Ukrainian Patriot

04/10/2026

September brought no shift in pressure, but it demanded a broader reach. As aerial alerts and logistical hurdles continued to shape daily life across Ukraine, our teams kept every arm of the organisation moving without pause.

Field runs to eastern hubs went ahead as planned, logistics shipments cleared out warehouses and reached frontline medical units on time, and a massive portion of our focus shifted across the ocean - where our teams on the ground in Canada worked the crowd: we launched a new and culturally fascinating arm to the UP family with Frontline Dance Collective; we set up shop at one of the world’s largest Ukrainian festivals - the BWV Toronto Ukrainian Festival; and kept pace with various community events to keep our operations funded and moving.

Behind every box taped, every kilometre driven, and every conversation held on Bloor Street or in a dance studio is a shared refusal to stop. Swipe through to see how September unfolded on the ground.

To keep our supply lines running and our vehicles fuelled for the road ahead, support our operations at ukrainianpatriot.org/donate.

01/10/2026

A lot of what we do comes down to packing boxes, printing labels, and keeping track of cargo. But behind every delivery is a simple goal: getting essential gear into the hands of people who need it.

This month, thanks to our ongoing logistics partnership with Нова пошта , we managed to move another series of critical shipments across the country:

- Coordinated and dispatched a large batch of trench candles made by local volunteers directly to defenders holding positions in the field.

- Delivered a substantial shipment of medical supplies and personal essentials to the military hospital caring for wounded defenders.

- Shipped heavy-duty sleeping bags to an eastern unit we have been supporting for a long time to keep them warm on the line.

Fast and reliable delivery means aid spends less time sitting in a warehouse and more time doing its job out in the field.

Thank you, Гуманітарна Нова пошта for helping us keep the supply lines running and getting these packages to where they belong.

The work continues.

29/09/2026

Sofia is leaving the fleet.

She came to Ukraine in early 2023 with our friend and founding US Board Chair, Dean Furbush. Dean had been with Ukrainian Patriot almost from the beginning. When he first reached out in March 2022, he wanted to come to Ukraine, take boxes off trucks and help feed people. We told him his skills might be better put to use elsewhere. So he helped us build Ukrainian Patriot in the United States instead.

A year later, Dean finally came to Ukraine. He lived at the UP SafeHouse with our volunteers, joined runs to see the work for himself, and brought Sofia with him - a right-hand-drive Mitsubishi L200 that would become part of our fleet.

Dean died suddenly just a few months later. Sofia has been special ever since.

For a long time, Lana was the only person who drove her. Partly because she's a right-hand-drive manual and not exactly the easiest truck to handle. Partly because Dean brought her here, and handing those keys to just anyone wasn't going to happen.
Eventually, Sofia went properly to work. She has carried food, medical supplies and equipment. She has travelled the long roads east with us and done exactly what Dean brought her here to do: be useful. Now it is time for her to leave our fleet.

A few days ago we handed Sofia over for frontline work, where a solid truck matters and where she is needed more than she is with us. There is something very Dean about that ending.

He looked at life like few people do and took very little for granted. He came into Ukrainian Patriot asking where he could be useful. Sofia gets to leave us the same way.

Still useful. Still moving forward.

Support our work: ukrainianpatriot.org/donate

24/09/2026

Sometimes support doesn’t just cross borders - it spans entire oceans. Meet Sarah, whose journey with Ukrainian Patriot is rooted in a long-standing connection to Ukrainian dance and our founder, Lana. When it became clear that the war wasn’t ending quickly, staying on the sidelines was never an option.
Based originally in Canada, Sarah now lives and works across New Zealand and Australia as a Sonographer. And while she traded her traditional red dance boots for running shoes (often she’s found tackling local trails), her dedication to Ukraine remains steadfast.

Working remotely within our development team, Sarah focuses on building strategic partnerships and researching opportunities to keep aid flowing. That drive was deepened when she spent time on the ground in Ukraine last year, witnessing firsthand the scale and impact of the work being done.

"I just know that I have to help out in any way I can," Sarah shares. "Roadblocks occasionally come up, but those small challenges are nothing compared to what Ukrainians are going through."

Swipe through to read more about Sarah’s journey, her day-to-day role, and why she plans to keep supporting the team for as long as it takes.

Thank you, Sarah Srayko, for your persistence, energy, and global dedication.

If you’ve been thinking about bringing your skills and time to our mission - whether you're local or abroad - don't hesitate to reach out!

23/09/2026

A casualty on the road out of a frontline sector does not have the luxury of waiting for ideal conditions. In the back of a bouncing, battered van, surviving massive haemorrhage or a collapsed airway comes down to what is physically inside the responder's kit right at that second.

That is the cold reality behind our Where Seconds Matter campaign.

Field medicine in Ukraine right now is fighting against brutal math: longer evacuation routes due to drone-targeted roads, heavy shrapnel wounds, and severe blast trauma from constant glide bomb and missile strikes. If a combat medic or volunteer driver runs out of certified tourniquets, chest seals, or haemostatic gauze, the distance to the nearest surgical stabilisation point becomes completely insurmountable.

We do not stockpile medical aid in safe central warehouses to take photos with it. Our team procures field-grade trauma gear, verifies its standard, and puts it straight into the hands of frontline medics, unit responders, and volunteer drivers who operate directly under fire. Alongside that gear, we run continuous, intensive TCCC and MARCH protocol certifications so the people holding those kits know exactly how to use them when everything is going wrong around them.

The headlines about this war change daily, but the bleeding does not stop.

Every single donation to the campaign pays for the medical consumables that buy a wounded person thirty more minutes to reach an operating table.

Help us restock the kits and keep our medical supply lines moving: https://ukrainianpatriot.org/where-seconds-matter/

20/09/2026

Last day on Bloor Street.

If you've been meaning to come find us this weekend, today's the day.

Ukrainian Patriot can look very different depending on the week. It can mean navigating difficult roads to deliver fire extinguishers and rations where they're needed. It can mean hauling tonnes of flour back to Kyiv for a partner NGO. And it can mean welcoming children from frontline communities to our Resilience Centre in Shelestyanyi, where they get a week to run outside, make friends, sleep through the night, and simply be kids.

Different work, same team, and all of it takes the practical, everyday funding that keeps Ukrainian Patriot operating.

Today is your last chance to support that work with us here on Bloor Street. Our crew is on the pavement until 7pm so come find us. Ask questions, hear what's happening on the ground, learn where the money goes, get a UP famous frontline hug, and help us keep the work moving.

Location: Bloor West Village, Toronto

Dates: 18 - 20 September

19/09/2026

Day 2 on Bloor.

We're here this weekend raising funds for something that isn't always the easiest thing to put into a photograph: keeping Ukrainian Patriot operating.

Every humanitarian delivery, Resilience Session, medical shipment, camp, and frontline run has a whole lot of work behind it. There are vehicles and fuel, warehouses and logistics, programme costs, equipment, administration, and people coordinating everything from Ukraine and abroad. There are also the unexpected costs that come with working in a country at war, where plans can change very quickly.

None of that is as tangible as handing someone a box of aid or welcoming a child to camp. But without it, those things don't happen.

That's why we're on Bloor Street this weekend. We're raising the practical, everyday funding that gives our team the ability to keep responding, keep running programmes, and keep showing up where we're needed.

If you're in Bloor West Village today, come find us. Meet the team, ask us questions, get a UP famous frontline hug, and learn more about what Ukrainian Patriot is doing on the ground.

And if you'd like to help us keep doing it, we'd be very greatful for that too.

Location: Bloor West Village, Toronto

Dates: 18 - 20 September

18/09/2026

Hey Toronto! Our booth is being set up on Bloor Street, the gear is going on the tables, and the math is very simple… One hoodie bought here this weekend buys diesel for a vehicle running into frontline communities next week. A shirt or a cap covers a round of shelf-stable food and hygiene kits for people sheltering in basements.

When you buy our merch today, you are not buying a souvenir. You are directly paying for the physical cost of moving aid past warehouse bottlenecks and into places where regular supply chains have broken down. Every dollar spent at our table goes straight to the road.
We’re here all weekend. Come through, grab your gear, get a hug, and put your money straight into the fuel tank for the next run.

Location: Bloor West Village, Toronto

Dates: 18 - 20 September

14/09/2026

14/09/2026

This weekend, the floor at Boyan Ukrainian Dance Studio in Saskatoon, Canada was packed for the launch of Ukrainian Patriot’s Frontline Dance Collective: Along with three artistic directors from across the province, forty-five dancers spent the day in the studio. When the body holds the weight of news coming out of Ukraine day after day, finding space for physical release and nervous system regulation is not a luxury. It is maintenance.

The sessions were led by artistic directors Serhij Koroliuk (), Vitali Sorokotiaguine (), and Maksym Zabutnyy (), bringing decades of traditional Ukrainian technique, stage discipline, and contemporary choreography straight into the room. Alongside the floor work, Dr. Kristen Dudeck () ran dedicated sessions on injury prevention, recovery, and active somatic care, setting up her treatment table on-site to work with dancers directly between rehearsals. And our own Lana was there with Postmark Ukraine.

This project exists for a very simple reason: to gather people around movement, keep culture alive through practice rather than nostalgia, and turn that collective energy back into direct support for Ukraine. Thank you to everyone who stepped onto the floor, moved through the fatigue, and made this first session happen.

A sincere thank you to our community partners and donors who backed the launch and covered the logistics: TCU Financial, Sylvia Baran, Mary Holowachuk, Morgan Yaworsky and ALT Hotel, TLC and Friends, and Theresa Hrynkiw.

Our stories this weekend were too good not to keep for posterity, so for those who missed out, we’re highlighting them all over again.

The Saskatoon launch showed what happens when a community commits fully to the work. With event one wrapped, planning for the next city is already underway. If you want to collaborate, host a session, or bring the collective to your town, get in touch with us at [email protected].