Executive Director of East SOS at the BRIDGE 2025 Forum
On November 26, 2025, Yuliia Krasilnykova, Executive Director of East SOS, participated in the All-Ukrainian BRIDGE 2025 Forum, which brought together over 300 participants from across Ukraine. The event brought together representatives of charitable organizations, communities, and initiatives working to address the consequences of the war.
Yuliia joined the panel discussion “Saving Others – the Cost and Power of Humanitarian Work in War”, where participants discussed the current challenges of humanitarian response and issues related to team safety. The panel also featured: Yevhen Kaplin (Proliska NGO), Illia Kletskovskyi (Ukrainian Red Cross Society), Anastasiia Honcharuk (Angels of Salvation Charity Foundation), Daniil Pichikin (Artak Together to the Dream Foundation), and Hennadii Yudin (White Angel Special Forces). The discussion was moderated by journalist Volodymyr Noskov (Nakypilo media group).
During her speech, Yuliia emphasized that the evacuation situation along the frontline has significantly deteriorated in 2025. Today, humanitarian teams face not only artillery shelling but also targeted FPV drone attacks on humanitarian vehicles. Due to the critical shortage of armored vehicles, humanitarian organizations are increasingly unable to carry out targeted evacuations directly from frontline areas. Instead, teams are forced to operate as a “second line”, transporting evacuees from police checkpoints. At the same time, there is a severe lack of crews capable of working on the “first line”.
Over the three and a half years of the full-scale russian invasion of Ukraine, East SOS has developed a comprehensive evacuation cycle – from the first contact via the hotline to resettlement, as well as legal, psychosocial, and medical support.
“We aimed to organize our work in a way that supports people at every step of their journey to safety. The Foundation operates a call center, has its own vehicle fleet, and conducts regular training for all teams, with a particular focus on evacuation crews. We are developing regional branches and ensuring the presence of specialists at transit centers for evacuees. We have also established a monitoring system for the temporary accommodation centers where people are resettled. Special attention is paid to people with limited mobility, including persons with disabilities. We hope that the state will take the experience of the humanitarian sector as a model, because everyone participating in this panel discussion is doing truly titanic work,” emphasized Yuliia Krasilnykova.
By analyzing the work of civil society and the practical experience of humanitarian organizations, the state is currently developing Resolution No. 1307 of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine, which regulates the updated evacuation procedure. This resolution foresees a gradual transfer of leadership in the safe evacuation of civilians from frontline areas to the state.
Following February 24, 2022, the Foundation significantly expanded its activities across the entire government-controlled territory of Ukraine. Together with our partners, we have helped evacuate and support over 95,000 people, including more than 15,000 individuals with limited mobility, and have raised over UAH 1.5 billion to assist those affected by the war.
Previously, East SOS representatives participated in the forum “Where Protection Begins and Ends”.
