Olena Blyednova moved with her daughter from Kharkiv to New York seven years ago. Then, the Russian full-scale invasion started. Olena started volunteering in the USA, and her daughter returned to Ukraine and started managing memberships for Hromadaske, one of the leading Ukrainian media outlets.
Now, Olena regularly attends pro-Ukraine rallies, participates in the cultural life of the Ukrainian community in New York, creates sand animation for children, and supports volunteers in Ukraine.
How did you start volunteering?
Like many Ukrainians abroad, we were trying to figure out how to help in early 2022. Friends spontaneously organized small groups, sending bags of essentials to volunteers who had joined the fight. Everyone has a connection to Ukraine — family, friends, classmates. We all felt a responsibility.
At first, we sent basic gear like boots, helmets, tourniquets and other medical supplies. Soon after, people began collecting aid for civilians: hygiene items, diapers, and food. Ukrainian shipping services in New York and New Jersey, like Wex, Dnipro, Meest, and Express Ukraine needed extra hands to manage the overwhelming volume. We decided to help.
Later, our group partnered with the non-profit Razom for Ukraine. Meest provided warehouse space where we assembled medical kits for the frontlines.
My husband and I became warehouse coordinators. Dozens of volunteers came each weekend, sometimes up to 40 people, working 5-6 hours.
We set up makeshift assembly lines using pallets as tables, passing items down the line: tourniquets, bandages, emergency blankets, markers — kit after kit, box after box.
Over time, we also began assembling tactical medical backpacks for combat medics. These were heavy, up to 20 kg, packed with essential supplies like splints, trauma tools, and medications.
In March, we also started shipping body armor. Met a group of volunteers coordinating luggage-based deliveries to Ukraine at Newark Airport. At first, it was just 150–160 bags. Polish Airlines helped transport them. As shipments grew, we needed better organization: documents, customs declarations, and logistics. I helped coordinate all of that.
We relied on everyday travelers. Green card holders, citizens, and visitors just agreed to carry bags to Poland and Ukraine: Warsaw, Krakow, Zhytomyr. We organized everything through Facebook groups and spreadsheets. Volunteers signed up, we labeled bags, and a driver packed them up into a van. They went to Lviv, got sorted and distributed to recipients.
We did this for over two years. Eventually, larger organizations began shipping in containers, and restrictions increased — weight limits, baggage fees, customs rules. We adapted.
We jokingly called our initiative the “People’s Lend-Lease”.
One volunteer said, “We’re like ants: gathering, organizing, delivering.” That’s exactly how it felt. A huge, self-organized community that simply made things happen.
Were there any funny or memorable stories that happened along the way?
Once at the airport, an American guy got really caught up watching our usual bag-drop process. He was sitting there with his luggage, completely mesmerized by how smoothly we worked. Bag after bag, person after person. At some point, we accidentally placed his suitcase along with the others in our queue!
When I started writing down the tracking numbers, he suddenly said, “Hey, you took my bag!” All of us burst out laughing. He said, “I got so inspired watching you Ukrainians work together like this. Completely zoned out, and the next thing I knew, my bag was already lined up with yours!”
It was such a heartwarming moment.
Do you help people in Kharkiv specifically?
Ah, Kharkiv (Olena takes a deep breath). Since the start of the war, so much has happened. I graduated from the university’s Radio Physics Department. Kharkiv oblast is home to many STEM specialists. I also have close friends in Piatykhatky (a suburban village just next to Kharkiv that frequently suffered from Russian air raids — ed.).
I found local Ukrainian organizations that could send aid directly to Kharkiv, mostly for civilians. Sent bulletproof vests, too. Some of them came from American police departments. Ukraine’s reconnaissance units used them to reinforce vehicles and for personal protection.
We supported Ukrainian volunteers who evacuated civilians from across the Kharkiv region and kept sending supplies like medical aid, straw mats, and other essentials. Organized children’s art contests with locals and sent puzzles, art kits, and other small prizes.
When I visited the city, we held events for displaced children and schools in Piatykhatky and Malynivka. I led sand animation workshops and taught local instructors how to use sand art to work with kids.
We also sent several large boxes with roller skates and skateboards for children in Kharkiv, to give them something joyful to do during the summer.
You were in Kharkiv after the Russian invasion. How did you feel?
Kharkiv has changed.
What struck me the most when I visited was how few children I saw outside.
There were hardly any grandparents, and no kids with backpacks heading to clubs or sports practice in the afternoon like before. Some mothers walk with their children, but still… It felt noticeably different.
On the other hand, Kharkiv is clean and alive. In spring, the city blooms with tulips. It’s beautiful and powerful. The clean-up crews are quick after every missile strike. But many buildings, especially in Saltivka and other districts, still have their windows boarded up. That’s hard to look at.
Kharkiv also feels empty without its students, especially the international ones. There used to be so many of them. Now, I don’t see them at all.
It’s strange. When you go to Kyiv or even abroad now and see international students again, you suddenly realize how much that used to be a part of everyday life. It’s a bit of a culture shock, something you didn’t even know you’d gotten used to until it was gone.
How has the situation changed since Trump took office?
Many Republicans actually support Ukraine. They’re conservative, but in a good way. Some of them don’t agree with Trump’s policies, either domestic or foreign. Of course, I can’t speak for everyone. I mostly interact with a certain circle, and I read and hear things, but I can’t generalize.
Around election time, Ukrainian Americans were urging each other to think carefully about who to vote for, even in places like Brooklyn, where the community is large but spread out. We don’t always talk about politics openly.
Many Ukrainian immigrants aren’t citizens yet and can’t vote. But back then, people said, “Please, think carefully. Democrats might be too liberal or seen as weak, but they still provide support. If Trump returns, it’s completely unpredictable. That help might stop.”
After the results, many said it was a wake-up call for Democrats to get organized and find a real leader.
Honestly, from my perspective, it’s surprising that a country as strong as the US, a country that sees itself as a global leader, “the world’s policeman,” can’t produce a clear, worthy leader, whether Republican or Democrat. Where is that person?
We need real leadership. People need direction. We’re all human, flawed, and distracted, and we need someone who inspires, motivates, and helps society evolve and make better choices.
What would you want for the Ukrainian community in New York?
We absolutely need unity. When the war began, the shock brought us together in a powerful way. The sense of solidarity was incredible.
But over time, things started to shift — small competitions, disagreements, misunderstandings. Some teams and organizations began to fall apart.
There was criticism, division. It’s not surprising. It’s part of human history: first we unite, then we drift apart. That’s part of growth. But still, unity is essential.
Hi, this is Nazar. I wrote this article to tell you how Kharkiv locals and Ukrainians in general live abroad, and I am very grateful to Olena for this conversation. If you want to see more human stories from Gwara, please subscribe to our Buy Me a Coffee and Patreon.
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