After a delayed departure for Cincinnati, Konstantine Bashkirov, President of the KRC and Member of the Ukrainian Red Cross Board, and Tatiana Zima, Executive Director of the Kharkiv Red Cross arrived in Cincinnati to say thanks for the support it has received and to conduct research on a Rehabilitation Center which they plan to establish after the war.  

Their schedule connected them with the following agencies and organizations:

• The Cincinnati Red Cross

• Veterans Hospital Physical Therapy Department

• Veterans Hospital program for treating post traumatic stress disorder

• School Psychologist with experience working with children who have suffered trauma

The Red Cross Leadership Team met with representatives of our community

• Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval and Vice Mayor Jan-Michelle Kearney

• The Rotary Club of Cincinnati

• Friends of CKSCP prepared to help with the rebuilding of Kharkiv

The local media provided a glimpse of the work they are doing in Kharkiv.

• WKRC - Kharkiv Red Cross team visits Cincinnati to thank donors, learn about PTSD treatment

• WVXU - As the war in Ukraine continues, Cincinnati's sister city Kharkiv needs help

• WLW -  Red Cross leaders from Cincinnati sister city, Kharkiv, speak on war in Ukraine, life afterwards

• The Cincinnati Enquirer - 'We felt like we're not alone': Cincinnati donation helps thousands in Ukraine.

Their visit was also an opportunity to say thanks to the people of Cincinnat who stand with them and support them as they provide humanitarian assistance to those still in Kharkiv.

From the bottom of our hearts, Thank You!

The Kharkiv Red Cross and the 72 Hour Fund Drives exceeded our goals. We can't thank you enough for contributing to the cause.  Humanitarian aid is being delivered to the people of Kharkiv and throughout Ukraine.  Several small towns around Kharkiv are receiving generators that will enable the hospital to operate and the local governments to provide services.  Your donation has made and will continue to make a difference in the lives of many.   See the letter below.

CKSCP continues to support, through humanitarian relief, the citizens of the Kharkiv region.  If you wish to donate to CKSCP, please send your donation to this address.

Cincinnati-Kharkiv Sister City Partnership
441 Vine Street, Suite 3620 Cincinnati, Oh 45202              Click here for additional updates.

Report from Konstantin  Bashkirov, Head of the Kharkiv Red Cross

Dear Bob Herring, President of the Cincinnati-Kharkiv Sister City Partnership

Kharkiv Red Cross, our volunteers and all citizens of our city are extremely grateful for everything you have done for our city.  Without your help the state of the people's lives would be much grimmer.  Our joint work really managed to tip the scales in favor of people in dire need.  Your helping hand came just in time for thousands of people to weather the storm.  We are giving you a report so that you can see how much goodness was made thanks to your assistance.

We received $117,584 USD that was converted to ₴3,439,913 Hryvnia.
Dollar figures provided below are approximate.

• ₴20,000 ( USD $676)  - insurance payments for two volunteers that got under shelling while delivering crucial aid to the North Saltivka Kharkiv region.  This episode was horrifying for Kharkiv Red Cross.  Thanks to their insurance, both volunteers have recovered.

• ₴98,700 (USD $3,339) - used to fix the car of the two brave volunteers that got insured.  Now they are using it to provide help to more people in the most desperate places in Kharkiv and its outskirts

• ₴6835 (USD $216) used to get a rare medicine Humira for a sick 9 year old girl who desperately needed this treatment.  Now she is in a safe place outside Kharkiv recovering and enjoying her childhood.

• ₴1,758,482 (USD $59,489) used to buy the most vital medicines.  Most of the pharmacies have been destroyed or closed.  People had to rely on the Red Cross to get medicine they can't live without.  That includes blood pressure meds, diabetes meds, meds for cardio, antibiotics, painkillers and hundreds of others.  Most of these meds are not expensive but they are lifesaving for thousands of sick and elderly citizens of Kharkiv.

• ₴1,306,345 (USD $44,193) used to buy food.  People had to stay in shelters for more than two months.   With groceries and markets closed or burnt and no jobs, Kharkiv was extremely close to a famine.  Our food deliveries have managed to help more than 210,000 people.  The most damaged regions of the city, like Saltivka, HTZ, Industrialny, Zhukovskogo set, Vostochniy set, and Horizont set were and still are our first priority to deliver as much aid as we can.

• ₴250,000 (USD $8457) used to buy petrol for our volunteers.  It is in shortage now so we do our best to help our driving volunteers get it.

Hundreds of thousands of people of Kharkiv got vitally needed relief and hope thanks to you, our dear partners and friends.  But there are still at least just as much people that still need help.  And we know for sure that together we can save them too.   With all respect and gratitude.

Bashkirov Konstantin
Head of URCSKRO

To see the Red Cross in action, go to the Red Cross Page.

Merefa Central District Hospital received Medical Equipment

May 25, 2022    A friendly partnership connects the Merefa community with the American twin city of Kharkiv, Cincinnati. At the invitation of the Mayor of Merefa - Benjamin Sitov, a delegation from the United States in 2013 was a guest of our city and signed Memoranda with the communities of Wilmington and Madeira, which are part of the metropolis of Cincinnati. Recently, the community received financial assistance for the purchase of necessary and expensive medical equipment from American friends Bob Herring, Susan Neaman from the Twin Committee "Kharkiv - Cincinnati". The community's volunteer platform "Kharkiv - School of Courage" (Serhiy Fedchenko, Volodymyr Bulba, Olga Fedchenko) helped to organize such effective communication.

Thanks to the financial support of American friends, Merefa Central District Hospital received new medical equipment with charitable funds from the United States.

We are near Merefa Central District Hospital.  Today we received a gift from our American friends.  Initially we thought we needed generators but that issue was solved.  We got new generators and soon they will be installed and put on line.  You agreed that your charitable aid could be repurposed to purchase medical equipment.  We have just received this equipment - it is very important and badly needed.  Please accept sincere gratitude from our community and from all of Ukraine.     V.S. Mayor of Merefa

I'd like to express my heart-felt gratitude to our dear friends from the US.  You helped us obtain state-of-the-art equipment both clinical and laboratory.  During these tough war times, it's a major milestone for our hospital.  Most importantly, it will help us save lots of lives and provide care to those who need it.  Thank you, again!      O.K.  Assistant General Manager, Merefa Central District Hospital.