First week of war in Ukraine

On February 24, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine in an illegal, unprovoked attack. The country has been fighting a war for its freedom, independence, and its very existence. The courage and determination of the Ukrainian people to stand up to the aggressor has been an inspiration across the globe.

We’ve gathered some key updates about the situation on the ground, what we are doing to help, as well as other tech and software companies, and how you can help Ukraine in its fight for survival.

How Ukraine is fighting off invaders

The heartbreaking war stats keep coming in — the UN confirms 752 civilian casualties, including 15 children. Over a million refugees crossed over to the neighboring countries.

Russian forces continue to bomb and shell civilian targets across the country. As shared by CNBC, Russia has launched over 450 missiles at Ukraine since the start of the war. Targets included not only Ukrainian military or infrastructure capacities, but also civilian locations in major cities, including capital Kyiv and former capital Kharkiv:

On March 3, 2022, Russian forces made an attack on a nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia in south eastern Ukraine, as reported by the Ukrainian emergency service.

In the face of grave danger and insurmountable difficulties, the Ukrainian people have managed to put up a breathtaking fight and resistance. According to the state border authority, around 80,000 Ukrainians returned to Ukraine since the war broke out, most of them men, updates Deutsche Welle.

Viral videos shared by eyewitnesses from the front lines show Ukrainian men and women stage protests in the face of armed Russian soldiers, not flinching even when warning shots are fired in the air.

Unarmed civilians are walking out to stop tanks:

A woman in Odesa confronted a Russian soldier offering to put sunflower seeds in his pockets so that sunflowers could grow from his body when he died on Ukrainian soil:

Ukrainians staying in the country who are not part of the Ukrainian army or territorial defense, are not just volunteering to help fight the humanitarian challenges posed by the invasion and damage to infrastructure. They are arming themselves with Molotov cocktails to help damage the enemy tanks:

One man used his tractor to tow and carjack a Russian tank:

Ukrainian heroic resistance inspired massive support on social media, extensive news coverage, and creative and humanitarian efforts to unite in this fight for freedom and independence of a peaceful nation.

What MacPaw is doing

MacPaw is continuing to donate to the army and humanitarian needs within the country, as well as volunteer time and resources to help raise awareness about the war in Ukraine.

We’ve provided users in Ukraine with free access to our VPN product ClearVPN, while our customers across the globe can use #StandWithUkraine free shortcut to find out news about the situation in Ukraine and help get the word out.

We’ve also provided journalists covering the war in Ukraine with a free year of CleanMyMac X to make sure their devices are working without fail in this critical time.

For our vendors on Setapp, we’ve created a technical way to donate their February 2022 profits (part or in full) to several causes to help Ukraine.

MacPaw also is in the process of stopping all sales of its products to customers in Russia and Belarus.

Additionally, we are helping audiences across the world to find out the truth about the war in Ukraine with blog posts, social media updates, and updates in our email communications. And while most of the feedback has been overwhelmingly supportive, our support team also received a message from Russian state monitoring service announcing they have blocked access to our blog post listing truthful resources covering the war in Ukraine.

Members of the MacPaw team also shared their experiences of war.

How IT is joining the fight for Ukraine

The global software industry is getting together to help Ukraine fight this unjust, unprovoked invasion.

Ajax Systems released an app that informs Ukrainians about air raid alerts in many regions of the country.

Apple announced it’s halting sales in Russia over the invasion of Ukraine.

Microsoft also suspended sales and is helping Ukraine fight off cyberattacks.

Google and Twitter have paused ad sales in Russia.

Oracle also suspended operations in Russia.

Bolt, Uber, and Grammarly are donating millions to the cause.

Another notable donation pledge has been announced by ProtonMail, who earmarked 10% of revenue from new subscriptions over the current fortnight for donations to relief efforts in Ukraine.

Face-swapping app Reface pushed anti-war notifications to its users across the globe and in Russia.

Numerous other tech companies are following suit.

How you can help Ukraine

You can help Ukraine by supporting various organizations now helping Ukrainians fight, overcome humanitarian difficulties, and find refuge both inside and outside the country.

• Donate to the Ukrainian army
• Donate to the UN Refugee Agency for Ukraine
• Donate to fund humanitarian assistance by the National Bank of Ukraine
• Donate to the Red Cross in Ukraine
• Donate to Doctors Without Borders
• Donate or become a host to Airbnb initiative for Ukrainian refugees

Additionally, your can join anti-war initiatives in your community, as well as gather humanitarian aid for Ukraine, offer to help find accommodation for refugees, and spread the word about the crisis on social media and invite your friends to donate and support under the hashtag #StandWithUkraine.