A year at war. Our support for Ukraine has not changed

• 24 February 2022 mobilised not only Ukrainians, but also Polish people who rushed to help.
• Both UPWr students and university staff were involved in donations, charity events and volunteering.
• The UPWr website provided information on activities related to the situation in Ukraine and the Ukrainian students here
• The collection of seeds organised at UPWr met with an overwhelming response throughout Poland
• Our vets organised a vaccination point for animals at the reception desk at the Wrocław train station
• Power generators, Kevlar helmets or trench candles – donations support both civilians and soldiers on the front
• The war has not interrupted the joint efforts of scientists from Ukrainian and Polish universities
• No one knows exactly what the actual number of victims of this war is

Accommodation for those who crossed the Polish border after Russia's attack on Ukraine, fleeing the war. Clothing, food, seed donations provided help to those who didn’t leave Ukraine. Volunteering at reception points such as the largest one at the Central Railway Station, where up to 7,000 refugees arrived daily in the first days of the war where substantive support was provided by specialists from our veterinary clinic, who at the reception point examined animals arriving in Poland with their owners. Psychological support, assistance in obtaining PESEL numbers and enrolling children in kindergartens and schools. Fundraising events combined with charity performances. Transport with medicine and medical equipment – for civilians, the Ukrainian veterinary service, or dogs searching for mines and explosives.

The list of activities in which employees of the Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences were involved is long, all the more so because, irrespective of the aid organised formally, many of them acted on their own, taking in refugees, being on duty at the railway station, helping out at points where the city of Wroclaw and non-governmental organisations organised the distribution of food, cleaning products and clothing.

Thousands of refugees, hundreds of volunteers

According to Frontex, more than 8 million refugees from Ukraine crossed the Polish border in the first weeks after the Russian attack. According to data from December 2022, more than one million remain in Poland. The majority (around 60 per cent) are women with children, as Ukraine has imposed a ban on the departure of men aged 18-60. Wrocław estimates the number of Ukrainian refugees who have settled in the city and its immediate surroundings at up to 150,000. The authorities of the Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences decided immediately after the outbreak of war to make places available in the dormitories, but also in the Pawłowice palace complex. 104 people found shelter in the student dormitories and the Educational and Development Centre in Pawłowice. A year after the outbreak of war, 21 of them are still living in these facilities.

“The 24th of February 2022 was the most difficult day in our modern history. On that day we woke up in the morning and we have not slept since” – declared President Volodymyr Zelenski

How did we help? 164 UPWr students and staff volunteered. Volunteers donated, collected, arranged, trnsported, informed. But they also translated documents into Ukrainian and Polish, helped with official matters, e.g. when applying for a temporary guardian for minors, applying for a PESEL number, or for assistance benefits. A law was introduced in March 2022, which regulated the rules of refugees' stay in Poland. In addition to being able to obtain a PESEL number, free medical care and schooling was provided. And anyone could apply for money to 'manage' in those first days in a country foreign to most of them.

Everyone was involved in helping. At the Education and Development Centre in Pawłowice, joint efforts were immediately established with the estate council. Clothing food and toy donations were organised. The support, which cannot be counted in tons of food or clothes, was invaluable–- conversations, shared coffees, invitations to each other's homes, finding free sport and cultural offers for Ukrainian children, and free Polish language courses. Gestures big and small, such as collecting pots and pans in the neighbourhood, searching for job offers and arranging job interviews, hiring help for the DS Centaur, helping to enrol children in primary school no. 84 and kindergarten on Gdańska Street, private donations of school supplies, buying medicine, drawing up documents for the National Health Service in order to obtain benefits for disabled children, and then helping to carry out the entire procedure. It is only in the perspective of a year that one can see how many people have become involved in helping refugees and how much they have done and are still doing for them.

All hands on deck

As early as 28 February, just four days after Russia's attack on Ukraine, the first collection was launched – first aid supplies, dressings and medicine were sent to Ukraine. In total, we sent two transports with medical supplies and products necessary for surviving a difficult time, worth nearly 300,000 zloty. One of them went to a hospital in Kiev, the other to the front in Nikolayev. Another donation began on 11 April – for four days, warm clothing, shoes, personal hygiene products and food were collected and distributed to those in need in Ukraine. However, it was clear that it was also necessary to help those who had reached safety in Poland. This donation – a monetary one – was launched on 3 March and lasted over a week. A total of 7183 PLN was collected, and this money was used to provide individual assistance to those in the care of UPWr. Once a week, the food collected consecutively with the support of volunteers was distributed to the refugees from Ukraine who were accommodated at UPWr. They also received a total of 2 tonnes of carrots and potatoes donated by local farmers and fresh eggs – these activities were supported by the staff of the Department of Animal Nutrition and Feed Management

Everyone was helping. The UPWr Students’ Council organised a collection of food and items for animals from Ukraine. The Academic Song and Dance Band "Jedliniok" not only organised the transport of 1.5 tonnes of food, which went to Lviv. They also held a charity performance combined with a fundraising event organised together with a friendly folklore group from Lviv – Veseli Cherevichki. The Ukrainians danced and sang on 5 April - the concert was broadcast online, and they prepared for it in the basement because of the bomb alerts. After the concert, the Ukrainians thanked for the support as follows: "The idea of holding the concert came from  Henryk Brzezicki, and the collaboration of the two bands is an expression of Polish-Ukrainian brotherhood, a clear example of the solidarity of the Polish and Ukrainian people in times of great danger that threatens Ukraine and the entire western world. Our future victory will be a joint victory! We look forward to further fruitful artistic collaboration in more peaceful times on the stages in Lviv and Wroclaw. Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the heroes! To our Polish brothers!".

Information, orders, decisions

Regardless of the physical help, it was clear that reliable information was also important. So in the first days after the outbreak of the war, a tab "Support for students from Ukraine and Belarus" appeared on the UPWr website, containing a guide for refugees and practical information for students – the UPWr Centre for Support and Accessibility provided all students coming from Ukraine and Belarus with 24-hour organisational and psychological support. Another step was creating a page on the UPWr website entitled "Announcements - Ukraine" – here it was possible to find all organisational information for refugees, UPWr students and staff, including donations, transfer to study in Poland, employment offers for researchers in Polish, English and Ukrainian.

On 12 April, the Rector of the Wroclaw University of Environmental and Life Sciences appointed a Commission for evaluating applications for extending the provision of accommodation and meals to Ukrainian citizens. The Commission, which met six times in 2022, also dealt with determining payment rates and accommodation for family members of people staying in UPWr facilities. And importantly – the committee is still in operation.

Seeds for Ukraine

The collection of vegetable seeds for home gardens, which were transported to Ukraine and given to elderly people who had stayed in their homes despite the war, widely echoed throughout Poland. Packets of seeds arrived at UPWr from all over the country, especially since the donation, which was publicised in the media, lasted two months.

The campaign was coordinated by employees of the Department of Landscape Architecture. Prof. Monika Ziemiańska explained in the media and on the UPWr website that the need for it was pointed out by the Ukrainian residents themselves.

–- We’re in contact with university staff in Kiev and many of them have told us that in villages where aid from Poland arrives, elderly people ask for vegetable seeds. This is not only a chance for them to have their own food in the coming months, but a kind of therapy. They will occupy their heads with growing, watering ... something other than thinking about what is going on in their country – said Professor Ziemiańska.

Seeds of popular vegetables were collected, including cucumbers, beetroots, carrots, cabbage, beans, pumpkins, courgettes, parsley, dill, broad beans and spring onions.

Dr. Olgierd Kempa from the Institute of Spatial Management was also involved in the donation. At the end of which, it turned out that there were so many seeds that during the convoy, some of them were given to nuns caring for refugees, residents from the area around the ruined town of Bucza. Others were distributed at the University of Kyiv and sent to areas of Bachmut.

Monetary donations were also organised by the staff of the Institute of Agroecology and Plant Production at UPWr, who assisted in employing refugees from Ukraine, preparing documents for employment and nostrifying doctoral degrees, as well as preparing the project by helping with document work and scientific support in research. This resulted in THE NCN PROGRAM FOR UKRAINE project R-2022/01/3/NZ9/00002 - 'Use of fava bean plants and fodder grasses in intervention fodder production for tuz', and two more were submitted for consideration in competitions: MSCA4Ukraine "Development of a technology for preparing seeds for fodder mixtures as an agronomic strategy in crop production on permanent grassland with water stress", and NCN SONATA "Synergy of chitin preparations and beneficial microorganisms in preparing grassland seeds for the production of innovative forage".

Vets in action

Our vets and veterinary students organised an emergency medical aid and pet supplies point at the railway station in Wrocław. The idea came from the volunteers working there – people arriving in Wrocław by train were not only saving their lives, but also their four-legged friends. The refugees also included dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs... In those first weeks, it was easy to spot Ukrainians on the streets of Wrocław. Many of them had their cat carriers with them and walked with their dogs on a leash, looking around uncertainly in a city that was foreign to them.

Our staff responded to the appeal in a flash – for several weeks, both veterinarians and students were on duty at the station, supported by other volunteers. Thanks to the tremendous commitment of many people, a point was set up at the station – in collaboration with the Voivodeship and District Veterinary Inspectorate and the Lower Silesian Veterinary Chamber – where animals accompanying refugees were given free rabies shots, chipping and vaccinations. The point was staffed by veterinarians from UPWr as well as free-practice doctors from across Lower Silesia.

Employees of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at UPWr, together with volunteers from other countries, worked to organise the transport and transfer of animal donations to representatives of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Lviv in Korczowa, but also collected money to buy the necessary products. They were delivered to the Lviv University and, through it, to the service dogs of the "Merry Chavostki" Foundation and the Dnieper Animal Shelter. The donations were transported by private transport to Lviv.

Employees of the Institute of Spatial Management at  UPWr also organised a support and assistance group for representatives of the National University of Bioresources and Nature Management of Ukraine (NUBiZNU) in Kiev. They arranged transport every 3 weeks with donations including: clothing, food, toiletries, sleeping bags, parcels at Christmas, as well as bulletproof vests, power generator, UPS. 

Helmets, waistcoats, bandages

After the outbreak of war, staff from the UPWr Institute of Spatial Management became involved in helping the staff of the Spatial Management Department of the National University of Natural and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine (NUBiZNU). The donation, which made it possible to send bullet-proof waistcoats, kevlar helmets, bandages, provisions and personal hygiene products for the staff of the Ukrainian university, was initiated by Dr. Olgierd Kempa. The donations were handed over in March – in a convoy of the informal FB group "help Ukraine".

Dr. Irina Kolganova and her son arrived at the student accommodation at UPWr – she was fleeing from the Irpin area, which alongside Bucza has become a symbol of Russian bestiality. Dr Kolganova was employed as a technical staff member at the Institute of Spatial Economy, but returned home in the summer and resumed full-time work at her university. She is currently doing an internship as part of the Prof. Tołpa programme. We also hosted Dr Anaton Koszel's wife with their son and daughter in March 2022. Lesia Koszel was not an employee of the university, so she stayed with friends of the university. She returned to Kiev in autumn of 2022.

The land surveyors of the university also teamed up with Less Mess Storage (Wrocław Bielany) – they worked together to coordinate aid to Ukraine from England. This aid included organising several truckloads of medical equipment, sleeping bags, clothes, hygiene products for the staff of the NUBiZNU Department of Spatial Planning. Two semi-trucks were transported across the Ukrainian border and handed over to the Dean of the Faculty by Dr. Kempa, two more were delivered to Kiev via the FB group "help Ukraine". This group, by the way, proved itself on several occasions by transporting donations collected according to the needs reported by the staff of the Kiev university, or in December by delivering power generators and UPS units for the shelters and dormitories of the NUBiZNU Faculty of Spatial Planning, which were successfully purchased thanks to the Christmas donation organised by Dr. Kempa.

In the early winter of 2022, after a phone call from Professor Anatoly Kolasyuk of Odessa Polytechnic University, a collection of warm clothing and the most necessary items was organised for him – donated with the help of bus drivers travelling to Odessa.

And two days before the anniversary of the war, Grzegorz Skaradziński from the Department of Biotechnology and Food Microbiology posted a thank-you note on the intranet for collecting tins and paraffin for soldiers fighting in Ukraine – a donation supported by UPWr employees was organised by the Foreign Front. Trench candles will go to the trenches, to the defenders of Ukraine.

Still had time for science

In the first days of February, representatives of nine partnering universities of the European EU GREEN consortium inaugurated a project to build and develop joint activities within the alliance. Universities from Ukraine were invited to collaborate – on the initiative of UPWr, representatives of ten universities, including those from Kiev and Lviv, came to Cáceres in Spain. The presence of guests from Ukraine in Spain allowed representatives of Western European countries to look at the ongoing war in the east of the continent in a different way. A significant speech was given by the Vice-Chancellor for Internationalisation of the Taras Shevchenko National University in Kiev, Prof. Ksenia Smyrnova. And during one of the sessions, the conditions for both last-minute collaboration within the year-long INTERACT project, but also long-term partnership after its completion, were established.

This Polish-Ukrainian partnership has been going on for a long time, and the outbreak of war has only made it stronger. Just as the staff of the Institute of Agroecology and Plant Production at UPWr have developed joint projects with Ukrainian scientists, there is ongoing cooperation between veterinary scientists at UPWr and universities from Lviv and Kiev, there are joint lectures and conferences between scientists from the Faculty of Environmental Engineering and Geodesy and professors from the NUBiZNU Faculty of Spatial Management, there are scientific publications in serial papers published by NUBiZNU and the Odessa University of Technology. In March 2022, an online lecture was held on the security of cadastral databases and geodetic maps during the conflict in Ukraine. During the visit of the representatives of NUBiZNU and Lviv Polytechnic in Wrocław, Dr. Kempa held a meeting with the heads of the Institutes of Spatial Management and Geodesy and Geoinformatics, the authorities of the Faculty of VIKSIK and the universities. Forms of further assistance and joint efforts were discussed, including the organisation of internships for Ukrainian students and scientific research. The first team-building meeting was held for a project on land contamination as a result of warfare, and two PhD students from the Kiev University started their internship under the PROM programme.

War in numbers

“The 24th of February 2022 was the most difficult day in our modern history. On that day we woke up and we have not slept since” – declared President Volodymyr Zelenski in a video published on his official website on Friday, the anniversary of the Russian invasion.

The Ukrainian president said, among other things, that on the day of the invasion, Ukrainians "didn't get scared, didn't break and didn't give up. (...) We endured the first day of this full-scale war. We didn't know what tomorrow would hold, but we knew every tomorrow would have to be fought for! And we fought, we scraped out every day".

According to a report by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR), from 24 February 2022 to 9 January 2023, the number of civilian casualties is more than 18,000 - nearly 7,000 people have been killed and more than 11,000 are injured. The actual numbers are much higher than those in the report – fighting has delayed and hampered the reporting of casualties. The majority of civilians were killed as a result of "the use of long-range explosives such as heavy artillery, rockets and air strikes". According to the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine, the Ukrainian authorities have so far registered more than 71,000 cases of Russian war crimes and crimes of aggression. An estimated 143,800 buildings have been destroyed, the most in the Donetsk region. The most damaged towns include Mariupol, Bakhmut, Kherson, Severodonetsk, Popasna, Volnovakha, Soledar, Irpin, Bucha, among others. According to estimates by Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal, the damage caused by Russian aggression amounts to some US0-750 billion. The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces reported that Russia has lost at least 146,000 820 troops since the beginning of the Kremlin's full-scale aggression.

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  We will return to an independent Ukraine

  There are around a hundred students from Ukraine studying at the Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences. On Thursday February 24, 2022, both their lives and those of their fellow citizens changed forever. UPWr students Myroslava Lutsiv, Viktoriia Mygal, Oleksandr Prokopiuk and Yaroslav Yarotnyk talk about the war from their perspective.