In New York, far from her home in northern Ukraine, Valeriya Roshkovan is trying to do what she can to stop the Russian invasion of her country.
“I can’t sit and do nothing,” he said earlier this month in a New Jersey warehouse where he volunteers with the nonprofit Razom for Ukraine, helping package donated firefighting equipment to send to his country.
Roshkovan, 41, fled Konotop, a town near Ukraine’s northern border with Belarus, shortly after the war began to keep her young daughter. He had to leave his wife and the rest of his family.
“The city is surrounded, all the artillery is directed at the city and most of the exits are in Russian hands,” Roshkovan said through another volunteer who translated the words.
“We have hope that it will end soon, that the war will end,” he added. “And we’ll be back soon.”
As the first anniversary of the Russian invasion approaches on Friday, those hopes are fading. Roshkovan has enrolled his teenage daughter in school. He tried to get him to join Brooklyn, New York, nearby and to stop living in the war and escape for a long time, driving through Ukraine and some neighboring countries.
Last year, many Ukrainians living in America discovered Razom, a small non-profit organization started in 2014 with a mission to help Ukraine prosper. In previous years, it has received about $200,000 in annual contributions. By 2022, the number of donors has grown from about 4,000 to 170,000 and gifts are now at least $75 million, said Dora Chomiak, the organization’s president.
“Many people are just moved by the complete injustice of the bad guys next to Ukraine, just ruining their lives. People are moved by the resilience of the Ukrainian people,” he said.
The non-profit organization established a logistics network, opened an office in Washington to advocate for Ukraine to members of parliament and gave at least $3 million to small non-profit organizations in Ukraine. They have held almost weekly protests in Times Square to try to keep the war in the public eye. Support for sending weapons and aid to Ukraine and for hosting Ukrainians displaced by the war between the Americans has declined from May to January, a new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research found.
Initially, Razom focused on sourcing and delivering medical equipment and tactical communications equipment to the front lines, including volunteer fighters.
“Tourniquets, chest seals, different bandages to stop bleeding or give first aid on the battlefield,” said Andriy Boychuk, 35, a businessman who has lived in the US for 17 years and is leading the effort at the warehouse.
“If not us, who else?” said, when asked why non-profits send supplies to the frontlines. Most recently, it has sent generators, wood stoves and candles to a warehouse in Lviv, tracking shipments with a software program developed by members of Razom. Razom staff in Ukraine then reloaded the goods into the van to take where needed.
Boychuk and other volunteers say packing the supplies by hand is a kind of therapy for them, helping them feel like they’re making a difference.
“It touches everybody,” Boychuk said of the fight. “And that’s why I think we’re here, because we want to help and try not to think about what’s going on because it’s hurting people,”
The aid sent is in line with Razom’s charitable mission, as well as import and export regulations, Chomiak said. But that line is sometimes difficult to navigate.
“Who is civilian and who is military? It is difficult for me to decipher,” he said, until he realized when he visited Ukraine in the summer that everyone is fighting for their lives, in one way or another.
Another volunteer, Dmytro Malymonenko, learned about Razom when the war began, through Boychuk, who was a neighbor. “I want to help but I don’t know how to start and where to find a community,” he said.
In the past year, the impact of the war has grown on him. Malymonenko’s mother recently died in Ukraine from an illness she said was caused by stress and depression caused by the war. His father returned to his home town of Sumy, which had been bombed, to organize the funeral.
His life has been torn apart, he said, urging everyone to take action.
“Even thoughts or prayers can help,” he said.
Roshkovan said he was still confused about the war, which he did not believe would break out between countries whose populations have been intertwined for generations.
“It’s not just war. It’s not just aggression that happens,” he said, touching the skin on his arm. “But it’s also the basis of the breakdown of the relationship. It was a huge betrayal.
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