Crimean Front (organisation)

Crimean Front
Formation	September 2023
Type	Joint Initiative
Purpose	Support for Ukraine
Official language	English, Ukrainian
Website	https://crimeanfront.org/

Crimean Front is a joint initiative of non-governmental organizations, volunteers and businesses to support the Defense Forces of Ukraine and provide humanitarian aid to war victims and the least protected sections of the population, in particular on the front-line, de-occupied and temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine.

Started as a unifying initiative of Crimean Tatar public figures, volunteers, non-governmental organizations and businesses that have Crimean Tatar or Crimean roots.

Goal

The initiative is designed to unite on one platform the efforts of the forces of resistance to Russian aggression, which began in February 2014 in Crimea, and is aimed at comprehensively supporting Ukraine's struggle for its sovereignty, the liberation of Crimea and all occupied territories, and the return to international recognized borders of 1991.

History

Russian aggression against Ukraine began with the occupation and annexation of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014. Resistance to aggression by Ukrainian citizens in Crimea, in particular by Crimean Tatars —the indigenous people of Crimea, was harshly suppressed by the occupation authorities of the peninsula. Under the threat of persecution, the driving forces of the resistance were forced to leave the peninsula and continued the struggle for the liberation of the Crimean peninsula on the mainland of Ukraine.

On February 24, 2022, with the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, many charitable and public organizations, which were either organized by people from Crimea or aimed at helping Crimeans, joined forces for the evacuation and all kinds of support for people from war zones or potentially dangerous regions.

Cooperation later turned into joint humanitarian projects and projects aimed at helping the Defense Forces of Ukraine. The initiatives of public and charitable organizations were actively supported by business representatives who, due to Russian aggression in 2014, were forced to move their business from the temporarily occupied Crimea to the mainland of Ukraine. Coordination of the joint efforts of the public sector, volunteers and business was successfully carried out by the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, as the representative body of the Crimean Tatars.

In September 2023, on the joint initiative of the International Charitable Foundation National Welfare Foundation of Crimea, the ASTEM Foundation Charitable Foundation, Spiritual Administration of the Muslims of Crimea and with the support of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People, a decision was made on the creation of a single charitable platform - the United Initiative Crimean Front, which is designed to consolidate the efforts of all participants in the movement for a free Ukrainian Crimea and the unconditional victory of Ukraine.

Main areas of activity

Increased assistance to the Armed Forces of Ukraine (cars, special purpose equipment, equipment, personal protective equipment, training, treatment, rehabilitation, etc.)
Humanitarian aid to war victims and the most vulnerable sections of the population.

Resources

The charity platform United Initiative Crimean Front is not a a legal entity and does not dispose of a separate budget. The platform is designed to unite and coordinate the efforts of participants and partners for more effective and coordinated work and movement towards jointly defined goals .

The initiative consolidates ideas and coordinates the joint activities of Non-governmental organizations, public activists and businesses to attract donations to existing or new humanitarian and charitable projects, which are implemented by partners and meet the goals and objectives of the joint initiative.

Partners

Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people / Qırımtatar Milliy Meclisi — representative body of the Crimean Tatars
International Charitable Fund National Welfare Fund of Crimea
ASTEM Foundation Charitable Foundation
Spiritual Administration of Muslims of Crimea
UAIM Humanitarian Fund
DroneUA
LC Waikiki clothing store
TAKAVA specialty coffee shops
DOT. MATCHA BAR & COFFEE
MEAT GARDEN Halal meat store
Bfresh modern fresh markets
Eski Qırım Crimean Tatar restaurant
Humanitarian Nova Post
Qirim Media
Musafir restaurant chain
Family Cafe Bahchisaray
Cheburek Crimean Tatar cuisine
Chebur King Cafe
TRO Media
Family bread bakery
Crimean Tatar cultural center Birlik Center
Crimean Cafe Solhat
Restaurant of Azerbaijani and European cuisine Buglama

The charity platform is open to new partners, volunteers and initiatives.

Responsible persons of the project

Lenur Mambetov is the initiator and co-coordinator of the platform;
Snaver Seithalilev is the initiator and co-coordinator of the platform;
Felix Karayev is a co-coordinator and volunteer of the platform.

Projects supported by partners, united and continued under the auspices of the Crimean Front

Feeding the Country. As part of this project, the mobile kitchen, which was handed over to the Crimean National Welfare Fund by the Turkish humanitarian fund İHH İnşani Yardım Vakfı at the beginning of 2023, started working in the frontline and de-occupied regions of the country already in March of the same year, providing up to a thousand people with hot food every day lunches
500 sets of humanitarian aid. The project of the ASTEM Foundation is aimed at providing IDPs with the most basic necessities, such as sets of warm clothing for children and adults, blankets, battery-operated AM/FM/NOAA ALERT Radios, thermal sleeping bags, LED camping lights, first aid kits, portable power plants (300 W) / generators (2 kW) and gas burners. As part of the project, more than 500 sets were created and handed over to the addressees.
Auto for Victory. The "100 Cars for Victory" project, launched on the basis of the "ASTEM Foundation" Charitable Fund, is designed to promptly respond to the needs of the Defense Forces in vehicles, which would, in particular, facilitate the resolution of humanitarian issues during the war. Thanks to the support of Ukrainian and international partners, the "ASTEM Foundation" Charitable Fund purchased and donated more than 100 cars for humanitarian needs and the needs of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
A generator for every home. ASTEM Foundation project. More than 2,000 generators have already been handed over to IDP families and state institutions to families in the de-occupied and front-line territories.
Assistance of the Armed Forces. The direction, which is covered by many partners of the joint initiative, is currently expanded and designed to systematically respond to the requests of the Defense Forces. Since February 2022, cars, dry rations, sleeping bags, blankets, hygiene products (medical wet wipes, diapers, etc.) have been collected for the checkpoints.
Assistance to medical institutions (Clinical Hospital "Feofania", Heart Institute of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine, regional hospitals). The activities of the charitable organizations that initiated the creation of the joint initiative included charitable assistance to a number of medical institutions in Kyiv and the Kyiv region even before February 24, 2022. Since the spring of 2022, due to hostilities and enemy attacks directed at the energy infrastructure of the country, the needs of medical institutions for help will only increase.
Assistance to regional military administrations. Food sets, blankets, hygiene products, household chemicals, mattresses and seasonal items were handed over to OVA in Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Kyiv

Sources

Links

Official website