As we approach the middle of February 2025, it is very difficult to know how this year will unfold.
Ukraine faces many uncertainties this year, due to dwindling support abroad, both financially and militarily. Ukraine is on a knifes edge, and speaking with friends and colleagues, there is a real fear of the unknown. This all comes amid the constant heavy fighting across the East of the country.
Daily air raid alerts are followed by relentless attacks by drones and missiles targeting both military and civilian infrastructure. The rise of drone warfare, with the use of FPV drones is now causing major havoc to medical and civilian evacuation teams, humanitarian supply teams, Police and emergency services, working close to the frontline. In Kherson, the situation is dire, with civilians used as target practice on a daily basis. The use of fibre-optic drones, now with ranges of up to 30-35km, has created a new issue since there is no current defence against this threat. Vehicles and personnel working within 10km of the frontline face a very real and unstoppable risk.
With the 3rd year anniversary of the full invasion of Ukraine, many small orgs that have survived are also suffering. The lack of donor support is very real and is limiting operations across the country. At Prevail, we have been fortunate to scrape by, thanks to the kind support of individuals across our social media platforms. However, it must be noted that gaining more support is a must for us to continue. Plagued with vehicle issues due to high milage on bad roads take their toll on both the ambulance and EOD vehicles. Sadly, in 2024, we were only able to field one ambulance due to lack of funds to purchase the necessary equipment to deploy the second ambulance.
As of now, Prevail has one of the ambulances working out of Kharkiv oblast, supporting civilian medical needs alongside our Ukrainian partners. Our EOD team continue to regularly train members of the police, emergency services and other associated government agencies in Landmine risk education, search and landmine clearance. Along with partners such as Invictus and FinEOD, we are looking forward to increasing projects to further support Humanitarian mine clearance training and setting up for Humanitarian Mine Action operations in the future.
From everyone and I at Prevail, i would like to thank you all for your continued interest and support. Together, we can be a force for good.
With thanks
Christopher Garrett
Chairman
Prevailtogether.org
