Media project Sestry names 50 Poles who have supported Ukrainians for years

During times of great tragedy, humanity endures thanks to those who do not turn away — those who seek to protect others, pack and deliver medicine and generators, treat people wounded in shelling, comfort children fleeing explosions, write texts, raise funds and drive wherever help is needed. There are thousands of such people. Today, we name 50 of them.

The laureates were selected by a jury that included Nobel Peace Prize laureate Oleksandra Matviichuk, former Ukrainian ambassador to Poland Andrii Deshchytsia, singer and civic activist Ruslana, and Natalia Panchenko, initiator of the list and president of the Stand With Ukraine foundation.

Awards of gratitude were presented in five categories: Frontline of Life: Medicine and Rescue Services; Army of Good: Volunteers and Activists; Architects of the Alliance: Politics and Diplomacy; Guardians of Culture: Dialogue and Education; and Leaders of Change: Media and Business.

Frontline of Life: Medicine and Rescue Services

Doctors and psychologists saving lives and protecting physical and mental health in the darkness of war. They heal the wounds of the body and soul, restoring hope where the aggressor sought to spread despair.

Anna Morawska-Borowiec is a psychologist and founder of the Faces of Depression Foundation, which has supported people traumatized by war in Ukraine since the start of the full-scale invasion, especially children and teenagers. She launched a program of free psychological and psychiatric care used by both refugees in Poland and people who remained in Ukraine.

Damian Duda is one of Poland’s best-known battlefield medics and a leader of humanitarian operations in conflict zones. He is the founder of the W międzyczasie foundation, a team of medics operating directly on the front line. A reserve captain in the Polish Armed Forces and an expert in tactical medicine, he has been saving lives in Ukraine since 2014 and training soldiers in combat medicine.

Dariusz Jorg is the director’s plenipotentiary for strategy, development and clinical operations at the Zagłębie Clinical Hospital. The facility treats patients with severe injuries caused by gunshots, mines and bombings. Medical teams from Poland, Ukraine and Canada take part in the treatment process, including specialists performing complex plastic surgery operations.

Michał Kuroń is a recognized clinical psychologist and psychotherapist who leads a team of psychologists at the Clinic of Psychiatry, Combat Stress and Psychotraumatology at the Military Medical Institute in Warsaw. He trains Ukrainian psychologists and psychiatrists in treating PTSD and other war-related trauma, sharing experience gained partly through working with military veterans.

Tomasz Teodorczyk is a psychotherapist and social facilitator who has carried out educational projects in Ukraine since 2015, teaching people from war-affected regions how to cope with stress, resolve conflicts and build dialogue in a divided society.

Jakub Wojtuń is a lawyer, civic activist and volunteer, head of the Świt rescue and aid group and a member of the leadership of the Gabriel Shershenevych Institute of Eastern Law Foundation. Since 2015, he has delivered aid to orphanages, hospitals, civilians, firefighters and soldiers in Ukraine. He has also supplied specialized equipment for Ukrainian emergency services, security structures and volunteers. Since the start of the full-scale invasion, he has also participated in animal rescue operations in Ukraine.

Army of Good: Volunteers and Activists

The purest form of civil society strength. Logistics organizers and activists capable of mobilizing thousands of helping hands within hours to deliver aid wherever it is needed.

Aldona Hartwińska is a war correspondent, author of the book “No Step Back, Only Death Behind Us,” and a volunteer. She began by distributing food to refugees at Warsaw Central Station and later started delivering aid to Ukraine, where she has supported frontline soldiers for four years. She organized more than 13 fundraising campaigns worth hundreds of thousands of zlotys and supports Ukraine’s 3rd Assault Brigade (Azov).

Anna Kłos is a volunteer and co-founder of Mother’s House, a shelter for pregnant women and mothers with infants, and later founder of the Blooming House food and social aid center. She supports Ukrainian refugees and organizes humanitarian assistance for them in Poland.

Bartłomiej Szcząż is an entrepreneur, restaurateur and farmer who organized aid for refugees and residents of Kyiv. In 2022, he co-organized the preparation and delivery of thousands of hot meals for Ukrainian families near Kraków and at border crossings. In 2026, he launched the “Hot Soup for Kyiv” campaign, distributing 4,000 portions of żurek soup to Kyiv residents.

Daniel Lewakowski is a Polish volunteer who has regularly delivered aid to small villages and towns in eastern Ukraine since the start of the full-scale invasion, often reaching places overlooked by major organizations. He personally delivers aid to people in Nikopol, Kherson, Kupiansk, Pokrovsk, Kramatorsk and other cities. He has organized more than 100 trips and driven more than 500,000 kilometers carrying aid from Poland, Germany, the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland.

Elwira Niewiera is a Polish-German film director and screenwriter, author of the documentary “The Hamlet Syndrome” about young Ukrainians shaped by the Maidan protests and the war that began in 2014. She supplies thermal cameras, bulletproof vests, drones and armored vehicles to the Ukrainian military and supports women affected by war trauma through psychological support and rehabilitation programs.

Leszek Kowalski is a former detective from the Płock city police criminal division and volunteer. In 2022, he began helping Ukraine financially, then assisted refugees in Płock before organizing fundraising efforts and delivering aid directly to Ukraine. Together with supporters, he organized 40 humanitarian convoys carrying goods worth more than 1 million zlotys for children, civilians and the military.

Marcin Czyżyk actively supported fundraising efforts for Ukrainian soldiers, helping procure frontline equipment including optics and tactical gear for special forces units.

Paweł Dzik works in the banking sector. In 2022, he helped refugees at Warsaw train stations. In July 2024, he traveled to Kyiv after the missile strike on Okhmatdyt children’s hospital to help restore damaged buildings. He transports vehicles for Ukrainian soldiers and delivers humanitarian aid.

Piotr Nowak and Piotr Szumlewicz initiated and implemented the installation of a large billboard in Warsaw reading “Poland and Ukraine — On the Same Side,” aimed at reminding the public that strategic cooperation between Poland and Ukraine is a cornerstone of Poland’s national security and that Ukrainians are welcome in the country.

Ryotaro Sakamoto is a volunteer from Japan who devotes his free time to helping Ukraine. In 2022, he hosted refugee families in his home. In cooperation with Japanese charities, he purchased about 20,000 notebooks, power banks and laptops for Ukrainian schools and orphanages. He also buys ambulances for hospitals, specialized vehicles for people with disabilities and pickups for the military.

Sławomir Sobotka works in the events industry and since 2022 has used his logistics and management skills to support Ukraine by organizing humanitarian transports and public solidarity campaigns.

Justyna Grabowska is an artist and founder of the Asymetryści foundation who traveled to the border just two days after the full-scale invasion to help Ukrainians. She initially transported refugees to Warsaw and found them accommodation before focusing on helping people, including those with disabilities, traveling through Poland to Western and Northern Europe.

Jakub Lysiak is a Polish volunteer and civic activist who helped transport more than 1,000 people fleeing the war to Poland. He assists families with housing and adaptation and organizes humanitarian deliveries of medicine, food and clothing to Ukrainian cities and aid points in Poland.

Jacek Grzegorz Wiśniewski is a civic activist and board member of the Mazovian Committee for the Defense of Democracy (KOD), a Polish civic movement promoting the rule of law and European values. For many years, he has participated in initiatives supporting Ukraine and strengthening Polish-Ukrainian solidarity.

Architects of the Alliance: Politics and Diplomacy

Statesmen and diplomats fighting on the international stage for every weapons delivery and every sanction against the aggressor.

Radosław Sikorski is Poland’s foreign minister and deputy prime minister, a diplomat who supports Ukraine on the international stage. He consistently advocates maintaining a high level of military and financial support for Ukraine, defends Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and supports its European integration process. He participates in initiatives aimed at rebuilding Ukraine and ensuring long-term regional security, viewing support for Ukraine as a key element of European stability.

Aleksander Kwaśniewski is the former president of Poland who has for many years participated in international initiatives supporting Ukraine and the development of Polish-Ukrainian relations. He played a key mediating role during Ukraine’s 2004 Orange Revolution, helping create conditions for a peaceful resolution of the political crisis and repeat elections that strengthened Ukraine’s democratic course.

For years, he has remained one of Ukraine’s best-known advocates in Europe. Since 2022, he has consistently called for maintaining and increasing military, financial and humanitarian support for Ukraine, while stressing the importance of Ukraine’s integration into NATO and the European Union.

Magdalena Biejat is deputy speaker of the Polish Senate and actively participates in initiatives supporting Ukraine at both civic and international levels. She advocates systematic support for Ukrainians in Poland, including preserving legal mechanisms regulating their status and access to work and social benefits. She stresses the need for united European support for Ukraine, arguing that Ukraine’s security and sovereignty are in the interests of Poland and the entire region.

Michał Szczerba is a member of the European Parliament and former head of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly who consistently advocates increased military aid to Ukraine, emphasizing the need to supply weapons that will allow the country to defend itself effectively and achieve victory. He supports Ukraine’s aspirations to join NATO and the European Union and views integration into Euro-Atlantic structures as essential to regional security.

Mariusz Oleś is the mayor of the Polish city of Orzesze, commander of the city’s 13th search-and-rescue group and a civic activist involved in helping refugees. He organizes rescue missions throughout Ukraine and participates in humanitarian and military convoys.

Melinda Simmons is a British diplomat serving as the United Kingdom’s ambassador to Poland since 2025 and previously ambassador to Ukraine from 2019 to 2023. She has repeatedly participated in initiatives supporting Ukraine, meeting soldiers, visiting reconstruction projects and supporting volunteer and humanitarian initiatives. She has also taken part in projects aimed at sheltering displaced people and supporting schools, hospitals and communities affected by the war.

Marcin Święcicki is an economist and adviser to Poland’s foreign minister on Ukraine’s accession to the European Union, as well as a former lawmaker, minister and mayor of Warsaw. He participates in expert groups supporting Ukraine in EU accession negotiations. For years, he has supported Ukraine by combining institutional expertise with practical involvement in reform and European integration processes.

Mark Brzezinski is an American diplomat of Polish descent and former U.S. ambassador to Poland from 2022 to 2025. He helped organize logistical support at the border and assistance for refugees arriving in Poland. He also contributed to building an international support system for Ukraine by strengthening the U.S. military presence in Poland and enhancing NATO cooperation on the alliance’s eastern flank.

Martina Quick is a Swedish diplomat and ambassador to Poland who previously served as minister counselor at Sweden’s embassy in Kyiv, where she participated in support efforts for Ukraine during Russia’s ongoing aggression. She focuses on strengthening European cooperation and long-term support for Ukraine, particularly reconstruction projects. She stresses that support for Ukraine must go beyond emergency aid and include systemic reforms, decentralization and preparation for European integration.

Jennes de Mol is a Dutch diplomat and ambassador of the Netherlands to Poland who previously served as ambassador to Ukraine from 2019 to 2024. He coordinated efforts related to the investigation into the downing of flight MH17 and advocated accountability for those responsible. During his mission in Kyiv, he supported Ukraine’s recovery and transformation initiatives. He also helped facilitate the transfer of three modern field hospitals for Ukraine’s National Guard and financing for humanitarian demining operations.

Guardians of Culture: Dialogue and Education

Artists and educators ensuring that our nations continue speaking the language of shared values. They create a space of mutual respect and protect a heritage no historical storm can destroy.

Agnieszka Holland is a Polish film director and screenwriter, one of the most recognized figures in contemporary European cinema. Her works have received numerous international awards. For the film “Mr. Jones,” about British journalist Gareth Jones, who revealed the truth about the Holodomor in Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy awarded Holland the Order of Princess Olga, Third Class.

After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Holland called for a boycott of Russian cultural imports in response to the war. She also supports Ukrainian refugees and publicly advocates solidarity with the Ukrainian people.

Oleksandra Popławska is an actress and theater director who has helped Ukrainian refugees since 2022. Together with her husband, she supported the evacuation of children from Ukrainian orphanages to Poland and helped secure safe accommodation for more than 240 Ukrainian children. She has long cooperated with the SOS Children’s Villages organization in supporting families affected by war.

Wojciech Tochman is a reporter, writer and columnist known for his reporting on wars, humanitarian crises and social tragedies. Since Russia’s invasion, together with the Klub Heban foundation, he has organized fundraising campaigns to rescue and treat animals evacuated from frontline areas. He personally travels to Ukraine and participates in missions with Animal Rescue Kharkiv, evacuating animals from combat zones, often under the threat of drone attacks.

Mateusz Janicki is a theater and film actor who helped transform one of the buildings of the Juliusz Słowacki Theatre in Kraków into a reception center for Ukrainian refugees, where he himself worked as a volunteer. He also appeared in the “Solidarna Paczka” campaign supporting Ukrainian families in Poland and joined Polish actors in publicly urging Polish and European authorities not to leave Ukraine alone against the aggressor.

Bartłomiej Kiełbowicz is an artist and activist known for posters, murals and illustrations dedicated to Russia’s war against Ukraine. He created more than 150 works portraying the tragedy and resilience of the Ukrainian people and made them freely available online. He organized campaigns against companies continuing to do business in Russia and participated in the “Transparenty Wolności” artistic initiative together with Euromaidan-Warsaw. In 2024, he became the first foreign artist to bring his anti-war posters to Zaporizhzhia.

Łukasz Kaczyński is a journalist, theater and literary critic and editor-in-chief of Kalejdoskop Kultury. Since 2022, he has consistently supported Ukraine by organizing cultural, educational and charity initiatives, including meetings with Ukrainian writers and artists, discussions about the war, documentary screenings, exhibitions, humanitarian collections and aid campaigns for Ukrainian hospitals and soldiers.

Dawid Dechnert is a lawyer, legal trainee, court mediator and volunteer. On social media, he raises awareness about criminal-law protection of dignity and liability for hate crimes motivated by nationality. For more than two years, he has defended Ukrainians subjected to xenophobic attacks in Poland. During the blockade of the Polish-Ukrainian border, he delivered water, food and hygiene products to Ukrainian drivers waiting in line and also transported aid to orphanages in Ukraine.

Łukasz Wojtkowski is a Polish media scholar, political scientist and associate professor at Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń. He is closely connected with Ukraine through his academic, expert and civic activities focused on information warfare and propaganda.

Michał Maliniak is a blogger, volunteer and civic activist actively involved both in providing aid to Ukraine and combating Russian propaganda on social media.

Paweł Żołądek is a Polish volunteer and civic activist. In 2022, he organized fundraising campaigns for the Free Ukraine Battalion and supplied Ukrainian territorial defense forces in Kyiv with uniforms, medical kits, tactical equipment and protective gear. He publicly opposes hate speech in Poland and files police complaints over xenophobic statements targeting Ukrainians online.

Leaders of Change: Media and Business

Journalists who tell the truth about the war and entrepreneurs building systems of support. They shape the conscience of the world and mobilize the resources needed for Ukraine’s eventual victory.

Beata Drzazga is an entrepreneur, founder and owner of several companies in Poland and abroad, management expert and philanthropist. After the start of the war, she used her personal resources and companies — BetaMed, Drzazga Clinic and Dono da Scheggia — to organize medical, material and logistical support for refugees. She also provides financial assistance to people in critical situations and supported the “Warmth from Poland to Kyiv” fundraiser for generators for Ukrainians.

Wojciech Kostrzewa is an entrepreneur and executive with experience in the financial, media and technology sectors. As head of the Polish Business Roundtable, he organizes systematic economic and humanitarian support for Ukraine. He coordinates fundraising efforts for energy equipment and assistance for Ukrainian entrepreneurs and refugees in Poland. As part of the “Warmth from Poland for Kyiv” campaign, co-organized by the Polish Business Roundtable foundation, 11.32 million zlotys were raised from 75,500 donors, allowing the purchase and delivery of more than 500 power generators to Ukraine.

Jerzy Brodzikowski is CEO of CIC Warsaw and a board member of the Venture Café Warsaw foundation. Since 2022, the innovation hub CIC Warsaw has become a space open to Ukrainian businesses, startups and NGOs, creating opportunities for cooperation, joint development and networking. He supports the integration of Ukraine’s technology ecosystem with the Polish market and develops programs focused on Ukraine’s reconstruction.

Magdalena Rigamonti is a Polish journalist who works, among others, with the Onet.pl news portal. Since the first days of Russia’s invasion, she has covered the war in Ukraine by interviewing Ukrainian soldiers, chaplains and refugees, while also addressing Polish-Ukrainian relations, difficult historical issues and the need for dialogue.

Mateusz Lachowski is a war correspondent, documentary filmmaker, director and volunteer who gained nationwide recognition for his reporting from Ukraine. Since 2022, he has regularly worked in conflict zones. He was the first Polish journalist to enter the liberated areas around Kyiv and report to the world about the scale of Russian atrocities in Bucha and Irpin.

Małgorzata Durska is a sociologist, economist and manager. As president of the Polish Business Roundtable foundation, she supported and promoted educational initiatives and internship programs, including opportunities for young talents from Ukraine. In 2022, she participated in organizing urgent financial, logistical and material assistance for refugees and Ukrainians who remained in the country.

Paweł Wutke is a business development expert specializing in economic relations and the IT sector between Poland and Ukraine. He serves as co-chair of the IT Sector Committee at the Polish-Ukrainian Chamber of Commerce. He is responsible for supporting and integrating Polish-Ukrainian technology projects, previously managed the official PUIG representation office in Ternopil and participates in developing strategies for the role of the IT sector in Ukraine’s future digital reconstruction.

Paweł Reszka is a reporter, war correspondent and author of the book “A Place After the Empire,” who regularly travels to Ukraine to report on the war and tell the world the truth. He spends time in trenches with Ukrainian soldiers and in basements with civilians, documenting the realities of drone warfare, ghost towns and the so-called gray zones.

Radosław Wiśniewski is a poet, prose writer and literary critic who has headed the Association of Living Poets for 20 years. Since 2022, he has conducted continuous information and humanitarian campaigns in support of Ukraine. Fundraising initiatives organized by him have raised hundreds of thousands of zlotys for Ukraine.

Roman Imielski is first deputy editor-in-chief of Gazeta Wyborcza. He not only coordinates fundraising efforts but also personally drives buses carrying aid for Ukrainians to Kharkiv, Kupiansk, Izium, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. He actively supports the “Wyborcza: Help for Ukraine” campaign and, together with the NIDAROS foundation, initiated projects delivering stoves, generators and thermal clothing ahead of Ukraine’s critical winter period.