Iryna Zhluktenko

Look at the amazing people I randomly ran into on the street! Small world!

@ippvch.bsky.social @dim0kq.bsky.social

Summary?
1) Thank you for supporting Ukraine
2) Fundraising brings responsibility
3) Reporting requires systematic work
4) Donate to trusted charities
5) Love. Honesty. Freedom.

The best part is receiving messages from soldiers saying some piece of equipment literally saved their lives.

Honestly, I love the work I do every day.

I enjoy making improvements and seeing the results. It can be stressful and difficult at times (like today, it’s 9 PM, and I’m writing this from our office).

But it’s inspiring because I can see the impact of our work.

The remaining 20% consisted of Secret Santa project gifts and other small parcels sent to trusted military personnel.

If we compare the financial value of the unit deliveries to individual soldier deliveries, the ratio is 96 to 4 :)

We constantly increase the share of large systematic projects and shipments sent to military units in bulk rather than to individual soldiers. So far in 2025, 80% of our shipments have been officially transferred to the military units' accounts with all supporting paperwork.

We track contents, costs and require a photo report from the soldiers for each shipment. We do not manage to publish every photo, but delivery reports are live on our website with details about the units, types of equipment, quantities, and total value.

The same principles apply to delivery reporting. Since the start of 2023, we have kept a record of every shipment we made, from small packages with flashlights and candies to large parcels with NVGs and drones.

We do not display it publicly for obvious reasons — namely, the security of our suppliers, and blurring all the details would require another person working here to do specifically that.

A screenshot of our internal reporting system, developed by our volunteers for our needs attached.

Our internal policies require every transaction to have an invoice/receipt attached. So, what you see online is only part of the reports. The other part is scanning all the papers and securely storing them online.

Although our system is as automated as possible — automatically pulling financial data from four different sources — all the incoming and outgoing transactions arrive in our system raw. We manually edit the transactions so you can easily view our live reporting on the website in English.

We dedicate a significant amount of time to reporting. Those who have ever tried to do it know how time-consuming it is. We spend hours each week validating suppliers to ensure deals are safe, preparing all the paperwork to comply with the law, and processing transactions.

Again, because I have a degree in Systems Analysis and worked as a data scientist and analyst, I am very focused on structuring everything.

Our team and volunteers often joke about it, and I love it. That's why I was able to pull up the data for the table shown in the previous tweet so quickly ;)

We started operating as a nonprofit in July'22. Over three years, we continually improve, refine our processes, introduce policies and safety measures, and enhance creativity.

What is the result of this? Despite all the politics and the global decline in focus on Ukraine, we are growing.

First, because we help save lives and remove occupiers more effectively.

Second, because every day I feel the love and support from people worldwide.

Third, because I truly believe we create value: at Dzyga’s Paw, we reach audiences who might never have donated to Ukraine if not via our charity.

Because, returning to my values, I am honest with myself about the work I am doing now. It is tiring, often filled with unknowns, and far outside my comfort zone. But it is also very rewarding.

Over the past two years, I’ve been paid less than half of what I was earning in 2022 at my comfortable IT job, which I liked and that didn’t drain as many resources from me. I could have continued my career and easily grown professionally, and I often think about this. But I’ve never felt regret.

I quit my job as a Product Analyst at an SF company three years ago. I initially did all the work for Dzyga’s Paw voluntarily before being assigned a salary.

My three core values in life are:
1) love
2) honesty
3) freedom

These guide everything I do.

But my motivation is simple: I lost more than a dozen of friends in this war since 2014.

I continue their work. Because I want Ukraine to remain free, independent, and safe. I also want to help other men and women fighting to come home healthy and alive.

Leading an Ukraine-based organization that focuses on international fundraising at 24, without a large network of contacts or previous fundraising experience, is sometimes exhausting.

Since August last year, I have been the director of the foundation, as our founder Dimko joined in the army as UAV pilot and does not have a predictable amount of time to dedicate to the foundation’s work.

My name is Iryna. Over the past year, I’ve led Dzyga’s Paw, a Ukrainian org supplying our Defense Forces with tech, crowdfunded worldwide. We recently surpassed $4 mil in donations.

In this thread, I will share why this work is so important to me and why transparency matters.

This is the first time since 2022 when my dog woke me up in the middle of a night and cried searching for escape because of the explosions.

donation link pinned in my profile ;)

How much time do we need to hit $4M in total donations?🙂 Can we do it today?!

YouTube video by Silicon Curtain We're Not Ready for the Revolution in Drone Warfare

We're not ready for the revolution in drone warfare. See this unique panel discussion recorded in May 2025 in Lviv, with extraordinary guests. @ippvch.bsky.social @dim0kq.bsky.social @dzygaspaw.com - youtu.be/u6y-vGZ8oWc

We are a family for one year now.
Love you, Dimko.

developments of the last two weeks.

In the meantime, fighting is happening right at the administrative border of the Dnipropetrovsk oblast.

Shevchenko, Komar, Yalta -- heavy fighting daily.