Witnessing Resilience: A Day in Kyiv with the Krohn Breakthrough Foundation

When the call comes, we move. We were recently contacted by our friends at Allied Extract, veterans in the humanitarian space with whom we’ve collaborated before. They were bringing a donor group to the country and were looking for a partner to facilitate a deep-dive into the realities on the ground.

The group was the Krohn Breakthrough Foundation, led by Kris Krohn. Known for his work in empowering individuals to achieve financial and mindset breakthroughs, Kris and his team arrived with a clear objective: they didn’t just want to see the situation; they wanted to understand the specific challenges Ukrainians are facing and identify where their resources could create the most immediate impact.

We had one day to show them the full spectrum of the war—from the scars of occupation to the resilience of those rebuilding. We packed the itinerary and, utilizing a budget provided by the foundation, ensured we arrived at every stop with necessary aid in hand.

Bucha: The Cost of Freedom We began in Bucha, a city that has become a global symbol of the atrocities committed by Russian forces. We walked the streets to give the Krohn team a visceral understanding of the destruction and the stories etched into the city. We met with the Deputy Mayor, who shared harrowing accounts of the occupation. It was a heavy but necessary start, grounding the day in the reality of what Ukraine is fighting against.

The Train Car Colony: Powering Survival Next, we visited a settlement of railway cars that had been converted into living quarters for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). Families had been living in these steel carriages for months. With Russia aggressively targeting energy infrastructure, blackouts were becoming frequent and severe.

To assist, we delivered an EcoFlow power unit. In a metal train car during a blackout, electricity isn't a luxury—it is the only link to light, communication, and warmth.

Borodyanka: Warmth for the Vulnerable Our third stop was the Borodyanka Psychiatric Institution. This facility suffered greatly during the initial invasion and occupation. With the state budget strained and the facility in disrepair, the patients here are among the most vulnerable in the country.

We delivered electric ceramic heaters and electric tea kettles. While these items might seem small, their impact is massive. With the central heating system unreliable or non-functional, the ability to generate spot heating and boil hot water creates an immediate, gigantic improvement in quality of life for patients and staff who often feel forgotten.

Boryspil: Feeding the Displaced We closed the day with a large-scale food drop in the Boryspil area. We prepared 300 food and hygiene kits (15kg each) for the donors to distribute directly to IDPs who had fled the active combat zones of Donetsk and Luhansk.

Many of these families have lost their homes, their livelihoods, and all their possessions. Providing them with basic needs allows them to focus on rebuilding their lives rather than worrying about their next meal.

A Breakthrough in Understanding From high-level discussions in Bucha to handing food kits to families in Boryspil, the goal was to expose the Krohn Breakthrough Foundation to the full ecosystem of aid in Ukraine. We are incredibly grateful to Allied Extract for the introduction and to Kris Krohn and his team for coming to witness the resilience of the Ukrainian people firsthand.