This story was written by Angela, a wonderful volunteer who spent August 2026 working with the Kitchen Ants in Kyiv. Thank you, Angela, for your time, your hard work and for sharing your experience with us.

When I went to Kyiv in August 2026, I had two reasons for coming. I wanted to improve my Ukrainian, and I wanted to do something useful.

I am a retired EU interpreter, not a doctor, engineer or aid worker. I had no particular skills that I thought would be useful in wartime. But I had been wondering: if I was going to Ukraine anyway, why not spend some of my time helping?

That is how I ended up becoming a Kitchen Ant. The Kitchen Ants – Мурашки – work in an unassuming pavilion in Troieshchyna, a large residential district on the left bank of the Dnipro in north-eastern Kyiv. A small glass door bears the name of the organisation and a cheerful picture of an ant carrying an enormous sack of food.

Behind that door, I found a kitchen full of women and international volunteers from all over the world, working with remarkable concentration and energy.

No special skills required

Perhaps there are people who think: I would love to help Ukraine, but what could I possibly do? Quite a lot, as it turns out.

The Kitchen Ants were founded after Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022. What began as a civilian kitchen helping refugees and displaced people gradually developed into an organisation supplying soldiers at the front, especially units in exposed positions where ordinary food deliveries are difficult or impossible.

The volunteers prepare lightweight, dehydrated food. Fruit is cut and dried; dough is rolled out, cut into pieces and baked into crackers; ingredients are carefully weighed and packed. The finished portions are transported to the front and turned into a hot meal simply by adding boiling water.

The work is practical and straightforward. You do not need to be a professional cook or have previous volunteering experience. You simply need to be willing to work.

I spent my days cutting apples, rolling dough, cutting it into small pieces, weighing ingredients and filling packets. Other volunteers were peeling vegetables, preparing fruit, loading and unloading supplies or cleaning.

It is repetitive work – but that is precisely the point. Every small task becomes part of something much larger.

Who becomes a Kitchen Ant?

The Ukrainian volunteers are mostly women of different ages. Alongside them were international volunteers from the United States, Italy, Germany, France, Canada, the UK and other countries.  English was our common language, although some of us were also learning Ukrainian and could practise it with the Ukrainian volunteers.

No one seemed to care about age. I was certainly not one of the youngest volunteers, and neither were some of the other international volunteers. I met people who had travelled a long way to spend time working alongside Ukrainians.

You can spend five or six hours doing ordinary things – and know exactly why you are doing them.

Of course, there is one thing we should not forget: Kyiv is a city at war where the air-raid siren sounds regularly. You should take the security situation seriously and come prepared. But you also discover something that is difficult to understand from outside Ukraine: life continues and the Kitchen Ants continue working, laughing, learning and helping one another.

Oksana, who helps run the kitchen with her husband, Konstantyn, explained to me why. “We don't need people who panic,” she told me. A young foreign volunteer with military training had once become so frightened by the sirens that we eventually asked him to leave. “We need people who help us in the kitchen.”

This does not mean that Ukrainians are not afraid. They are. It means that they have learned to function despite fear. And that became one of the most powerful lessons of my time in Kyiv.

Resilience is not the absence of fear. It is continuing to do what needs to be done while the fear is there. In the kitchen, resilience meant kneading dough, cutting apples and packing food for soldiers.

You become part of the team

I quickly stopped feeling like a foreign visitor and became part of the team. The Kitchen Ants are exactly what their name suggests: many people doing small things together. Those small things add up.

“You show us that we are not alone”

On my last day, I put on my vyshyvanka, an embroidered blouse, and took a piece of paper from my pocket. I had prepared a short farewell speech in Ukrainian.

I told them that before going, I had imagined myself counting the days until I could return home, back to safety. By the end of my stay, I did not want to leave.

The women listened. Some probably have husbands or sons fighting at the front; some may have lost them.

I wanted to thank them for allowing me to work beside them. Instead, they thanked me. They told me that international volunteers who have the courage to come to Ukraine show them that they are not alone. That stayed with me.

Volunteering in Ukraine is not only about the number of hours you work or the number of food packages you fill. It is also about presence, about showing up and saying: I am here with you.

Would I do it again?

Absolutely. The next morning, I took the train back to Prague. I felt relief, but also sadness. Back in Prague, I keep thinking about the Kitchen Ants and one day, I will be back. I came to Kyiv as a visitor and I left as a Kitchen Ant.  

Become a Kitchen Ant

You do not need to be a cook, speak Ukrainian or be young. If you have a few days or a few weeks and are willing to work, the Kitchen Ants will find a task for you – cutting fruit, rolling dough, weighing, packing or cleaning. Every pair of hands matters.

How to join: Fill in the volunteer application form and the Kitchen Ants will get in touch to agree on your dates and tell you when and where to come. Before you travel, check your government’s travel advice, get insurance that covers Ukraine and install an air-raid alert app on your phone.

If you cannot come in person, you can still help keep the kitchen running.

You can donate here: https://send.monobank.ua/jar/5QExNFCzBU

Every apple slice, every cracker and every packet that leaves this kitchen carries a simple message to someone at the front: you are not forgotten. Come to Kyiv, roll up your sleeves and see for yourself how many small things add up to something big. You may arrive as a visitor – but you will leave as a Kitchen Ant.