro, Zaporizhia, Mykolaiv, Odesa regions
  • hundreds of events in support of Ukraine in the United States and Canada
  • hundreds of advocacy interviews in the US and Canadian press
  • and a great desire to win the war!

We are deeply grateful to all our volunteers for their dedication and tireless work!

Багато хто задає те саме запитання – хто такі Razomці? А ми, як завжди, відповідаємо, що Razom – це і є наші волонтери, Razomці, у яких болить серце за Україну, які віддають свій час, знання та енергію заради спільної мети – сильної та незалежної України!

На всіх наших фотографіях – лише частина волонтерів Razom. А загалом, наразі під час війни Razom – це:

  • 200+ активних волонтерів в США (і ще кілька сотень таких, що допомагають періодично)
  • 20+ волонтерів в Канаді
  • 20+ волонтерів в Польщі
  • 50+ волонтерів в Україні
  • десятки партнерських організацій
  • команди закупівель, логістики, сортування, розробники платформи складу, оператори складу, водії, комунікаційники, фінансисти, команда підтримки донорів, адвокаційна команда, юристи, організатори протестів і благодіних концертів, команда, яка відповідає на чисельні емейли і телефонні дзвінки

Інтенсивна співпраця та наполеглива робота наших команд наразі вже привели до наступних результатів:

  • понад 200 тон вантажів відправлених в Україну: тактична медицина, госпітальна медицина, цивільні дрони задля безпеки перевезень, рації, телефони, сухпайки
  • доставлені вантажі в Житомирську, Київську, Чернігівську, Сумську, Харківську, Луганську, Донецьку, Дніпровську, Запорізьку, Миколаївську, Одеську області
  • сотні подій на підтримку України в США і Канаді
  • сотні адвокаційних інтерв’ю в пресі США і Канади
  • і величезне бажання виграти війну! 

Ми щиро вдячні всім нашим волонтерам за самовідданість та невтомну працю!

Newsletter #7: Our impact is scaling, our voices need to be heard

Published: March 22, 2022   

We start this newsletter with a moment of gratitude for all of you, followed by an update on the latest impact stories, and ending with a list of community engagement and advocacy resources.

Dear Razom Community,

From all of us, thank you wholeheartedly every donor for the support of Razom’s work in this trying time of crisis.  Your donations are going toward providing critical aid relief, support for displaced persons, and amplifying Ukraine’s story and the voices of Ukrainians. In a couple of months we’ll be able to acknowledge and write to each and every one of you. Your support gives us hope and strength. But right now, we ask for your patience as we work tirelessly to transform your money into support in the right hands in Ukraine.  

The latest updates on progress and impact of the Razom Emergency Response Project:

  • You can now become a part of the Razom procurement team by buying humanitarian aid items that are urgently needed but not impossible to find off of our Amazon Custom Gift List.  Razom volunteers will deliver and sort the items in our New Jersey warehouse with Meest before shipping it out Ukraine.  
  • An Americares donation of the most critically needed hospital supplies has been delivered to the Cancer Institute of Kyiv in Ukraine that includes 9.5 pallets with 921 cases totaling 6,283 pounds of supplies that will be distributed to several more hospitals in Kyiv.
  • Razom’s procurement of a defibrillator, insulin, and other important medicines like metformin, glimepiride, levothyroxine was delivered to the Ukrainian Diabetes Association in Kharkiv, Kyiv, and Luhansk regions.  We accomplished this in partnership with volunteers at AWO Ortsverein Reischach – AG and Ukraine-HILFE Berlin e.V.  
  • Razom volunteers have made a total of 7 trips carrying tactical medicine cargo to various volunteer civilian defense corps prioritizing cities and regions where Ukrainians are actively repelling russian occupiers.  
  • Razom has secured 50 drones across the Polish border that will be used to ensure the safe delivery of medical and tactical medical supplies by our volunteers traveling across hotspot areas in Ukraine.
  • Razom issued a grant to long-time partner BUR (Building Ukraine Together) to support their programs helping internally displaced people in Ukraine by renovating infrastructure, building shelter camps for IDPs, and offering humanitarian aid across Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Chernihiv.  We continue to support and collaborate with them.

Thank you to all of the volunteers who work on the “second front” of this war!  None of this impact would have been possible without your unwavering determination to getting the work done. 

Medical supplies preparing for shipment
Tacmed delivered to a volunteer civilian defense corp
Americares’ Donation
Razom volunteers at the sorting warehouse, preparing the next shipment

This week there are a number of events and rallies for you to join to help advocate for Ukraine and/or fundraise for Razom’s Emergency Response Project.  We hope to see you there! 

  • Please join Mayor Adams along with the honorable Oleksii Holubov, Ukrainian Consulate General, and Prominent Ukrainians, Ukrainian-Americans and Friends of Ukraine to raise the Ukrainian Flag in Bowling Green Park today, Wednesday, March 23rd at 4:30 pm.  The Ukrainian flag will fly every day beside the American flag until Ukraine is victorious and the russian invaders are gone.
  • Later that same day, join us at Grand Central Terminal at 6:30pm to witness or be a part of a Flash Mob Protest to #SaveMariupol.  Mariupol has been under near constant siege for several weeks and seen some of the worst attacks in the war, including deadly strikes on a maternity ward of a hospital, the bombing of a theater housing over a thousand civilians (the losses from which are still unknown), amongst other horrific events.  For more details and to become a part of the Flash Mob Protest, please join our Signal group https://bit.ly/SAVEMARIUPOL
  • Sunday, March 27th will be a National Day of Action to #StandWithUkraine including a rally at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington D.C.  Let’s seize this moment to call on the world to act now to help Ukrainians continue fighting for freedom and democracy and for Ukraine’s right to thrive and survive.
  • All the proceeds from a Charity Gala Event on Sunday, April 3rd at the Oceana Theater in Brooklyn will be going to Razom’s Emergency Response project.   The event will be performance-based, with the acts varying from music (performances from KAZKA and Alyosha amongst others), children’s choir and dance, speeches, and video blocks (feat. Okean Elzy, Jamala, and Max Barskih).

As always, keep in touch with us via this newsletter, our blog, and our social media channels where we share more real-time info you need to know to stand with Ukraine.  Consider making a gift to Razom or our partner organizations (like BUR!) for us to continue to do this work.  We are awed by your tremendous support.

Stay Razom.

BUR Supporting Displaced Families

Published: March 21, 2022   

We’d like to share an important update from our partner Building Ukraine Together (BUR) about how they have adapted their activities to support internally displaced persons (IDPs) since the russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24th 2022.

Thousands of displaced families are in need of your help.  Schools and community halls are being made available, but there is an immediate need for basic items – beds blankets, cooking utensils, and personal hygiene products. You can support BUR’s work by donating below.  As a Razom partner, these donations are 501(c)3 deductible.

BUR’s key areas of operation right now are:

  • Cooperating with organizations to meet the needs of their volunteers who are at the forefront of defending Ukrainian freedom.
  • Communicating with volunteers who remain in the combat zone about humanitarian needs and evolving situation in the country.
  • Organizing the logistics of delivering supplies from Lviv to different Ukrainian cities.

In the early days of the full-scale war, Razom issued a $50,000 grant to support this work.  Below is an overview of how those funds were used:

  • Procuring and delivering humanitarian aid – ranging from food, medicines, to sleeping bags – in Lviv, Kharkiv, Skadovsk and Kherson.
  • Preparing and delivering food for territorial defense units (civilian volunteers) and hospitals in Kharkiv.
  • Vehicle rentals for the transportation of this aid and evacuations of civilians (specifically from Kharkiv to Dnipro).
  • Purchasing of chainsaws for territorial defense units (civilian volunteers) and Emergency Services of Kharkiv to dismantle debris from the destruction and rescue people from rubble.

You can find updates from BUR on their social media:

https://www.facebook.com/BuildingUkraineTogether

https://instagram.com/burburbuuur

Building Ukraine Together (BUR) is a program of the “Ukrainian Educational Platform“, which creates opportunities for youth to make changes in their country through volunteering. Ukrainian Educational Platform is a charitable organization (2000-2021 – Lviv Education Foundation). It has impacted positive change with more than 10 years of experience in social transformations. They believe in Ukraine, they unite, educate, and support people with leadership potential who create vibrant local communities through volunteer, educational, and social projects.

All-American #StandWithUkraine Telethon

Published: March 18, 2022   

On Tuesday 22 March, put aside 15 minutes to call your Representatives in Congress and demand more support for Ukraine. It’s easy, but the impact is real. Join us!

On Tuesday, March 22, call your representatives in Congress and demand more support for Ukraine. 
Click here to join the Facebook event. Mark your calendar now!

Here’s how:

  1. Set aside 15 minutes in your day on Tuesday 22 March between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm.
  2. Click here to find your Representatives.
  3. Call each of your Representatives at the listed number. Yes, you must call each one of them.
  4. If there is an option to leave a message – leave a message. If someone from the Representative’s office picks up, ask to leave a message for the Representative.
  5. Here’s the script:

My name is __________, my zip code is _________, and I am calling as a (Ukrainian-American) constituent of Representative ____________ who is concerned about russia’s violent war against Ukraine. I demand more support for Ukraine on any and all levels possible so that Ukraine can win the war and protect the values of liberty, freedom, and democracy for us all. The US government should be doing everything possible to help Ukraine win the war. Russia’s assault on Ukraine is an assault on us all.

As my representative I strongly ask you to advocate to:

1.  Increase military spending for military planes, anti-aircraft and anti-tank weapons for Ukraine. Support Ukraine to protect its airspace and defend itself. 

2. Increase targeted sanctions against Russian oligarchs and elites who stash assets and money in the US. 

3. Increase monetary, military, and humanitarian support for Ukraine, and work with Ukraine’s strategic partners around the world to increase this support multilaterally.

All of these actions are critical for our country’s security. Thank you for representing my concerns in these urgent issues.   

(Feel free to customize the script as you see fit. Feel free to tell a short, personal story.)

  1. Call or text a friend and ask them to call their Representatives in Congress, too. Give them these instructions.
  2. Post on social media that you’ve just finished calling your Representatives in Congress and demanding more support for Ukraine. Use the hashtags #StandWithUkraine and #PlanesForUkraine. 
  3. That’s it! You’ve probably saved some lives by just making a few phone calls. 

Ukraine thanks you!

CLICK HERE TO OPEN THE SPREADSHEET WITH
SENATORS’ PHONE NUMBERS AND THEIR STANCES ON UKRAINE.

Delivery of Aid & Supplies to Cities Across Ukraine

Published: March 14, 2022   

Razom Emergency Response project continues to grow and develop at an incredible speed thanks to the support of our donors and dedicated volunteer network in the US and Ukraine. The war and resulting humanitarian crisis has only continued to escalate over the past week, putting our logistics operation on the ground in Ukraine into stark focus. 

The first shipments of humanitarian aid procured by Razom delivered to Berdychiv in Zhytomyr Oblast on March 9th

The reality is that delivering aid past the warehouse of our partners at Kryla Nadiyi in western Ukraine is an extremely difficult task. The very first shipments of tactical medicine (purchased & shipped on day two of the war) made it into the hands of civilian defense corps in Kyiv and Zhytomyr oblasts on March 9th.  It was four days later, on March 13th, that more aid made the journey east – this time by two mini buses heading to Kyiv (including Brovary) and Poltava (with an extra leg to Sumy) oblasts.  

Russian forces are actively shelling and endangering transportation infrastructure across the country therefore safe routes are constantly changing. In addition, humanitarian needs on the ground change just as fast, if not faster. Speed and boots on the ground are of the essence. Razom has both, which gives us a unique chance to deliver the aid acquired abroad to the end user in Ukraine, knowing that your donations are in the right hands. 

Aid is packed into small vehicles allowing volunteer drivers to maneuver more nimbly. Coordination with civilian defense corps (the ultimate volunteer network in Ukraine today) via satellite phones, which offer the most reliable form of communication, strengthen our logistics chain on the ground in Ukraine. There’s also a verbal verification system in place that ensures volunteers know they’re putting the delivery in safe hands. When available, small civilian drones are another important tool for our volunteers to scope out safe passage routes and share valuable information in real time. These tech enabled emergency response supplies have made a big impact on our volunteers’ ability to work effectively in executing the logistics chain in Ukraine. We are enormously grateful for the brave and trusted group of the people who carry out this work.  

Tactical Medical Aid being prepped and loaded for distribution in Ukraine. Markings read “Sumy” and “Poltava”

As we celebrate each and every delivery of humanitarian aid that makes it into the hands of Ukrainians, we continue to follow a repeatable logistics process for procuring and delivering aid from abroad to warehouses in Poland and western Ukraine. Euromaidan Warszawa is our trusted partner in Warsaw that receives shipments procured throughout western Europe and delivers them to western Ukraine. Meest America is delivering shipments procured from the United States directly to Ukraine.  So far, approximately $4M has been spent on tactical medical supplies, communications supplies, and logistics support. All of our aid is received in western Ukraine by our partners Kryla Nadiyi (Wings of Hope). They warehouse, sort, and prepare orders of aid that then gets distributed further.  A small group of engineers, in collaboration with two Razom volunteers (in the US and Ukraine) have developed an online system to help track requests submitted by a centralized network of civilian defense corps central command. These requests then get cross referenced to active hotspots and prioritized based on safe routes.  

The many faces of Kryla Nadiyi volunteers accepting, sorting, and organizing humanitarian aid for distribution across Ukraine

We are incredibly grateful to the volunteers and partner organizations who work daily on this project (most days staying up until 4am!) coordinating information, connecting volunteer networks, and helping to take in, protect, and distribute shipments donated through Razom. To our donors, your continued support ensures we can make an impact across more parts of Ukraine. We can’t wait to keep sharing those stories with you as they develop. 

#PlanesForUkraine Twitter Storm

Published: March 13, 2022   

All are welcome, and highly encouraged, to take part in the Twitter Storm! Spread the word.
THE GOAL IS TO GET #PLANESFORUKRAINE TRENDING ON TWITTER

On Monday, 14 March, at 10:00am EST, open up this page and either COPY and PASTE each ready-made Tweet below OR click to Tweet automatically.

Ready-made Tweets: President Zelensky said it best: “This is not ping pong. This is about human lives.” Stop the politics. Send the planes now. #PlanesforUkraine #StandwithUkraine
Click to Tweet: https://ctt.ac/105f9

@POTUS @USDoDGov It’s simple. Get them the planes, and Ukraine will handle the rest. #PlanesforUkraine #StandwithUkraine
Click to Tweet: https://ctt.ac/HTga5

Don’t let Ukraine lose out because of a technicality and some fine print. Send the MIGs now. #PlanesforUkraine #StandwithUkraine @PLParliament @NATO
Click to Tweet: https://ctt.ac/aa90a

Over 70% of Americans demand the U.S. government provide more weapons to Ukraine according to @Reuters. Help the Ukrainian military defend its skies with #PlanesforUkraine #StandwithUkraine @POTUS @JoeBiden
Click to Tweet: https://ctt.ac/7Gkac

What happened to the Budapest Memorandum, @POTUS and @10DowningStreet? Security assurances are security assurances. #PlanesForUkraine must be delivered NOW! #StandwithUkraine
Click to Tweet: https://ctt.ac/bUd07

Ukraine is a modern, vibrant country that deserves the right to self-determination and peace. It also deserves the military aircraft it needs to defend itself. #PlanesForUkraine #StandwithUkraine @USNATO @jensstoltenberg
Click to Tweet: https://ctt.ac/7292e

Ukrainians have proven to the world that they are willing to stop tanks with their bare hands to defend their country and democracy against russian invasion. #PlanesForUkraine is the least the world can do to #StandwithUkraine. @StateDept @SecBlinken
Click to Tweet: https://ctt.ec/jXBsa

It’s not rocket science, it’s not WWIII, it’s just #PlanesForUkraine. #StandwithUkraine @NATO @POTUS @PLParliament @Bundestag
Click to Tweet: https://ctt.ec/EX3Rk

Russia does not respect negotiations, ceasefires, or deescalation efforts. We need #PlanesForUkraine NOW. @JoeBiden @JensStoltenberg @EmmanuelMacron @BorisJohnson
Click to Tweet: https://ctt.ec/li9e8

#PlanesForUkraine is the morally right thing to do. We all have a chance to be on the right side of history. Help Ukrainians defend their land and skies now. @NATO @10DowningStreet @USDoDGov
Click to Tweet: https://ctt.ec/Jn23b

Like and retweet the Tweets from the Razom account: https://twitter.com/razomforukraine

Like and retweet any other Tweets in the #PlanesForUkraine hashtag to get it trending across the globe. That’s it! On Tuesday 15 March, do it all over again at 10:00 am EST. And then again on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday of this week. Invite a friend to join the Twitter storm!

Pro tip: Set a reminder on your phone or in your calendar to remind you to Tweet everyday at 10:00 am EST.

Additionally, you can also sign a petition SUPPLY UKRAINE WITH FIGHTER JETS.

Join our Twitter Storm Facebook event here.

Evacuation of Children with Disabilities

Published: March 10, 2022   

Just as we have worked hard to move humanitarian aid such as tactical and hospital medical supplies across borders and into Ukraine, we have simultaneously developed an evacuation system for some of the most vulnerable in times of war – children and children with disabilities.  This effort began with children with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). Razom has been connected to these children through the “Dity, My Vstygnemo” – “Children, We Will Make It” project, launched in 2021 as a civic movement and advocacy campaign to improve healthcare access for Ukrainian children suffering from SMA. 

In times of war, children with disabilities need to be evacuated early before they are in danger of missing out on special care and assistance needed to thrive and survive. These children also require an individualized evacuation approach as they are unable to board crowded trains and buses. Moreover, taking care of civilians before their environment becomes an active war zone allows the Ukrainian army to work more efficiently, knowing civilians are out of harm’s way. Therefore we activated our volunteer and partner network immediately when the war began, and to date, have evacuated 30 different families (making up 83 individuals) from nine cities and regions of Ukraine (including Kyiv, Kharkiv, Odesa, Zhytomyr, Dnipro, Irpin, Zaporizhzhia, Sumy, and Kryvyi Rih).

This has been a complete volunteer effort. A group of 12 Razom volunteers (across US and Ukraine, including 5 drivers) have worked day and night coordinating resources and safe routes for passage to evacuate children and their families from the most dangerous regions in Ukraine towards western Ukraine. We worked with the All Hands And Hearts nonprofit to help procure minivans (we have four of them to date, one of which was privately funded), and have partnered with the Polish SMA Foundation to take care of these children once we get them across the border.

As we continue to scale this project, we’ve also been able to assist families who are driving their children with disabilities out west on their own, to guide them through safe routes.  This includes helping them find shelter along the way.  Razom has been developing a database of places willing to shelter refugees safely and freely even before the war began.  

As we work to obtain more vehicles that will allow us to further expand this project, we are also developing a system whereby minibusses that make their way east are filled with humanitarian aid. Right now, every action we take must have maximum positive impact on lives in Ukraine.

Please consider donating to Razom Emergency Response project for us to continue to scale this operation.  

38 Tons of Medical Supplies on the way to Poland

Published: March 7, 2022   

Our Emergency Response Project is well underway, with some of the hardest work yet to come.

  • Kryla Nadiyi (which means “Wings of Hope” in Ukrainian) are our partners on the ground in western Ukraine warehousing, sorting, and distributing our humanitarian aid to various hot spots across the country. They are one of the top charities in Ukraine doing this type of work since 2013.
  • The first shipments of tactical medicine (purchased & shipped on day two of the war) are now arriving to civilian territorial defenses in Kyiv and Zhytomyr oblasts in Ukraine. We are enormously grateful for this brave and trusted group of volunteers who are ensuring its safe arrival. Tacmed supplies continue to be one of the most urgent forms of aid needed to get into the hands of Ukrainians.
  • We have streamlined our operations with Meest America Inc., and right now, 38 tons more of tactical medical and hospital supplies are making their way to Ukraine via Poland.
  • Finally, since the start of the war, we’ve spent over $1.5M procuring this humanitarian aid and covering logistical costs.
  • Last, but most certainly not least, we ask you to consider making a contribution to the following efforts:
    • Our Razom’s Emergency Response Project works to deliver only the most urgent humanitarian aid in war torn parts of Ukraine, which includes tactical medical supplies, hospital needs, and supplies that enable the safe and efficient distribution of that aid (like med tactical backpacks, GPS devices, satellite phones, and drones).   
    • UACC’s fundraiser to export helmets and armory vests to Ukraine and get them in the hands of territorial defense units across key parts of the country is still ongoing.  
    • With the heavy flow of supplies going daily across the ocean to Ukraine, it was only a matter of time until Razom’s partnership with Meest America, Inc. shipping company would require additional support.  We are raising money to ensure that the donations you’ve delivered to Meest, that go beyond tacmed and medical supplies (many of you have been doing epic Costco runs!), get shipped across the ocean to Ukraine efficiently.  

Stay informed. Stay Razom. Support Ukraine.

Ukrainian Music and Art Help Save Lives

Published: March 6, 2022   

This weekend Razom hosted two cultural events in NYC – a #StandWithUkraine Community Concert and a Private Art Tour at Zimmerli. Somebody may ask – is this time for culture? We believe – yes. For years, Razom Culture has been using cultural diplomacy and promoting unique Ukrainian traditions and customs, music, literature and art in the US and the world. These days, we also turn to Ukrainian culture for support and encouragement. Besides all proceeds from both events certainly go toward the Razom Emergency Response.

After the rally on Saturday, the Ukrainian community and all those who have been working to support Ukraine these difficult past couple of weeks were welcomed at the Ukrainian National Home in the Ukrainian Village for a Stand With Ukraine Community Concert.

Volunteers have been working tirelessly on various important initiatives but we needed to be reminded of our strength and resoluteness to keep going. Music, the international language, is the perfect way to do this. Big thanks to Iryna Kit for crafting a beautiful music program which included Ukrainian Village Voices, Zisl Slepovitch Trio, and Fima Chupakhin Jazz Quartet. The music soothed our aching hearts and gave us the zest to continue helping Ukraine. We are grateful to the great friends of the Ukrainian community Veselka, Two Boots Pizza, and Baczynsky East Village Meat Market Inc. for providing the food to sustain and nurture the volunteers. Thank you to everyone who came out for Ukraine and shared smiles, hugs, and words of encouragement. Together we collected about $8000 from the tickets purchases and donations made during the concert, all while enjoying Ukrainian creative genius. It was a wonderful evening amidst chaos, and the goal was always to remind ourselves of the amazing support Ukraine has all over the world and to give us the courage to continue fighting for peace, truth, and freedom.

Photos by AJ Stetson, Olena Blednova, and Alexei Zagdansky

And the very next day, on Sunday, Razom in collaboration with the Zimmerli Art Museum decided to keep the exclusive curator-led tour of Ukrainian art that was arranged a while ago. The exhibition is dedicated to the period of perestroika and the collapse of the Soviet Union that radically transformed the art scene of Kyiv. It launched Ukrainian contemporary art as a truly global phenomenon and changed the perception of Kyiv from a backwater province into a new art capital, preparing the city for its new role as the emerging state’s capital. The tour was led by Olena Martynyuk, PhD, a Guest Research Curator of the show and a postdoctoral fellow in Ukrainian Studies at the Harriman Institute of Columbia University. Initially, the proceeds from the tickets were planned to send toward further development of programs and exhibitions dedicated to Ukrainian art. But a quick decision was made that all proceeds of $3400 would also go toward the Emergency Response, where are needed the most right now.

Thus, while learning more about and enjoying Ukrainian music and art, we have collected over $11,000, which means more tactical medical supplies will be delivered to Ukraine and help save lives of brave Ukrainians.

Learn more about Razom Emergency Response and our latest updates.

Rally at Times Square

Published: March 5, 2022   

A large part of the Razom Emergency Response is advocacy to increase the world’s support to Ukraine, and rallies play a key role. Today thousands of Ukrainians and friends of Ukraine gathered into one of the largest rallies in recent Ukrainian-New York history. The message was clear – Close the sky! No Fly Zone for Ukraine! Stand with Ukraine! Times Square turned into blue and yellow ocean and stretched for over 5 blocks, the Ukrainian anthem was heard loud and proud, our faces were the faces of hope for Ukraine and its bright future.

Photos by Polina Buchak and Vitaliy Raskalov

Many organizations joined forces to invite their supporters to this highly important rally… in the last 11 days we all have clearly realized that our biggest strength is in unity. Razom for Ukraine was joined by Ukrainian Jersey City and many others – because together, razom, our voices are louder and are heard in the top cabinets. We demand to protect Ukrainian airspace and introduce the No-Fly zone, as Ukrainians in Ukraine say – “Protect us from above, and we will deal with the rest”.

“The reasons why we go out to the streets is to continue feeling that sense that ‘I’m not alone’, that we are in this together. For others, it’s our attempt to make sure that people are reminded that this is current, that this is today, that this is our life right now. And in the end of the day this issue, while some might think: ‘Oh, this is just Ukraine fighting its neighbor’. It’s not. It’s far more than that. Us uniting at the rallies, and talking to the public, talking to the media about it – it’s reminding them that this is a world issue. We are your shield and have been for the past eight years” – said Razom volunteer Polina.

Watch the video made by Jess Francis of a day in the life of Polina as she attended the rally.

Huge thanks to everyone who joined! It matters! You matter! And our voices are loud, together.

Learn more about Razom Emergency Response and the most recent updates.

Continue your advocacy efforts – read what you can do to help Ukraine today.