Let’s Power Up Ukraine Together!
As Canadians huddle in our warm homes during these bitter winter months, millions of Ukrainians face their most challenging year yet for their energy system. While we casually flip switches to light our rooms and turn up thermostats when the chill creeps in, Ukraine has endured 13 massive attacks on its energy infrastructure in 2024 alone, with Russia launching nightly drone strikes and combining these with various types of missiles during more extensive assaults. On Christmas Day alone, Russia launched a devastating attack using 78 missiles and 106 combat drones, leaving countless families in darkness and freezing temperatures.
The scale of destruction in 2024 has been unprecedented, with Ukraine losing 9 gigawatts of power generation capacity – enough to power millions of homes. Since October 2022, Russia has carried out over a thousand strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure, with attacks intensifying and becoming more sophisticated. Picture your own family trying to survive winter nights without heat, where temperatures plummet well below freezing. This is not a hypothetical scenario – this is the daily reality for millions of Ukrainians who are showing incredible resilience in the face of these challenges.
Ukrainian energy workers are fighting a heroic battle. They work around the clock to maintain and repair critical infrastructure under constant threat of attacks. While we rely on electricity to power our daily lives in Canada—from brewing our morning coffee to keeping our phones charged for emergency calls—these dedicated workers risk their lives to ensure that Ukrainians can maintain some semblance of normal life. Thanks to their tireless efforts, Ukraine’s energy system remains intact. Despite the relentless attacks, it continues providing electricity to essential services and heat to consumers with great limitations.
The time to act is now—the CUF-UCC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal “Power Up Campaign” ends on January 12th. With just five days remaining, your support is crucial in providing essential power equipment, generators, critical infrastructure, and essential services to the most vulnerable Ukrainian communities. Together, we can help keep the lights on in Ukraine when they need it most! Remember: The Government of Canada has extended the deadline for charitable tax receipts for the 2024 tax year. Your donation today will be eligible for a tax receipt that can be used for your 2024 tax filing.
Background
CUF-UCC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal has been established jointly by the Canada-Ukraine Foundation (CUF) and the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC) to formalize a coordinated approach in providing humanitarian assistance quickly and efficiently to those in need in Ukraine to address any further aggression by Russia. The main efforts of cooperation are to provide humanitarian relief in the areas of assistance to displaced persons, medical care, emergency shelter and food security.