A veteran of the Russia-Ukraine war receives counseling services at Veteran Hub's flagship office in Kyiv, Ukraine, on June 28, 2024. (Veteran Hub)
One of Ukraine’s largest veterans service organizations faces an uncertain future as it works to raise funds following a freeze and spending review of U.S. foreign aid.
Veteran Hub, founded in 2018, provides free legal, mental health, educational and employment support to Ukrainian soldiers, veterans and their families, co-founder Ivona Kostyna said.
The organization was originally funded by Ukrainian donors but began receiving aid from multiple U.S. State Department programs in 2019.
Their support line, which operates much like a stateside suicide prevention hotline, launched after Russia’s full-scale invasion nearly three years ago.
The agency temporarily shut down services after losing U.S. funding support but has received enough money from public and private donors to operate for three months, Kostyna said.
Our employees “are starting (to ask) questions like, ‘What’s beyond the three months?’ Kostyna said over the phone from her office in Kyiv. “Unfortunately, we don’t have the answer to that yet.”
Veteran Hub is now shifting resources to fundraising, she said. Kostyna remains optimistic but is unsure they will be able to come up with the money to fully fund their programs.
The group has 100 employees who work out of offices in Kyiv and Vinnytsia to the west, Kostyna said. Many are former soldiers and family members of the hundreds of thousands who have been wounded or killed in the war.
A Veteran Hub employee answers a call on a support line at their office in Kyiv, Ukraine, on June 28, 2024. The veterans service organization for Ukrainian soldiers and their families has enough funding to operate for a few more months in the midst of a U.S. foreign aid freeze. (Veteran Hub)
Veteran Hub has received funding from Ukrainian businesses, as well as the U.S. State Department. Kostyna said she can’t disclose the amount of money they have received from the U.S. because of confidentiality clauses.
The support line receives upward of 1,300 calls per month. Some of those calls come from the roughly 19,900 Ukrainian soldiers trained by American forces.
On his first day in office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order that froze all foreign aid for 90 days. Programs will be evaluated for “efficiencies and consistency with United States foreign policy,” the order states.
Kostyna, who applied for funding through the U.S. State Department, was informed about the freeze in a Jan. 20 email instructing her to cease operations in four days, she said.
She told her employees not to come to work as they readied layoffs, the shuttering of the support line and closure of the Vinnytsia office. They also froze research studies on mental health and veterans transitioning into civilian life.
After Kostyna posted the situation on X on Jan. 26, Ukrainian businesses, the Vinnytsia city council and private citizens rallied and donated enough to resume full operations Feb. 1 for three months. The support line missed 400 calls in the interim, Kostyna said.
Artem Pyndyk, who worked in information technology until the Russian invasion, was looking for purpose after his time on the battlefield ended. The former sergeant was referred to Veteran Hub for services and now works there as an organizer and fundraiser.
He said three months is a long time for a soldier on the battlefield but not for a veterans service organization.
“We were stressed” when the funding was frozen, Pyndyk said. “It is a good lesson to be pragmatic and always to be ready for that. Anything can happen.”
