American companies, non-governmental organizations and private individuals continue to provide humanitarian aid to Ukraine, although aid flows have changed both quantitatively and qualitatively during russia’s full-scale war. How and why do Americans help Ukrainians? What does Ukraine most need now? How are deliveries made from overseas? We spoke on these topics  with Oleksii Prokopenko, Chief Executive Director of HUCUS, an American foundation that  specializes in the collection and delivery of humanitarian aid to Ukraine.

WE HAVE NOT YET FILLED AN ENTIRE SHIP, BUT AN ENTIRE TRAINLOAD HAS BEEN SENT

- Oleksii, I see that on July 1, the official name of the foundation was changed; previously, the name was Center for Assistance to Ukraine in the USA, now - HUCUS. What is the reason for this name change?

- HUCUS is an abbreviation of Help Ukraine Center US. We simply optimized the name to make it easier to use since our foundation now unites a variety of areas of work.  The Center for Assistance was focused on humanitarian aid. Now we work with cultural programs, with information, with advocacy and various other situational projects aimed at supporting Ukraine.

- Two years ago, you said that you dreamt of filling an entire (container) ship with necessary humanitarian aid. Was this dream achieved?

- While not an entire shipload, we have gathered 35 shipping containers. That is, we have already sent a full trainload of the most necessary goods to Ukraine. While this may not be as much as we would have liked originally, to some extent, we also have changed our philosophy – now we work not so much on quantity as on quality.

- What does that mean?

- When the escalation of the war began, everything from America went to Ukraine one thing after another: garbage bags, plastic cups, medical masks... Now the need for such items has disappeared, and there is no point in chasing quantitative indicators. We switched to more targeted, special assistance.

- Before delving into this topic, please remind me of how all these logistics are managed.

- We act as a non-profit logistics operator that delivers humanitarian goods to Ukraine. Of course, only a fraction of what the United States sends goes through us. There are also other organizations and foundations - and together with them we continue to keep the level of assistance at a decent level.

- Is it known how much humanitarian cargo is delivered from America?

- This is very difficult to calculate, because much of the cargo is transported through  commercial companies, that is, they transport humanitarian aid for money. We provide services to organizations that do not have the possibility to pay for delivery, or we ship the cargo on our own behalf.

- How do you pay for the expenses of transportation?

- All logistics are carried out through a combination of fundraising contributions that we collect independently, through  cooperation with the Help Ukraine organization in Poland, as well as the involvement of Ukrainian companies that partially pay for the delivery of aid.

- Tell me how it does all actually happen in practice.

- In order for the entire bridge of humanitarian logistics to work, all components must construct methods to work together: local transportation - within the USA, shipping across the ocean and transport across Poland to a warehouse in Chelm, then distribution across Ukraine.

America is a huge country. For example, in Colorado, Minnesota or Arizona - in any state - there is a cargo that needs to be sent to, for example, Lviv. For this to occur, it must first get to one of our two warehouses in New Jersey.

We negotiate with transport companies that transport goods by trucks, sometimes we use the rail system.

When in the warehouse, we distribute the cargo between shipping containers. We already know the specific recipient of each pallet that comes from our foundation is, that is, the specific branch of the post office, the recipient's name, phone number or organization where the goods are headed - which allows us to verify each recipient to exclude any abuse.

Then the cargo is transported across the ocean from the port of Elizabeth in New Jersey to the port of Hamburg in Germany. There we do a transfer and go through customs screening of the cargo. Our containers are then loaded onto another vessel bound for Gdynia in Poland. And from there the cargo is transported by land to our warehouse in Chelm, Poland, where it is picked up by the trucks of the transport company New Post, which delivers goods to the doors of recipients in Ukraine.

- How long does it take to deliver your containers to Ukrainian addressees?

- From one to three and a half months.

Each cargo is assigned a certain category. Urgent cargo is transported faster - with the help of air transportation. For example, refrigerators to store blood, which are needed immediately.

We are already forecasting the kind of help that will be required in the winter and are preparing to take delivery times into account. It is easy to guess that among these needed items will be, for example, electric generators.

WE WANT TO BUILD AN INSTITUTION THAT WILL HELP UKRAINE EVEN AFTER THE WAR

- And how do you find out that in a certain state someone wants to send aid to Ukraine? Do they come to you, or do you find them?

- We are known, many have heard about us. It's basically word of mouth... People are telling each other that there is a HUCUS fund that helps transport cargo to Ukraine. As a rule, we are approached by those organizations that do not have funds for transport or manage logistics.

- Are there any pragmatic reasons why they do it? That is, is it profitable for donors to provide humanitarian aid, say, due to a reduction in the tax burden, or do they do it, so to speak, for humanitarian reasons?

- Both... But when we hear narratives that the world is tired of war, I reply: the world may be tired of the word "war", but the world is not tired of helping Ukraine.

And our task is to maintain contacts with companies, donors, and people who are not tired of helping Ukraine. I see dedication and consistency in their motives...

If two years ago they said they would help Ukraine and help Ukraine fight this war to the end, and three months later they forgot about volunteering, donations, aid, then these people disappear from my field of vision. My team and I are committed to the long-term work that will be in demand even after the end of the war. After all, aid to Ukraine is a long-term process.

We treat our work not just as volunteering, but want to build an institution that will help the country for years.

That is, a volunteer project nowadays is something cool to do, timely – goods are gathered, done, dispersed. However, we want to develop a structure that would help Ukraine today by delivering the urgently needed cargo, and in the future - participate in Ukraine’s reconstruction.

- Who are your main donors and aid consumers? What are your priorities now?

- Anything can be delivered from America - from clothes, to blankets to dry goods and water. But that which is now urgently needed by, say, the population of Gaza or Haiti, is not in demand in Ukraine. And, after all, powerful international organizations, primarily the UN, are engaged in critical humanitarian aid in the front-line zone.

The following priorities have been determined for us today: medical equipment for hospitals where the wounded are treated, necessary items for children, personal care products.

From time to time, we are approached by donors with a request to transfer to Ukraine cargoes that are not actually in demand.

We have decided that we will not refuse these loads. Because we understand that there are other countries in the world that need them. And thanks to our communication, on behalf of Ukraine, we can transfer them, for example, to African countries.

- What kind of cargo can these be?

- There are many things... For example, special gel packs that are used for freezing and cooling products or in medicine... There may be enough of them in Ukraine now, and there is a huge demand for them in Africa. Or, let's say, Ukraine does not need wet wipes in large quantities, and in the Philippines they are absolutely necessary. So, we are ready to transfer these things to the countries that need them and thereby help not only Ukraine, but also other countries.

- You mentioned among the priorities are items for children – such as?

- I would like to take this opportunity to thank one specific donor in America - Nataliya Kofman, a native of Mykolaiv, who, upon hearing about our project, gave us many loads of cargo, including a large container of educational games for children worth about 300,000 dollars. We targeted these games for the foundation "Children of Heroes" and these games have reached their recipients. This foundation cares for more than 9,000 children who have lost one of their parents during the full-scale Russian invasion.

Mrs. Kofman also donated an entire container of children's roller and ice skates. We distributed these to the children of Ukrainian railway workers in gratitude, because we know what role railway workers played in the first days of the war during the evacuation of the civilian population from the war zones. We gave this container to the Trade Union of Railway Workers and Transport Builders of Ukraine, which, in turn, gave roller and ice skates to the children of whose parents are at the front,  or those whose parents died.

- Do you have donors with whom you cooperate on a permanent basis?

- Yes. For example, the non-government organization MATTER. This is our permanent donor located in the state of Minnesota with whom we signed an agreement two years ago. It helps provide hospitals with various medical supplies that  can include such items as surgical instruments, equipment, sterilizers, special disposable items.

The range of items that our hospitals receive is large. For example, Boston Children's Hospital sent medical equipment to a hospital in Artsyz, Odesa Region.

Our permanent partner is the Project CURE, an organization with headquarters in Denver, Colorado. We receive special first aid kits from them.

Delta, a medical equipment specialist, provides us with insulated blood transport containers that are used on the front lines by evacuation teams to save the lives of soldiers.

- That is, organizations, companies, and private individuals can donate?

Today, a man sent us a request by mail who wrote that he wants to donate special medical equipment on his behalf, personally ... Just an American who knows cares about us and wants to help in any way he can.

I can say with certainty that Americans help mainly not for any pragmatic reasons. It is not about money or preferential taxation, but about solidarity with the Ukrainian people, with ordinary Ukrainians who are heroically reclaiming their land. And about commitment to democracy and joint struggle against the enemy.

ALL UKRAINIANS ABROAD SHOULD HELP THEIR COUNTRY DAILY IF THEY WANT TO RETURN HOME

- And if you make an imaginary schedule of your activity for these past two years, what would it look like?

- Why an imaginary when there is a real one. In 2022, we sent shipments valued at 4.2 million dollars; in 2023 - 5.4 million, this year we expect 7.1 million. By 2027, we plan to increase this figure to 21 million dollars. Ukrainian volunteers and organizations in the United States - not only our foundation - are actively working on attracting aid, coming up with new ways of interacting with companies, private donors, and communities so that support for Ukraine does not decrease.

I would like to thank colleagues in our organizations, Ukrainian and American organizations for cooperation with us, for helping Ukraine. To everyone who collects the necessary items, brings soldiers here for treatment, buys drones, advocates for and defends the interests of Ukraine before American legislators.

And I want to call on all Ukrainians abroad, literally everyone who has a Ukrainian passport or feels like a Ukrainian, to do something every day for our victory. Donate, if not money, then time, which is no less important - for example, helping volunteer organizations.

I would like to ask everyone who reads this interview to remember: that which is just a thread in the context of the world can be an entire shirt for those without one.

Because if you are abroad and are sitting out this situation, then there may never be a somewhere to which you can return. It is necessary to unite and continue to build a system of assistance to Ukraine - and not simply rush from one terrible event to another... Within every family there should be a tradition of helping their country - with whatever resources, if you really dream of returning and seeing Ukraine flourishing and independent.

- What do you think might change in your work in the event that there will be a change of those in power after this year's elections in America?

- I don't know how the events will unfold then. But I think that if the Republicans came to power, they could act even more aggressively, and perhaps help us more actively on the battlefield.

But it is difficult to predict...

On the other hand, maybe they will massively limit the aid that will go through the fund or block it altogether. All this is impossible to predict.

However, I do know one thing: russia is a strategic enemy for the United States. And what the Ukrainians are doing must be supported by a healthy core of Republicans. There are a lot of normal people among them, and those who express some crazy ideas are in the minority.

- You have lived in the United States for several years, you actively communicate with our diplomats. How would you rate the work of Ukrainian diplomacy?

- I don't know if it is proper for me to give them grades, but these are people who are in their positions day and night. Sometimes we don't really understand their role, because it's not a district council or a district where Ukrainians come to solve their problems... Ukrainian diplomats work in difficult, stressful conditions. Here, in the United States, they manage to cover both Ukrainian and American time zones. I don't know when they find the time to sleep. That has always been a mystery to me.

However, I do not want to be apathetic in my response, so I will pass along the assessment I have heard from others. Once, while I was at an event, I was standing next to a group of diplomats from Switzerland, Great Britain and a North African country. I overheard the Swiss diplomat say that Ukrainian diplomats in recent years have shown the world that the old diplomatic norms and foundations must be changed. Ukrainian diplomats have demonstrated how to build active diplomacy - do everything to save, and defend your country, to attract help, to gather allies.

If this is how the world thinks about Ukrainian diplomats, then I think this is a good assessment.

Volodymyr Ilchenko, New York