By KYIV. Jan 6 (Interfax-Ukraine) – SCM, the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation and the Shakhtar football club donated UAH 4.3 billion to help Ukraine and people during the 10 months of the war, thus reaching more than 18 million Ukrainians in need, including over 3.5 million who survived thanks to this assistance..
According to a SCM press release, from the first day of Russia’s full-scale invasion, Rinat Akhmetov’s businesses and initiatives have been supporting the government, military, and civilians to help Ukraine withstand and win, and help Ukrainians save their lives and survive.
Each of Rinat Akhmetov’s businesses and projects provides assistance on its front: protective gear, machinery, and equipment to the Ukrainian Defenсe Forces; food packages, medicines, and other humanitarian supplies to civilians; efforts to ensure the operation of critical services and infrastructure.
The assistance to Ukrainian defenders is provided primarily as part of Rinat Akhmetov’s Steel Front military project. The initiative donates body armour, vehicles, drones, special technical equipment (thermal imagers, range finders, cameras, etc.), fortification structures, clothes and footwear, first-aid kits, emergency tourniquets, two-way radios, fuel, and other devices and essentials needed by the military – hundreds of thousands of pieces in total.
In particular, Metinvest has developed and mass-produces dugout shelters for our combatants. The capsules can withstand hits even from artillery shells. Almost 70 shelters have already been handed over to the Armed Forces of Ukraine. As cold weather moved in, our businesses started manufacturing critically needed field stoves. Over the past month alone, Ukrainian soldiers received more than 400 potbelly stoves.
Supporting Ukraine’s critical infrastructure, in particular, energy and telecommunications facilities, is yet another important area. Despite the constant shelling (the Russian troops have already launched more than 20 terrorist attacks on DTEK’s energy facilities), the company is making every effort to bring the light back on to Ukrainian households, including those in the liberated areas.
DTEK has restored power supply to 6.5 million families since February 24, 2022. Ukrtelecom is doing everything it can for Ukrainians to access communication services even amid power cuts. Thus, Internet services are available in 87% of Ukrainian settlements covered by the company’s network (except Luhansk region and part of Kherson region), and 60% of Ukrtelecom’s subscribers already enjoy Internet connectivity, which is independent of rolling or emergency electricity shutdowns.
Rinat Akhmetov’s businesses and projects provide systemwide assistance to civilians, mostly in the frontline areas and liberated territories. The vulnerable, the internally displaced, including evacuated employees of SCM’s companies and their families, receive food packages, essentials (clothes, household items, etc.), and medicines. In addition, the businesses arrange bomb shelters, provide accommodation, electricity, and water to people, help hospitals, and provide other assistance in the cities and towns where they operate. They also support local administrations and utility services: from providing fuel up to personal safety equipment and clothing for employees. Thousands of IDPs have already been employed by SCM businesses.
The Rinat Akhmetov Foundationhas donated hundreds of thousands of medicines and food packages to Ukrainians, as well as tens of thousands of blood collection bags to enable thousands of blood transfusions. By the decision of Rinat Akhmetov, 800,000 food packages will be handed over to Ukrainians.
The Rinat Akhmetov Foundation is the founder of the Museum of Civilian Voices, the biggest archive of Ukrainian eyewitness accounts of the Russian war, which has now more than 50,000 witness testimonies of the war-affected people. The Saving Lives initiative rolled out by SCM’s businesses has brought humanitarian aid to more than 320,000 people in the front-line areas. The project has developed a programme for prosthetics treatment and rehabilitation of the wounded Ukrainian soldiers and civilians.
Also, the Unbreakable Mom programme has completed its first phase. This joint project is devised to improve the emotional well-being of Ukrainian women. The rehabilitation programme phase has covered the first 140 women who are Metinvest’s female employees and wives of Metinvest’s employees who had psychological trauma caused by their experiences, as well as their children who were affected by the war.
FC Shakhtar and The European Football for Development Network continue the European Football Powers Up Ukraine project, a campaign to source and deliver generators for Ukrainians. Its goal is to send at least 160 generators to Ukraine. Shakhtar’s Shelter Centre has been hosting IDPs from frontline areas at Arena Lviv stadium since spring 2022. Moreover, the club supports athletes, IDPs, and Ukrainian defenders. The President of Ukraine and United24 national fundraising platform have highly commended the club’s significant contribution to support Ukraine.
