The desire to deliver a few generators to freezing residents of Kyiv turned out to be the spark that unleashed an avalanche of humanitarian aid across Poland and Europe. “Warmth from Poland for Kyiv” reawakened solidarity not only among Poles.
In mid-January this year, Zbigniew Jankowski, managing partner at the Maurent PR agency, was reading media reports about what was happening in Kyiv. The Russians had destroyed power plants and heating plants; frost had paralyzed Ukraine’s capital. Hundreds of thousands of residents were without electricity, heating, or water.
“I saw that no one was reacting. So I called Jurek and said: let’s organize something. I’ll buy a generator myself, call around to friends, and we’ll take them there,” Jankowski recalls the evening of January 15.
Jurek — Jerzy Wójcik, publisher of Sestry.eu — suggested buying five generators. Given the anti-Ukrainian sentiments present in Poland at the time, even that seemed significant. They also called Bartek Kramek from the Open Dialogue Foundation and Natalia Panchenko from Stand With Ukraine. They reached an agreement. On Friday morning, January 16, the “Warmth from Poland for Kyiv” fundraiser was launched.
The ambitious goal: PLN 400,000 for 100 generators — maybe they could raise that much in a week.
Maybe. Because they knew that for over a year, fundraisers for Ukraine had been on life support — Poles had stopped donating. Organizations struggled to raise money even for single pieces of equipment.
None of them expected the powerful energy they were about to unleash in people.
A Snowball of Solidarity
They called friends — journalists, businesspeople — encouraging them to contribute. It turned out people very much wanted to help.
“Friends in Estonia and Sweden got fired up. They called their friends, and it spread like a wave,” Jankowski describes.
Journalist friends promoted the fundraiser on social media. Media outlets began writing about it. Artists, businesspeople, and companies joined in. After four days, the main news programs were talking about the initiative — it became a national cause. Within four days, according to the Institute of Media Monitoring, the message about “Warmth from Poland for Kyiv” reached more than 10 million people.
The organizers, communicating through a messaging group, kept reporting new fundraising records. They couldn’t believe what was happening. On the first day alone, they surpassed PLN 100,000. The target — PLN 400,000 — was reached in 28 hours. On the second day, they crossed one million. By the end of the weekend, they had nearly three million. The counter accelerated — on this highway of human kindness, there were no speed limits. Sometimes they raised the target twice a day — that’s how quickly Poles were donating.
Some donated several times. The largest contributions — mainly from businesspeople — were five-figure sums. On the third day, Dominika Kulczyk broke the bank — her company Polenergia and her foundation allocated as much as half a million zlotys. Employers became strongly involved. Companies initiated internal fundraisers and employee contributions.
“Wojtek Buczkowski, founder and largest shareholder of Komputronik, promoted the fundraiser within our company. He personally donated a large amount to encourage others. Employees were eager to contribute,” says Mateusz Kramek from Komputronik.
“Tomorrow we’re organizing a fundraiser for another generator,” announces Rafał Sonik, a company shareholder. He says he encountered similar internal corporate fundraising efforts in other companies as well.
“With This Action We Shut the Trolls Up”
“It all shot into space,” comments Zbigniew Jankowski on the unexpected success.
The volunteers who had long been raising funds for humanitarian aid to Ukraine were the most shocked.
“I was very, very surprised already at six million. When it reached ten million, my jaw dropped,” says Tomasz Sikora, who since the start of the full-scale war has organized and transported humanitarian aid to Ukraine in wholesale quantities.
“What was happening contradicted what we saw on the internet. This action showed that a significant part of the anti-Ukrainian movement online is artificial,” adds Darek Bobak, president of the Folkowisko Humanitarian Foundation, which has sent more than 10,000 tons (that’s not a mistake!) of humanitarian aid to Ukraine since the war began.
Aldona Hartwińska, a volunteer supporting Ukrainian soldiers, writer, and contributor to Sestry.eu, was already surprised when the first million was collected.
“Ten million is just out of this world. Ukrainians emphasize that with this action we shut the trolls up,” she adds.
According to IMM research, social media narratives were dominated by themes of solidarity, moral duty, and words like “Bravo,” “thank you,” and “important support.”
Hate was marginal — only 14 percent of comments were negative. The spontaneous, energetic help cut off the oxygen supply to pro-Russian bots and trolls.
Poles wanted to help.
A Chain Reaction
“Warmth from Poland for Kyiv” triggered a chain reaction nationwide. On the fourth day of the fundraiser, after questions from OKO.press, the Government Strategic Reserves Agency (RARS) announced that it would send 447 generators from its reserves to Ukraine, funded by the European Union. Later, the EU added another 500 machines via RARS, with capacities ranging from 13.75 kW up to 1000 kW.
A week after the campaign began, Prime Minister Donald Tusk announced the shipment of another 379 generators (6.5–115 kW) and 18 heaters from RARS reserves, this time financed by the Ministry of Interior and Administration. That same day, Warsaw displayed 90 city-owned generators bound for Kyiv.
Other major cities followed: Gdańsk — five industrial generators; Kraków — 15 units; Opole — three units. The Pomeranian Voivodeship donated 20 generators worth nearly PLN 100,000 to the Kherson and Odesa regions, with three more machines to follow.
Numerous NGOs long supporting Ukraine organized their own collections. So did companies. The PKO Bank Polski Foundation launched an internal campaign among employees, pledging to match every donation. In under two weeks, nearly 1,600 employees contributed close to PLN 150,000. The foundation supported the Polish Center for International Aid and the Foundations for Culture Foundation with over half a million zlotys — for generators and heaters.
A breakthrough move came from Cardinal Grzegorz Ryś, newly appointed head of the Archdiocese of Kraków. He announced that funds collected in churches on February 1 would go toward generators for Ukraine. He pledged to personally sponsor the first machine.
This was significant because, as Press.pl noted in late January, neither right-wing nor Catholic media (except Tygodnik Powszechny) supported fundraisers for freezing Ukraine — and some even remained silent about the mass civic initiative.
“They’re afraid of the reaction of the conspiracy crowd (anti-Ukrainian — ed.),” criticized Wojciech Mucha, a right-wing columnist who has long reported on the East.
Cardinal Ryś grabbed the anti-Ukrainian bull of the right by the horns — effectively. The faithful showed generosity. PLN 5.74 million was collected in one day. Caritas of the Archdiocese of Kraków has already sent eastward, in several shipments: 260 medium and large generators (25 kW to several hundred kW), 900 heaters, 343 eco-flow stations, 100 first-aid kits, hundreds of power banks, tons of products, blankets, etc.
A week later, the Archdiocese of Łódź collected PLN 400,000, purchasing three generators (including two large 108 kW units) and six power stations. The remaining funds went to Caritas Ukraine and Caritas SPES.
“They will support the activities of the Dominican Sisters in Chortkiv, Ukraine,” informs Tomasz Kopytowski, director of Caritas Łódź.
On February 15, the Polish Bishops’ Conference announced a nationwide collection. Results are still pending.
“We have 46 diocesan Caritas organizations, so we’ll need at least another week and a half to gather full data,” explains Kinga Łuszczyńska from Caritas Polska.
It is known, however, that Pope Leo XIV sent 80 generators and other humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
By mid-February, the Polish Embassy in Kyiv reported that energy support from Poland alone was worth PLN 16 million. “These are not just numbers — they are warm apartments, light in the darkness, the feeling that no one has been left alone,” the Embassy added.
The Czech Surge
At the Munich Security Conference in mid-February, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha spoke about “Warmth from Poland for Kyiv.”
“This initiative intensified similar actions in other countries. It has expanded and now includes several European states, including the Czech Republic and Germany, which — following the example of our Polish friends and allies — have launched their own collections of generators and essential energy equipment for Ukraine.”
Indeed, the fundraiser inspired others abroad — in many countries.
The Czech Republic stands out. Under the name “A Gift for Putin,” a fundraiser launched five days after the Polish one and raised over €6 million (approx. PLN 25 million) in four days. It now totals €7.5 million (PLN 31.5 million) from 96,000 donors.
Teams competed in fundraising. The campaign was run by the multimillionaire philanthropist Dalibor Dědek’s Weapons to Ukraine Fund.
Another Czech organization, Post Bellum (Memory of Nations), delivered at least 442 generators (3–600 kW). By February 6, it had raised 20 million CZK (PLN 3.4 million).
Billionaire Renáta Kellnerová — the richest Czech and the world’s 12th wealthiest woman — together with her daughters donated 170 million CZK (PLN 28.9 million) to the Olena Zelenska Foundation, mainly for generators and heating devices.
The Czech state contributed 55 generators (3–75 kVA), transported by Poland’s RARS.
State Giants
Similar campaigns occurred elsewhere, though generally smaller in scale. Germany’s Blau-Gelbes Kreuz e.V. Heat for Ukraine sent at least 560 generators worth about €2 million. Slovaks donated over half a million euros at their embassy’s call.
Governments followed. France purchased 100 generators totaling 13 MW. Switzerland approved a CHF 32 million aid package (approx. PLN 148 million) for 18 high-efficiency gas-powered modules and 80 generators. Germany sent 33 mobile containerized heating plants, 300 solar power plants, 375 storage systems, and 15 hybrid generators (mostly 450–550 kW units).
The Netherlands and Denmark pledged €43 million. Sweden pledged €11 million. Lithuania €2 million. Italy sent 380 large units.
Norway may be the largest donor — on January 12 it allocated €340 million (almost PLN 1.5 billion) to support Ukraine’s energy sector.
Transformation
“Warmth from Poland for Kyiv” raised PLN 11.4 million (by February 20). At least 740 generators (5.5–500 kW) totaling 7,716 kW, 300 power stations, and 918 stoves were purchased. 700 units have arrived; 40 are en route, plus 100 Eco-Flow stations.
PLN 3.76 million remains to be spent. Organizers plan to buy mobile transformer substations for frontline regions.
Activists say the success is more than money and machines.
“It changed something in Poles. And not only them.”
“There’s visible reputational growth of aid — people woke up and remembered there is a war in the East,” says Tomasz Wantuch, who has led 100 aid convoys to Ukraine.
“This action changes social attitudes. And strengthens those working in humanitarian aid. It gives more hope,” adds Tomasz Sikora.
Darek Bobak notes that Polish aid had waned during the Trump era.
“And yet it turned out many people want to help. This shows people can mobilize. A very good sign.”
“It was an uprising, unexpected for all of us. We were even a bit jealous — it drained Polish wallets. A huge plus was that it pushed the Church to collect for Ukraine,” adds Aldona Hartwińska.
Antibodies
Rafał Sonik believes the success was partly due to Donald Trump promising peace in 2025, leading people to think the war would soon end. Winter reminded them otherwise.
“That revived our spirit of solidarity. Tens of thousands of Poles showed this war concerns us too.”
Bartosz Kramek said during the fundraiser that it marked a breakthrough in Polish-Ukrainian relations — “a solid dose of vaccine against apathy, propaganda, and disinformation. These antibodies will stay with us.”
He now adds that at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Gdańsk, “Warmth from Poland for Kyiv” may become a symbol of effectiveness.
“And the most valuable kind — created from the grassroots.”
Jerzy Wójcik concludes: “This action is the deepest foreign policy possible.”
Source: onet.pl
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