Iryna Zhluktenko

I’m in London for a couple of days.

Let me know if you’re here and want to meet :)

Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine @dmytrokuleba.bsky.social says hello to all of you who support Ukraine!

But a special hello to the Dzyga’s Paw community 😉

That chance is no longer given to us. Let’s make sure to give it to the next generations. So they can live without war.

There’s much work ahead!

In the past three years, seven people whom I had the honor to call friends have been killed. Most of them — not much older than 25.

The war, of course, reveals truth about many things — to a great extent, ourselves. But without it, things would be better.

The above photo was taken by my husband in Singapore two weeks ago. It’s beautiful, calm, and there is no war. Here, in Ukraine, there is war. And we have to live with it: not despite it, not ignoring it, but with it.

At 22, I went to pursue a Master’s in Paris, the one I wanted. I quit it after three months, along with my job. I raised my first million dollars for the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

At 23, I got married. To that same love.

At 24, he made the decision to join the Armed Forces.

And now: 25.

At 16, I first really felt the war — when I lost my close one.

At 17, despite all the heavy grief, I entered the university of my dreams.

At 18, I met the love of my life.

At 20, I graduated.

At 21, I worked at a job I loved and earned twice as much as I do now. Travelled. Enjoyed life.

Overall, I think I’m doing well. I’m alive and healthy. I have a wonderful family and incredible friends. I’m honest with myself. I love what I do every day.

Of course, the war slows many things down and destroys a lot. Still, much is changing and unfolding in a special way given the circumstances.

A few days ago, I turned 25.

One of the first thoughts that came to me was: wow, just three more years, and half of my life (the conscious half) will have been lived during the war. Probably not the best thought to have. But it means a lot.

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.