'This isn't a war just between the armies,' a Ukrainian volunteer told Newsweek, 'it's a war between the entire societies.'
Ukraine has an underappreciated weapon in its fight against Russia's ongoing war of aggression: a massive volunteer effort aimed at supporting the country's frontline troops and in-need civilians alike.
"For the first few months, I would get messages from guys in the armed forces that there was going to be a delivery, and we organized trucks to pick up," Yakovenko told."The military didn't have the logistical networks in place to move everything it was suddenly receiving, but civilian companies like ours were ready to get the job done free of charge."
After spending nearly two decades fostering start-up technology companies in Ukraine, French investor Jean-Christophe Bonis has taken up the cause of humanitarian aid. In the weeks after February 24, he set up a non-profit organization, Team4UA by HIT, which helped evacuate over 100,000 Ukrainian refugees before transitioning to the provision of food and medical aid for those who remained in their homes.
"Everything I did investing here for two decades, it helped build up the network I'm using now," he said."It's the horizontal connections in Ukrainian society that allowed the country to come together so quickly and coordinate a society-wide response, and it's Ukraine's integration into the Western world which has allowed it to attract and to utilize so much assistance from abroad.
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