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Four Years of UNITED24: How Global Donors and Kyiv Are Redefining Wartime Support
On August 21st, 2026, Ukrainian government officials, cultural icons, and international partners gathered in Kyiv for UNITED24 MODE—UNITED24’s fourth annual summit. This milestone event highlighted how real-time transparency and global civil-society partnerships are redefining long-term democratic resilience.
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When President Volodymyr Zelenskyy launched UNITED24 as an ambitious crowdsourcing platform, who could have imagined it would evolve into a primary model for direct-to-impact wartime assistance?
Since 2022, UNITED24 has expanded far beyond basic humanitarian aid to encompass every layer of national defense and societal survival. Unlike traditional international bodies UNITED24 raises funds that are routed directly into dedicated accounts at the National Bank of Ukraine, managed across key ministries. By covering administrative overhead through corporate partners, every contribution—amounting to nearly four billion dollars to date—directly funds measurable outcomes, ranging from medical evacuation vehicles to restored housing in damaged communities.
UNITED24 has also become Ukraine’s flagship when it comes to spreading the word about Ukrainian culture, politics, and the nation’s resilience throughout Russia’s increased aggression. With a media arm that boasts a subscriber count of nearly one million and keeps followers from all over the world constantly plugged into what’s happening in Ukraine on a daily basis, it’s no exaggeration to say that the platform has switched the world into a Ukraine-focused mode that refuses to be switched off.
It’s these accomplishments and many more that were on display during UNITED24 MODE. Opening the event, President Zelenskyy praised the successes of the platform, particularly in the area of strengthening Ukraine’s strategic international partnerships.
Today we have 145 countries participating with UNITED24. Millions of donors, many of whom are ordinary people, as well as very well-known UNITED24 ambassadors, businesses from all over the world, humanitarian organizations, and even…children are collecting funds for UNITED24. It's an incredibly large community of people who care about what will happen to Ukraine.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy
President of Ukraine
After delivering opening remarks about the role that UNITED24 has played in supporting the continued independence of Ukraine, President Zelenskyy honored some of UNITED24’s most dedicated international ambassadors, many of whom have dedicated large parts of their careers since 2022, to advocating for the defense of Ukraine’s sovereignty.
Following the awards ceremony, summit attendees were treated to a series of panels, where Ukrainian figures from various industries, ranging from defense technology to sports expounded upon the ways that their activism and work contribute to Ukraine’s ongoing resistance to Russia’s war.
Among the panelists who spoke during the section highlighting Ukrainian defense technology efforts was Iryna Terekh, the CEO of Ukraine’s Fire Point.
Fire Point has been a key actor in Ukraine’s defense efforts, especially when it comes to the President Zelenskyy’s stated goal of “bringing the war back to where it came from.” Ukraine has, in recent months, drastically stepped up its efforts to cripple Russia’s ability to wage war, employing “deep strike” tactics against several critical industries in Russia and enacting what Ukraine’s President has called long range sanctions against the country.
During her segment, Ms. Terekh explained Fire Point’s importance in Ukraine’s efforts to make continuing the war unbearable for Russia’s economy; she also discussed how Fire Point is working to rapidly address technological challenges related to Ukraine’s critical antiballistic missile interceptor shortages—a problem growing ever deadlier for Ukrainian civilians.
She also emphasized that the passion for the work she does has its origins in a profound love for her family and her country. Having survived the Russian occupation of Irpin and Bucha, she feels that “it is [her] personal responsibility to ensure that Ukraine has the means and capabilities to defend itself.”
In addition to this panel, special guests and UNITED24 ambassadors from other sectors—such as Ukraine’s famed footballer Oleksandr Zinchenko, and famed Spanish chef José Andrés—also spoke as panelists, covering themes directly related to their own work. Other international guests, such as Mark Hamill, Misha Collins, Timothy Snyder, among others joined the summit remotely.
These panels covered a variety of topics that are critical to securing a safe and sustainable future for Ukraine, but focused on the following thematic areas:
Ukraine in the spotlight: Ukraine’s position on the global stage, international support, and the challenges facing the country today.
The power of voice: How personal stories, culture, film, and public advocacy help keep Ukraine at the center of geopolitical conversations.
Ukrainian medics bringing back hope: A conversation about healthcare during wartime, saving lives, and international support for Ukraine’s medical system.
Demining Ukraine: A discussion on the scale of landmine contamination in Ukraine, innovating demining technologies, and the people working to make Ukraine safe from landmines again.
Empowering Ukraine’s next generations: How to preserve quality education during wartime and create opportunities for Ukraine’s youth.
Antarctic dreams: During this segment, a Ukrainian service member who participated in the defense of Azovstal during the Russia’s siege of Mariupol and was later taken prisoner by Russian forces spoke candidly about her time in captivity. She detailed how, during her time in a Russian POW camp, she often fantasized about gaining her freedom and joining Ukraine’s Antarctic expedition team for an excursion. Upon returning to Ukraine, her wish was granted, and she got to travel to Antarctica—an unforgettable trip that she spoke about with great excitement.
Another key moment of the UNITED24 MODE Summit was the announcement of two brand new initiatives. As part of its programming, UNITED24 proudly announced, along with game developer GSC Game World, the launch of their second joint fundraiser, S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Cost of Hope; this fundraiser is aimed at supporting humanitarian demining in the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone .
UNITED24 also announced the creation of its sixth program under its umbrella: Sports Development. This initiative will be co-coordinated with Ukraine’s Ministry of Youth and Sports.
This summit, sponsored by longtime UNITED24 corporate partner Uber, along with Fire Point, was not to be missed; emphasizing the resilience something that started as a simple crowdsourcing platform, it displayed that UNITED24 has embodied, since its founding in 2022, just a few of the values upholding Ukraine itself: innovation, an aptitude for evolution, and an understanding that community drives progress. This last value in particular has led UNITED24 and its supporters to be able to significantly contribute to improving Ukraine’s defense, healthcare, reconstruction, national education framework, humanitarian needs, and, most recently, its sports sphere.
Just four years after its inception, UNITED24 has revolutionized for the world what it means to be a fundraising platform; it’s now an entire ecosystem that is now woven directly into the fabric of what Ukraine is on the global stage. This revolutionary platform has united the world in a way that President Zelenskyy said best during his address to summit attendees: it has “create[d] a strong emotional connection with Ukraine—a belief in Ukraine and in the values that inspire [Ukrainians] to defend themselves in the war and achieve results.”
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