If it weren’t for the russian invasion of 2022, Makariv would have been one of many small agricultural towns in Ukraine. On 27-Feb-2022 (just 3 days after the war started), a number of enemy tanks and troops advanced toward the town. Their goal was to encircle Kyiv, and enter the Ukrainian capital via the major highway which runs East-West near Makariv. The Ukrainian units had intercepted the enemy forces and Makariv found itself in the center of pitched battles and artillery shelling. The town itself had changed hands a few times, until its final liberation at the end of March 2022.

As a result of this bloody destructive 4 weeks, Makariv had lost 40% of its houses and infrastructure. Not a single administrative building was left undamaged. Most of its residents were able to evacuate. Tragically, 132 local citizens were executed by the russian murderers. Click HERE to watch a 2 minute video showing the town of Makariv before and after the invasion.

We sat down with the Mayor of Makariv and his team during our visit in May 2023. Our goal was to find out how we could help the community to rebuild their homes, roads, schools and hospitals. Since we’ve already seen some examples of the sustained damage, our first question for the Mayor was: “What are your priorities at this time?” The 40 year old Vadym Tokar smiles and pulls out a multi-page spreadsheet. It documents every building, bridge and road that was either completely destroyed or partially damaged. “Let’s start here,” he says, “but keep in mind that we’ve already done some work!”

Here is the translated version:

Yes, the Makariv municipal team has not been sitting on its hands and a lot of work has already been done with the help of foreign partners and Ukrainian volunteers. Here is one example of such projects that is scheduled to be completed in July of 2023:

We have already written about a group of film makers called “The League of Laughter”. These people provide temporary housing to the people who lost their homes during the early months of the war (click HERE). The actors, producers and other movie folk formed a volunteer organization called “The League of Help”. They are currently rebuilding a children’s playground in the town of Makariv. The old playground was riddled with bullets and shrapnel – you can still see the holes all over the slides. There is nothing like spending your weekends doing manual labor of love!

The new playground has become so popular that the neighboring towns and villages are asking The League to build more of them in their areas! We would like to help them as well – can you join us? Click HERE to donate!