October
Dear Friends of Ukraine,
The russian invaders make no attempt to hide their war crimes. Remnants of their ballistic missiles can be found in children’s hospitals and apartment buildings. putin and his cronies laugh off the systematic kidnapping of Ukrainian children on national television. They leave bodies of Ukrainian civilians— tortured, violated, murdered— to be found in mass graves. They intentionally target civilian energy infrastructure so that families are forced to endure freezing winters without heat or electricity. russia has even resorted to using gas and chemical weapons against Ukrainian Defenders.
Each of these atrocities represent a direct and deliberate violation of the Geneva Conventions, and yet they are so frequent and numerous that databases spanning hundreds of thousands of pages have been built to document them in the hope that, one day, justice may be found for the victims. That is why this fight matters, and why your support matters. We believe in acting, in standing with the Defenders who protect civilians from these very atrocities, and in supporting the communities left to rebuild in their wake.
Read on to learn how we are countering russian chemical attacks by providing gas masks for Ukrainian Defenders, find out how your donations helped them last month, learn about upcoming and past events, a collaborative project on blood transfusion in the field, and updates from the front lines, including from the town of Oleshky.
Thank you for standing with Ukraine! Together we are stronger.
Kyle, Andriy, Ulana, and all of us at
Sunflower Seeds Ukraine
Spread Seeds of Help!
In August 2026, Sunflower Seeds Ukraine provided 2,108 items to 754 Defenders:
152 individual first aid kits (tourniquets, chest seals ...)
611 protective equipment items (electronic earmuffs, Camelbaks...)
516 field gear items (backpacks, infantry sets...)
121 uniform components (uniform sets, sleeping pads, boots...)
708 other items (powerbanks, binoculars, drone detectors...)
We help not only Ukrainian military, but also first responders and emergency services, who are usually first on the scene of russian strikes on civilian infrastructure. Here is a thank you note from a first responder from Kherson, where these war crimes are all too common:
"Your assistance significantly helps the Kherson rescuers. Many volunteers bypass organizations like the State Emergency Service, understanding that the Armed Forces have more pressing needs. So thank you for finding the time and resources for us... In these hard times, whole crews lose equipment in Russian shelling and drone attacks, and we can't afford to constantly restore it on our own."
To hear more, please consider signing up for our Patreon page, where you can see exclusive interviews from the Defenders and first responders your donations help support.
In recent months we’ve received a concerning number of requests for an item that we have not, until now, provided our Defenders: gas masks. Though the use of gas and related chemical weapons is banned under international law, it has not deterred russia from drone-dropping gas grenades directly into positions held by Ukrainian Defenders.
These weapons not only force Defenders out of their entrenched positions and into the crosshairs of the russian invaders, but they can cause permanent lung and organ damage. Your support provides:
$25 provides 1 gas filter
$50 provides 1 gas mask
$100 provides 1 gas protection system: 1 gas mask and 2 filters
We cannot stop russia from violating international law. We can make sure Defenders are protected when they do. Please support this campaign and help equip them with the gear they need to stay safe.
Saturday, October 17: Solar Chargers/Panel Event We will be hosting our first Solar Panel event of the school year at Fairview High School in Boulder (1492 Knox Drive- back entrance) from 10-12:30. Convert solar panels into solar chargers and decorate them with messages of hope and solidarity as we zoom with partners in Ukraine. Extra bonus, you can learn more about the Boulder/Vinnytsia Sister City and try some homemade varenyky/pyrohy! To learn more or donate to the Solar Chargers for Ukraine project, click here.
Saturday, November 7th: Sunflower Seeds Ukraine 2026 Year-End Report Webinar Join us virtually at 10am MT to learn how your support helped Ukraine in 2026 and what's ahead for 2027. To RSVP, click here.
Saturday, November 7th: University of Colorado Art Museum Drop in between 1-4 for Social Sculpture: Artnauts + YOU Join exhibiting artists for an afternoon of hands-on artmaking activities and participate in the photo project “What is Peace?”, experience a teacup exchange, and make postcards for the “Sunflower Dream” project. Their vision is to use their platform, bringing the art of the Ukrainian children who are attending art healing projects, to raise awareness of the plight of the children, and to encourage practical solutions for more and affordable access to child mental health care for Ukraine's traumatised Children of War. Their exhibit is currently running at the CU Art Museum and extends through December 2026.
Community outreach and connection is foundational at SFSU and for maintaining ongoing support for Ukraine. Thank you to all the participants of recent events. For details about these events and events continually updated on our website, please visit the SFSU events website.
We need YOU! If you’d like to lend your time and energy to making a difference, visit our volunteer page for open volunteer positions, or fill out our general interest form linked at the bottom of the page. Our team members and volunteers work across borders and time zones to help Ukraine. To volunteer for the Administrative Inbox Assistant position, or any other open position, simply respond to this email and let us know which role you’re interested in, along with any skills that make you a good fit.
Our new Sunflower Seed Grants program (designed to put small, targeted support behind ongoing projects) just delivered its first results, and it's already saving lives. Earlier this year, we partnered with UA First Aid, the first recipient of a Sunflower Seed Grant, to fund its Farma Project, which equips frontline medics with blood transfusion kits. With more than 60% of preventable battlefield deaths tied to critical bleeding, timely access to blood can mean the difference between life and death.
Your support helped UA First Aid assemble 100 training kits, enough to sustain two months of training across all their centers. Defenders who've trained with these kits consistently praise their thoughtful design and completeness, tools built and refined alongside the medics who use them in the field. Read the full story to see it in action.
In the occupied town of Oleshky in the Kherson region, 2,000 residents of a pre-war population of more than 24,000 remain and are trapped by a russian blockade designed to starve them. Food convoys are destroyed by drones and mines, airdrops are confiscated, and the local hospital has run out of supplies entirely.
The evacuation route, known as “the road to death” is littered with russian mines and terrorized by russian drones. Of more than 60 residents who tried to flee Oleshky in September, only 12 reached Ukrainian-occupied territory.
The intentional starvation of civilians is not a new strategy used by russians. In the 1930s, the soviets orchestrated the Holodomor, a man-made famine that killed millions of Ukrainians. Nearly a century later, the method remains the same.
There is no sign of immediate relief for Oleshky, but their story cannot go untold. Read the full front lines update, including the story of Oleshky, Operation Vivaldi's recent gains, and russia's escalating hybrid war against NATO, on our blog.
HELP US SPREAD THE WORD
To read longer versions of our news stories, visit the blog on our website, where you also can learn more about upcoming events and volunteering opportunities.
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*The misspelling and lowercasing of proper names like ‘russia’ in this newsletter is intentional and used as signs of disdain and disrespect. Similarly, the uppercasing of words such as ‘Defenders’ is intentional and used as a sign of respect and appreciation.
