The humanitarian team of the Solidarity Collectives has just returned from Kherson Region and is preparing a report for you now. But another one of our trips has not been covered yet. In February, together with our Catalonian comrade from Lluita Internacionalista (UIT-CI), we visited Dobropillia (Donetsk Region) and Zaporizhia.

Dobropillia is a mining monotown. Here we met with the miners’ union and the Donbas branch of the Labor Initiatives, our old partners. From the first days, their office has operated a humanitarian center where both Dobropillia residents and IDPs can receive aid. We brought them a lot of warm clothes (with which our German comrades and Yulia Novobranets helped us), and the Labor Initiatives distributed it among the residents of the neighborhood. And we bought 85 food packages for the families of the military who have been killed in action.

We also bought 79 food packages for the members of the Independent Union of Railway Workers in Zaporizhia. Unfortunately, their income has shrunk considerably since the beginning of the invasion, so even food is significant support for them.

“I used to earn 1,000 euros. Now I get 300,” says Serhiy, a locomotive driver and head of the Union. Her wife, who is responsible for oil supply for trains, makes even less. She received her advance right in the middle of our conversation: it was 40 euros.

This was our third humanitarian trip to working class areas which was made possible thanks to UIT-CI, which we are incredibly grateful for. You can find a detailed account of this trip and an interview with union workers recorded during it at this link.