Victor Tregubov: Are you a foreigner who wants to help Ukraine? Here’s how

Editor’s Note: Victor Tregubov is a Ukrainian columnist, political blogger and the former editor-in-chief of Petr and Mazepa online news outlet. He is also a co-founder of the Democratic Axe (Demokratychna Sokyra) political party.

Some foreign friends have asked what they can do for Ukrainians, to help us survive this struggle.

For normal people rather than influential politicians there are still many ways. Here are a few:

1. Share our news.

Knowledge is power. Our adversary in the Kremlin made disinformation one of his primary weapons. His media, Sputnik and RT, are responsible for widespread disinformation: during the first stage of our war, which began in 2014, it was hard for us to prove the war was real, and a result of Russian aggression rather than some internal civil conflict.

We don’t have powerful international TV assets, but I can recommend some resources for real information about our war.

• The Kyiv Independent - a Ukrainian newspaper for an English-language audience

• Ukrinform - A Ukrainian info agency with a multilingual site

• Liga.net - Another info agency with English-language coverage

• InformNapalm - A collection  of open source investigations with many insights.

2. Join pro-Ukrainian rallies if there are any in your region.

Try to find your local Internet communities of Ukrainian nationals – I think they will be glad to instruct you. These rallies create essential leverage, making it harder for politicians to ignore Russia’s aggression.

3. Refer international journalists to Ukrainians on the ground.

You can inspire them to talk with Ukrainians. If they ask you for a contact, you can name me. My name is Victor Tregubov; I’m a former journalist, political activist, and now an officer in the Ukrainian Armed Forces. I also suggest you contact Liubov Tsybulska, the head of the Ukrainian Center of Strategic Communications and Information Security or any other Ukrainian you find trustworthy.

My contacts: +380509772445, [email protected]

Liubov Tsybulska’s contacts: +380673770354.

4. Donate money.

Our National Bank created an account for this purpose. It is open for funds transfers from any donor.

For donations in USD:

SWIFT Code NBU: NBUA UA UX

JP MORGAN CHASE BANK, New York

SWIFT Code: CHASUS33

Account: 400807238

383 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10179, USA

Bank account: UA843000010000000047330992708

For donations in GBP:

SWIFT Code NBU: NBUA UA UX

Bank of England, London

SWIFT Code: BKENGB2L

Account: 40000982

Threadneedle Street, London EC2R 8AH, UK

Bank account: UA843000010000000047330992708

For donations in EUR:

SWIFT Code NBU: NBUA UA UX

DEUTSCHE BUNDESBANK, Frankfurt

SWIFT Code: MARKDEFF

Account: 5040040066

IBAN DE05504000005040040066

Wilhelm-Epsteinn-Strabe 14, 60431 Frankfurt Am Main,Germany

Bank account: UA843000010000000047330992708

You could also find the bank account details for other currencies on the National Bank of Ukraine website.

5. Help Ukrainian refugees.

Many who couldn’t fight were forced to leave our country. Some of these refugees may be in your area. Please help them while we’re fighting to save our country so they can return.

6. If you are eager to fight – that’s also possible.

According to a Regulation on Military Service in the Armed Forces of Ukraine, approved by a decree of the President of Ukraine in 2016, foreigners have the right to join the Armed Forces of Ukraine on a voluntary basis. A separate subdivision is being formed of foreigners who wish to serve in the International Legion for the Territorial Defense of Ukraine. There is no greater contribution you can make for the sake of peace.

For enrollment and other details, please contact the Defense Attaché of the Embassy of Ukraine in your country (contact information available on embassy websites).

Unfortunately, for now, the site of Ukraine's Foreign Ministry and sites and e-mail servers of embassies are down. The surest way to find their contacts is Facebook pages of Embassies - use Facebook search to find the relevant one.

Thank you! We’re fighting for our future, for your future, for the future of the free world against blatant cynicism and unprovoked aggression. Any help is appreciated! Join this fight!