Project Summary: Sheptytskyi Fund

In 2022–2023, the Solidarity Fund PL, on the initiative of the Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Poland and in cooperation with the Ukrainian Ministry for Reintegration, implemented an aid programme for children and women affected by the war in Ukraine. The support was provided under the Blessed Klymentiy Sheptytskyi Fund, financed by the Chancellery of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Poland.

In times of tension, information warfare, and disinformation, the Fund was an expression of deep solidarity and humanity. It was not a political initiative – it was a gesture from the heart and an answer to the question: who are we when no one is watching?

Watch interviews with the project’s participants

Aid that Brought Hope

Over the 18 months of the programme:

2,044 children under the age of 18 who had lost one or both parents as a result of the war received financial support,
218 women who had been held in Russian captivity and released as part of official exchanges received assistance,
49 women took part in rehabilitation and respite stays in Poland,
24 women benefited from individual psychological counselling.

A Figure Connecting Two Nations

The Fund was named after Blessed Klymentiy Sheptytskyi – a Polish aristocrat, Ukrainian Studite monk, and clergyman murdered by the Soviets in 1951. Known for caring for orphans during World War I, he became a symbol of shared history and the spiritual brotherhood of the Polish and Ukrainian nations.

Stories That Needed to Be Heard

The programme was accompanied by activities sharing the testimonies of people affected by the war. The Foundation organised four photography exhibitions Ukraine. Tears of War – two in Warsaw and two in Kyiv (December 2023) – as well as a presentation at the Permanent Representation of Poland to the EU in Brussels (March 2024). Their aim was not only to show the pain and strength of the Fund’s heroes, but also to call for continued solidarity and shared responsibility.

The exhibitions told, among others, the stories of Valentyna, a soldier from Mariupol who, after months of Russian captivity, regained her freedom and faith thanks to the Fund’s support; Valentyna Z., a military nurse held in dramatic conditions; and Anastasiia Mukhina, who, after her release, became involved in helping other women who had gone through the hell of captivity.

The Fund’s Legacy

The Blessed Klymentiy Sheptytskyi Fund was a response to suffering, but also an action for the future – one based on community, solidarity, and security. It showed that humanitarian aid can embody wise, compassionate, and effective action, free from prejudice and political calculation.

The project ended in December 2023, but it left a lasting mark of good – in the lives of hundreds of families and in the relations between nations united not only by suffering, but also by mutual support.