Palo Alto residents rally to assist Ukraine as war drags on highlights how our community continues to show up for Ukraine with urgency and heart. Through the leadership and dedication of volunteers like Anna and Olga, and with the support of local partners including Kathy Torgerson, Palo Alto residents are turning concern into action by raising funds, gathering supplies, and sustaining aid as the war continues. This story reflects the collective effort behind Assist Ukraine and our steadfast commitment to stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes.

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Writing in The Washington Post, Anna Husarska a close friend of ours, says:

“My colleague Olga Shpak from the nongovernmental organization Assist Ukraine has drone experience because as a PhD in marine biology she often filmed orcas and other whales. She and I have discussed the utility of “setkomets” — nets dropped by drones to trap enemy attack drones, not unlike a net Nabokov might have used to catch butterflies.”

Here is the full text of her article:

Writing in The Washington Post, Anna Husarska, a close friend of ours, says:

Since the full-scale Russian invasion, I have frequently traveled to the parts [of Donbas] still held by Ukraine, delivering medical supplies and cars alongside the humanitarian group Assist Ukraine. This week, I am making my 32nd car delivery. Here is the full text of her article:

Anna Husarska, a close friend of ours contributed an article to The Washington Post after she accompanied Assist Ukraine on a field trip. She writes: In Kharkiv, I drove to the cemetery and filmed some footage. There seem to be twice as many graves of killed soldiers as I saw there exactly a year ago. I started reading the names, dates of birth and death, calculating ages, looking at the faces — but it was too much. I wish someone in the [US} administration would look at my video and ask themselves, “How many more graves will there be next year if we keep Ukraine from fighting back?”

Here is the full text of her article:

Writing in The Washington Post, Anna Husarska, a close friend of ours, says:

Standing on the city’s empty Freedom Square, my friend Olga Shpak — a volunteer with Assist Ukraine — and I were weighing what the possible scenarios mean for Ukraine. […] Over the next few days, I traveled north of Kharkiv toward the Russian border, south to Kramatorsk and Kostiantynivka and then to Kyiv, speaking with Ukrainians about what they consider a betrayal of the U.S. promise to help for “as long as it takes.” They did not attempt to be diplomatic; they were bitter, sad and worried. But they were not giving up.

Here is the full text of her article: