Since the beginning of the full-scale armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine, the Ukrainian people and the world community have had many surprises and reasons for wonder and sometimes admiration. Ukrainians turned out to be more united, resilient, and ready to defend their Motherland than it seemed until February 24, 2022.
From the first days of the Russian invasion, long queues of people willing to protect their country with weapons in hand lined up at military commissariats and territorial defense centers. For almost two months now, the Ukrainian military has been heroically resisting the numerous armed assaults of the Russian army, demonstrating true courage every day.
Who do not directly participate in military?
Civilian Ukrainians who do not directly participate in military operations find opportunities to accelerate Ukraine’s victory in their way. Even older adults and children collect funds for the army’s needs, weave camouflage nets, sew reliefs, cook food and perform a thousand and one other jobs.
Information and IT “armies” have united thousands of Ukrainians to counter Russian propaganda and cyber-aggression efforts. Volunteers organize and coordinate an unprecedented volume of deliveries of humanitarian goods, evacuation of the civilian population, and rescue of animals – day and night, without days, off, under bombings, and shelling.
Ukrainian business representatives
Ukrainian business representatives also contribute to the victory of our country every day. By the very fact of their work, they create a foundation for the economic stability of Ukraine today and in the future. Some companies have focused all their business efforts on helping Ukraine in all possible work areas.
An example of this approach is the Astraea company. The manufacturer of spring mineral water under the VODA UA brand did not stop work after the invasion of Russian troops into Ukraine, but increased activity, despite the shock that prevailed in the market.
As the twenty-sixth US president,
Theodore Roosevelt, said, do what you can with what you have, where you are. This approach is ideally suited to emergencies where there are risks of maximum criticality and decisions must be made under conditions of high uncertainty. This is exactly the situation Ukraine found itself in on February 24, 2022, – recalls Eduard Lozovskyi, general industrial and commercial manager in the company’s public catering field “Astreya.” – That’s how we acted.
We analyzed the point where we found ourselves – in a situation where events are unfolding at maximum speed, and we need to act not just today but the day before yesterday. We also appreciated what we had. They made an inventory of resources – warehouse stocks, finances, personnel, transport, etc. And we began to do what was in our power as quickly as possible to bring the victory of Ukraine closer.”
On February 24, the Russian offensive on Ukraine began. On February 26, the company’s drivers and fleet were involved in territorial defense and did everything possible for the security of territorial communities. And already, on February 28, the company “Astreya” opened the doors of its warehouses for those who needed clean drinking water.
Conclusion
“Helping is easier than it seems. Organized everything as simple as possible for those who needed help, although it looked like sheer horror for professional managers – comments Eduard Lozovskyi. – Those who needed help called or contacted our coordinators through messengers, came to the warehouse at the agreed time, and took as many boxes as needed.
We shipped, without exaggeration, tons of goods worth more than three million hryvnias for volunteer organizations, bomb shelters, medical institutions, orphanages, animal shelters, centers for helping displaced people, and, of course, for the Ukrainian army.
Was it difficult? I am sure that inactivity and confusion would be more difficult psychologically for the whole team. We acted – and this gave us the strength to work an unreal number of hours daily. Over time, this tactic made it possible to rebuild logistics chains, improve processes, find new sales channels – thanks to this, save jobs, pay taxes and continue to help the country.”