The USA has frozen all non-military aid to Ukraine. 5 Ukrainian grant organizations tell Babel how they plan to survive (and you can support them). UPD

Author:
Sofiia Korotunenko
Editor:
Glib Gusiev
Date:
The USA has frozen all non-military aid to Ukraine. 5 Ukrainian grant organizations tell Babel how they plan to survive (and you can support them). UPD

Kateryna Bandus / «Бабель»

Last year, Ukraine received almost $5.5 billion through the American agency USAID — these funds were poured into hospitals, public organizations, regional infrastructure reconstruction programs, universities, and the media. At the end of January, the new US government froze all aid

The White House accused the organization of "waste, fraud, and abuse," and the head of the US Department of Government Efficiency Elon Musk of funding "research into biological weapons like COVID-19, which has killed millions of people".
that went through this agency: it is planned to reduce it by two-thirds and merge it with the State Department. It is already more or less clear that the Ukrainian public sector will have to learn to live without this money. Babel spoke with Ukrainian organizations about important projects that they had to stop and how they will exist without the US grants.

U-Saved Charitable Foundation

Organization activities. U-Saved has logistics hubs in Kramatorsk and Pokrovsk. Volunteers distribute food, water, and essential items to people living near the front line. They repair buildings and help prepare for the cold — buy firewood, heaters, and blankets. When the situation becomes critical, U-Saved evacuates people to safer cities and finds them temporary shelter. The organization also removes civilian infrastructure, such as hospital equipment.

What projects have stopped? All activities of the organization. Now volunteers cover all expenses with their own money.

What to do next. The intermediary through which U-Saved receives the US grants has filed an appeal with USAID to have the organization added to the list of life-saving programs. The US government does not freeze support for such programs. If the court rejects the contractor’s application and U-Saved does not find other sources of support, the organization will have to close.

Help U-Saved.

U-Saved distributes drinking water to residents of a frontline city.

U-Saved distributes drinking water to residents of a frontline city.

Facebook / «Бабель»

Veteran Hub Charitable Foundation

Organization activities. Veteran Hub has a support hotline, branches in Kyiv and Vinnytsia, and mobile offices — cars that come to veterans in Kyiv, Vinnytsia, and Dnipropetrovsk regions. The organization provides veterans with legal and psychological support and helps them find jobs. Veteran Hub also supports relatives of active military personnel, missing persons, prisoners of war, and fallen soldiers.

What projects have stopped? Hub in Vinnytsia and support hotline.

What to do next. Thanks to donations from Ukrainian businesses, Veteran Hub resumed the work of the Vinnytsia hub and support line in February. This money will last for three months. What to do if the Trump administration does not resume support is unknown. Veteran Hub is currently looking for new sources of funding.

Help Veteran Hub.

An event for veterans at the Veteran Hub.

Facebook / «Бабель»

Public organization "Building Ukraine Together” (BUR)

Oganization activities. BUR rebuilds buildings in deoccupied and frontline territories. In 2024, the organization held 27 camps — volunteer trips for reconstruction. For example, they created a space in a destroyed village in the Kherson region — the restored building now houses a kindergarten, a police station, a post office, a first aid station, and a village council.

What projects have been halted? BUR has lost about half of its funding. Work on six camps that the organization had already planned has been suspended. BUR is short of professional builders, so they created a course to train 25 craftsmen. This project is also on hold.

What to do next. BURʼs main expenses are building materials. The organization is currently negotiating with companies to get them for free. BUR is looking for grants from Europeans, collecting donations from caring individuals, and plans to attract more foreign donors who donʼt want to donate to weapons.

Help BUR.

The BUR volunteers are rebuilding the destroyed building.

Facebook / «Бабель»

Public organization "Institute of Mass Information" (IMI)

Organization activities. IMI has 15 media hubs, where journalists are trained (for example, in tactical medicine) and free loan of power equipment and protective gear for work in a combat zone. The organization provides mini-grants to about a hundred independent regional media outlets, researches the Ukrainian media market, and counteracts Russian disinformation.

What projects have stopped? The organization has lost over 70% of its funding. Without this money, IMI cannot support regional media and rent offices for regional media hubs. Without donor money, this network will close.

What to do next. The organization is looking for grants from European donors. IMI is a non-profit organization, so it cannot quickly create a marketing department and provide itself with advertising.

Help IMI.

IMI lends protective equipment to journalists working in combat zones.

Facebook / «Бабель»

Public organization "Vox Ukraine"

Organization activities. A think tank that tracks reforms, monitors government actions and analyzes the effectiveness of its decisions, refutes Russian disinformation, checks the words of politicians, and exposes their manipulations.

What projects have been stopped? American grants supported Vox institutionally, meaning funds were allocated not for individual projects, but for the organizationʼs activities as a whole. In 2024, this was about 20% of all revenues, in 2025, the suspended grants were to cover approximately 18% of the budget.

What to do next. If the US stops funding, the share of the US grants will be replaced by the organizationʼs internal resources and redistribution of funds from future revenues (annual crowdfunding and new partnerships). The organizationʼs CEO Maksym Skubenko expects Vox to fully resume operations no later than two weeks after the US aid freeze.

Help Vox Ukraine.

The "Territory of Change" conference, which the “Vox Ukraine” Center held in 2024.

Facebook / «Бабель»

Babel also received assistance from USAID to write high-quality and interesting texts for you.

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