With each following day, it’s more surreal that war is still raging on in Ukraine and innocent people have to leave their homes behind or see their husbands and wives off to the battlefield. Naturally, we all want to help, and keep ourselves informed about any advancements. But there’s a lot of information floating around and it can be hard to keep track.

Donate money or necessary goods to Ukraine

The first thing we can all do to help is to donate money and food/hygiene products/etc through our local Red Cross and other similar collection centers.

The second, and just as important, is to help spread truthful information about what’s going on and how to offer help.

Help stop the spread of false information

To stop the Russian people from accessing the truth, the Russian government is publishing propaganda on national media channels and blocking sites like Twitter and Facebook. After years of criticism from the public about helping malicious organizations spread false truths, Meta and Twitter are trying to fact-check posts and add different safety measures.

On Thursday, Facebook’s head of security policy, Nathaniel Gleicher, announced the service turned on a new feature in Ukraine that lets people lock their accounts so people who aren’t their friends can’t download or share their profile photos or see posts on their timeline.

On Instagram, all users in Ukraine will get a notification warning people with public accounts that their posts are visible, and reminding those with private accounts to use proper security. On Meta’s chat-app Messenger, users in Ukraine are prompted to use disappearing chats and get notifications when a party takes a screenshot of any conversation.

Take these steps to help Ukraine:

✔️ Report false information and sites that spread propaganda
✔️ Reshare information from credible sources about what is going on in Ukraine
✔️ Reshare information about how each of us in our home countries can help the Ukrainian people
✔️ Try to stay positive and not get consumed by worrying because we are so much more valuable if we stay strong

Read this article about how to combat misinformation: CNN
Some sites you can follow to stay updated about what’s going on in Ukraine:
@withukraine
@zelenskiy_official
Kyiv Independent

Donation sites in Estonia:
Donations to Ukraine Armed Forces
ukrainaheaks.ee
Punane Rist

We stand with the people of Ukraine! – Saskia