A grocery store owner in Rome is struggling to find space for an influx of food, medicine and clothing for people in Ukraine, while at the country’s Polish border, Spanish chef Jose Andres feeds families seeking refuge from Russia’s invasion.
Czech children write notes of encouragement and pack them inside donated sleeping bags, a Polish optician is offering free eyeglasses, and a watch dealer in Milan is giving the proceeds from an auction of a vintage Russian timepiece to help Ukraine.
Across the world, private citizens have rallied to the country’s side, seeking ways to show solidarity as war intensifies in the nation of 44 million people.
After the initial shock of the full-scale invasion, support has been further driven by revulsion at civilian deaths, including children. European officials have warned of an impending humanitarian disaster as the Kremlin steps up its offensive.
Host4Ukraine.com, a site offering free housing to Ukrainians, went live on Saturday and hundreds of people have since offered beds, rooms and in some cases entire apartments. Germany is the top location, with Finland second. But listings are located as far away as Australia, Ecuador and Florida.
“What we saw is that accommodation is by far the most sought-after thing,” said Nils Bischoff, one of the initiators of the project, which is based out of Bremen, Germany. “It’s like Airbnb, where people can help people.”
A similar platform sprung up in Romania, where refugees.ro lists more than 1,500 offers of shelter and over 500 offers of food.
Around 660,000 people have fled Ukraine to neighboring countries in the past six days, putting the exodus on track to become Europe’s largest refugee crisis this century, according to the United Nations.
In Rome, where there’s a large community of Ukrainian migrants, Halyna Pryshlyakivska’s three shops have become an unofficial depot for donations.
“We have been so inundated with offers that we had to find a shed to store all the goods,” said the 47-year-old, who has been based in Italy since 1999. “A bus loaded with basic supplies arrived in Ukraine last Sunday and came back yesterday with dozens of mothers and children.”
The outpouring is fueled by a Ukrainian diaspora. In the decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union, hundreds of thousands left the country for better prospects elsewhere in Europe.
Aside from Italy, there are large Ukrainian communities in Spain, Germany and the Czech Republic as well as neighboring Poland. Meanwhile, Russia’s migrants on the continent are more concentrated, with about a third in Germany, according to Eurostat data.
Jakub Pawlak, an entrepreneur from western Poland, got together with friends to help Ukrainian families on the first day of the invasion last week, announcing on his Facebook page that he was collecting money and basic necessities to help families settle in his area.
“The response from the people around me was incredibly positive,” he said. “It was much bigger than I expected.”
Almost 30 people are set to be staying in apartments offered by local residents in the vicinity of Odolanow, a town about a six-hour drive from the border.
The amount of aid arriving in the Polish town of Przemysl — less than 10 miles from the busiest crossing of Medyka — prompted the mayor to ask for further deliveries be halted for now.
In the shadow of Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate, a research foundation opened its exhibition space to collect everything from food and clothing to bullet-proof vests and bandages.
“It is a kind of despair, at the same time you admire the Ukrainians for this incredibly heroic struggle,” said Patryk Szostak, spokesman for the Pilecki Institute. “You just have to do something now, even if the whole thing is incredibly depressing.”
In Bulgaria, a group of tech entrepreneurs started a network to coordinate efforts to help transportation and relocation efforts. Over the past 48 hours, as many as 1,000 Ukrainians have signed up to seek assistance.
Bogdan Tanasa — head of Casa Share, an organization that builds houses for poor people in Romania — has transported hundreds of refugees from the Ukraine border to safe shelters.
“When I tried to offer a toy to a Ukrainian child, he told me that he has many toys at home and that his father will bring them to him,” he said on his Facebook page. “My heart stopped because I knew his father went to fight against the Russians.”
