Our Bake for Ukraine team in Mykolaiv say the situation in the villages where they deliver our bread is like nothing they’ve seen before. Link to our latest fundraiser at the end of this article.
Thank you, I travel there as much as I can but it is their home and their land and their determination which keeps the communities going - and we truly appreciate everyone who supports!
Donated as well. Wish I could do more. Had Bread & War since it was published but never the time to finish it (or any other physical book). Long drive tomorrow so got the Audible version for company. Keep up the good and inspiring work!
Felicity, I cannot stop thinking about the woman in tears and the fact your team still keeps showing up, despite everything. The Bake for Ukraine volunteers are truly phenomenal people.
I’m looking forward to doing my bit to raise funds and awareness for this vital work - and to celebrate Ukraine, its people and its food in the process 🙌
Just donated - isn't it incredible that such a simple item (a loaf of bread) can bring so much joy and encouragement. Thanks Felicity for pushing on with this despite the political dumpster fire preventing an end to this conflict.
I’ve donated — thank you for showing up for everyone. Bake for Ukraine is important.
Thank you so much, really grateful
Thank you for sharing this Felicity. It is deeply moving. I have donated, this is so important.
That really is kind thank you so much
Just made a donation for a truly just cause...
Thank you ever so much
Felicity, this is a deeply moving piece — and what makes it so powerful is that you stay close to the lived reality, not the abstraction.
There’s a tendency, especially at a distance, to talk about “strikes,” “infrastructure,” or “resilience” as if they were technical categories.
What you show — very clearly — is what those words actually mean on the ground:
hunger, exhaustion, and people pushed to the edge over something as basic as bread.
The moment that stays with me is this:
people pushing and shoving for bread
and a woman in tears because there wasn’t enough
That is not just scarcity.
It is what sustained pressure does to a community over time.
Because this is not one strike, or one disruption.
It is continuous pressure:
drones overhead, day and night
roads mined, movement restricted
power and heat repeatedly cut
supply chains broken
And under those conditions, even something simple — like bread — becomes fragile.
What your piece makes visible is something that often gets lost:
Russia’s bombing campaign is not only about destruction.
It is about wearing down the conditions of civilian life.
Not dramatic collapse —
but gradual erosion:
fewer deliveries
less access
more risk
more uncertainty
Until everyday life becomes a series of calculations:
Will there be food?
Will anyone come?
Is it safe to wait?
And that’s where the emotional weight of your story sits.
Not in spectacle —
but in slow pressure on ordinary people:
elderly residents who cannot travel
villages without shops or clinics
volunteers navigating mined roads just to deliver bread
You also make an important point about “resilience.”
It’s often described as something almost heroic.
But what you show is something much more human:
people enduring because they have no alternative —
not because they are untouched by what’s happening.
The fact that your volunteers know people by name matters.
Because it reminds us:
this is not a “population.”
It is individuals:
someone who needs a specific kind of bread
someone waiting in line, hoping there will be enough
someone who breaks down when there isn’t
So your piece does something essential:
It reconnects the larger story — war, strikes, strategy —
to its most basic consequence:
whether people can eat, sleep, and live with a minimum of dignity.
And that is where the impact of this war is felt most clearly.
Not in headlines.
But in moments like the one you describe —
when bread runs out.
Thank you, I travel there as much as I can but it is their home and their land and their determination which keeps the communities going - and we truly appreciate everyone who supports!
Donated as well. Wish I could do more. Had Bread & War since it was published but never the time to finish it (or any other physical book). Long drive tomorrow so got the Audible version for company. Keep up the good and inspiring work!
Thank you ever so much!
Thank you for letting us help.
Donated, as well. Thank you for all you do for Ukraine and its people!
Many many thanks
Felicity, I cannot stop thinking about the woman in tears and the fact your team still keeps showing up, despite everything. The Bake for Ukraine volunteers are truly phenomenal people.
I’m looking forward to doing my bit to raise funds and awareness for this vital work - and to celebrate Ukraine, its people and its food in the process 🙌
Thank you ever so much, really appreciate it!
Just donated - isn't it incredible that such a simple item (a loaf of bread) can bring so much joy and encouragement. Thanks Felicity for pushing on with this despite the political dumpster fire preventing an end to this conflict.
What are your thoughts on World Aid Runners? They hand out bread (and other things) on the front line in Kherson.
Donated. Because I love sourdough and Ukrainians.