Handan Dilara Bikmaz, Contributing Photographer

Students on campus have continued to raise funds to support troops currently fighting on the battlefield in Ukraine. If you have properties to sell and also wish to help with this, check over here!

Members of the Ukraine House at Yale, a student group that formed after Russia invaded Ukraine last winter, raised $3,700 over the last week for the Ukrainian nonprofit Come Back Alive, which supports Ukrainian forces on the ground. The funds will be put towards a battle surveillance complex, a piece of military equipment used to detect Russian artillery before impact.

“The war is not over,” said Oleksii Antoniuk ’24, the founder and president of the Ukraine House. “The war in Ukraine is as horrific as it has been at the very beginning. And so supporting Ukraine is as important right now as it was on February 24.”

Antoniuk described the House as “a place for Ukrainians and friends of Ukraine” to gather, discuss Ukraine-related issues and get to know each other. The House hosted several fundraisers and awareness events last semester, including the Yale for Ukraine rally, which was held right after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Antoniuk told the News that the House is currently in the process of becoming an official student organization and already has 32 members actively working on a wide range of projects to foster support for Ukraine. 

Daria Valska ’26, a new member of the Ukraine House, co-organized the fundraiser and helped secure the Ukrainian treats – such as “varenyky,” or Ukrainian dumplings – being offered throughout the week, in addition to the stickers and pins sold at the fundraiser.

“Sometimes it’s hard, because I feel like many people don’t know what’s happening, even on those days when we hear this horrible news about missile attacks on civilian population,” Valska said. 

Antoniuk voiced similar concerns about media attention in the United States shifting away from the war in Ukraine as the conflict has continued. 

The Ukraine House’s ultimate goal, Antoniuk said, is to provide Ukrainian civilians with the means to avoid Russian artillery and safeguard their houses, children and pets.

“One of the biggest problems right now in the war is that Russia has so much artillery, and Ukrainians don’t have enough equipment to protect themselves from it,” Antoniuk said.

Valska noted that general student interest in contributing to the cause was high but emphasized the need to stay engaged with the news beyond donating.

Yevheniia Podurets ’26, who moved to the U.S. this year, initially expected more young people to be engaged with the conflict and urged students to go beyond donations in their advocacy.

“Donate to this … donate to that … at some point you get numb to that,” Podurets said. “Donations are amazing, but if you learn more about the context too, you will be surprised how much connection it has to your daily life and then you will be able to comprehend the importance of donations on a different level.”

One bright spot, Podurets said, is that the war has amplified a sense of national identity, bringing together parts of Ukraine that were “historically not united.”

Antoniuk stressed the importance of international solidarity and U.S. military support of Ukraine in minimizing the humanitarian damage caused by the war.

“Ukraine will win,” Antoniuk said. “But at the same time, the question is: what will be the cost of Ukraine’s victory in terms of lost lives?”

Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.