After the full-scale invasion, Ukrainians, mostly women and children, fled Ukraine for safety. Alsace, a historic region in northeastern France bordering Germany and Switzerland, was no exception. Since February 2022, France has received more than 100,000 Ukrainians. Many caring French people have welcomed Ukrainians into their homes and apartments.

Alsace has a strong Ukrainian community, and the local Association PromoUkraïna has been actively helping Ukrainians.

The Association was founded in 2014 as a civil society movement in Alsace in solidarity with Euromaidan and civil society in Ukraine. The main goal of the Association was to promote Ukraine and facilitate the rapprochement of Ukrainian and French civil society through Ukraine's European integration; to deepen the knowledge of Europeans, in particular the French, about modern Ukraine, its history and culture; and to promote and develop human exchanges in all spheres of life, including cultural and humanitarian, between Ukraine, France and the EU.

Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022 changed everything, so the Association actively joined in to help its compatriots and Ukraine. We had to refocus on Ukraine's immediate problems quickly:

- Reception and assistance to our compatriots in France. People were going "to nowhere"; they needed to be accommodated and helped with registration and translation. It was on the initiative of PromoUkraïna that the "Single Window" for registration of IDPs was launched in Strasbourg and then in other cities of France and Europe (each IDP could fill out registration papers, be resettled, receive a full range of consultations and emergency medical care in one place). With the active assistance of the Association, about 500 Ukrainians received assistance with registration and housing.

- Realizing that because of the war, Ukrainians left their homes with the minimum necessary, PromoUkraïna volunteers opened a point of distribution of humanitarian aid to IDPs. At this point, everyone could get everything they needed for life - food, hygiene products, clothes, etc.

- Help with enrolling children in schools and kindergartens. Mostly women with children came, and the children had to be placed and socialized.
- Organizing language courses for Ukrainians. With the assistance of the Association, 500 Ukrainian citizens took French language courses.

- Assistance with employment. The Association co-organized several job fairs and helped hundreds of people find work.

- Organizing rallies in support of Ukraine. On February 24, 2022, we held our first protest against Russian aggression, and since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, we have saved more than 20 rallies and events of various formats.

- Humanitarian aid to victims of Russian aggression against Ukraine. Over the past sixteen months, we have sent 110 tons of humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. This includes medical equipment, medicines, first aid kits, food, hygiene items, clothing and footwear, household appliances and food. Everything was sent to different regions of Ukraine; we did not refuse anyone; if necessary, we mobilized the community and organized the collection and shipment of humanitarian aid. The Association's volunteers continue to collect humanitarian aid and send it to Ukraine.

- Purchase of generators and batteries. Since last fall, we have collected and delivered much such aid, mostly to hospitals, schools and orphanages.

- Purchase of ambulances and other types of vehicles. We have already purchased and shipped 23 ambulances, five minibuses and nine pickup trucks and jeeps. The twenty-fourth ambulance is currently being prepared for shipment. Our friends joined in this purchase: Association for Sports and Leisure Culture BOESENBIESE, Protection Civile du Bas-Rhin (ADPC.67), the municipality of Ittenheim, and our friends from the Chechen community.

- Ukrainian library. Today, the demand for Ukrainian books and books in the Ukrainian language has grown more than ever. So we are helping people meet this need. The first Ukrainian library in Alsace was opened in Strasbourg. Our library has dozens of books of different genres and for other age groups (some of the books were brought from Ukraine, and some were donated by the Ukrainian community living in Strasbourg). Anyone can visit the library on the premises of the European Community of Alsace.

- Psychological support for IDPs. Realizing all the horrors of war, the Association opened a round-the-clock psychological assistance line for IDPs. It later expanded the assistance format to include individual and group counselling.

Living here in France, our community continues to be Ukrainian and constantly connects with our homeland. The Ukrainian school has been operating in Strasbourg for over ten years. About 100 students of all ages study there regularly. Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the number of students has grown to 500, but we have accepted this challenge, and our school has welcomed new students. We accept all children and work to preserve our native language, culture and Ukrainian traditions. In addition, at the community's request, the Association organized Ukrainian language courses for everyone. Since the beginning of the full-scale aggression, the number of people willing to learn and improve their Ukrainian has increased. To date, 50 students have graduated from our courses.

The Association continues to actively promote Ukrainian culture in Alsace, which is why the Ukrainian community united in the PromoUkraïna Association in the first place. The Ukrainian community remains true to itself and shows creativity and creativity in promoting its culture in France. We continue to organize cultural activities and events in support of Ukraine. No public event in Alsace is complete without the participation of Ukrainian artists. The Association is supported by wonderful Ukrainian artists who live and work in Alsace, children's groups and artists who have temporarily taken refuge in France. All of them try to help Ukraine as much as possible, even though they are now far from their homeland, and the Association is happy to welcome them to its ranks. Every cultural event or participation of a Ukrainian band supported by PromoUkraïna is dedicated to helping Ukraine and the needs of the Ukrainian people. We tirelessly draw attention to Russia's unprovoked aggression against Ukraine, explaining who is the victim and aggressor and calling for help for Ukraine.

Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation, many musicians have come to France as temporary migrants. The Association gave the artists the necessary support to continue their creative activities in France. To raise funds to support Ukraine and promote the activities of PromoUkraïna, 25 concerts and other cultural events were organized. We believe in the universal language of art and continue this work.

The Association organizes photo exhibitions and screenings of Ukrainian documentaries and feature films. We were one of the first to arrange a photo exhibition with the participation of now world-famous and deservedly honoured photographers: Mstislav Chernov, Yevhen Maloletka, Konstantin and Vlada Liberov. They all provided their photographs for exhibitions free of charge so the world could see what was happening in Ukraine because of the full-scale Russian aggression. 

Organizing thematic festivals and fairs to promote Ukraine is a big part of our work.

PromoUkraïna takes part in the Christmas and Easter fairs in Strasbourg, the fairs in Wantzenau and other public events in the region.

And we have been organizing the traditional Ukrainian Charity Fair in Strasbourg for the second year in a row. The whole community is looking forward to this event, and last year the fair was attended by about 600 guests. Our Ukrainian fair was also a huge success this year, with a slightly higher number of guests than last year. The event was held with the active participation of the entire Ukrainian community and volunteers: everyone prepared goodies for charity sales, made crafts, artists painted their pictures, painted guests, weaved decorative braids, and performers prepared their performances. All this is done with the sole purpose of familiarizing foreigners with our culture and traditions and raising funds for the needs of Ukraine. This year we raised funds for another ambulance.

For the most part, Ukrainians feel the support of the local community. Ukrainian flags fly in every neighbourhood of Strasbourg and other cities in Alsace, which is how the community expresses support for Ukraine and its people. We are also supported by different national communities in France, for example, our great friends from the Georgian, Chechen, Syrian and Baltic nations, who have also suffered aggression from Russia. We really appreciate this support.

Of course, all this would not have been possible without the participation of activists and volunteers. We engage volunteers and those willing to help and work for Ukraine's victory. We continue our activities and will not stop them for a moment until Ukraine's complete victory and its restoration. Every Ukrainian, even if they are far away from Ukraine, feels a strong connection to their homeland and the pain of their people and wants to help. And we want our brothers and sisters in Ukraine to know that we, PromoUkraïna, think about them every day, work for the victory and freedom of our people, and will continue to do everything possible and impossible here, abroad, for the victory of Ukraine and our people because it must be so.

Glory to Ukraine!