Recently, Ukraine and the world celebrated International Volunteer Day. It is another day to officially thank the Heroes who are doing a crucial job for the military and the frontline. While Ukrainians consider volunteers a separate branch of the military, who deserve gratitude on their day, the volunteers feel a little embarrassed about it.

They believe that volunteering is not a profession but a civic position. That is why everyone in Ukraine should be a volunteer, without exception. Accordingly, the holiday should not be about individuals but about all Ukrainians.

This is the opinion of today's Guardian of Light, Ivan Kravchuk, an employee of Rivne nuclear power plant and head of the NGO “Energy of Victory”. He is convinced that Ukraine will defeat russia just after all Ukrainians realize the war concerns everyone.

Before the full-scale invasion, our hero had an ordinary life. He worked as an electric welder of manual welding, 4th class, traveled, and constantly volunteered. Therefore, when russia attacked Ukraine, his actions were clear and obvious.

“In January 2015, I voluntarily went to war in the ATO/JFO zone. I was 21 years old,” says the Guardian. ”I went because I had such an upbringing. My heart was breaking when I saw how hard our guys were defending Ukraine, and how they were being abused in captivity. I had a desire to take revenge for my country, and for the military, and I joined the ranks of the defenders without hesitation. That's why I know what it's like to be a soldier.”

The volunteer served in the tactical group of the 5th Battalion of the 81st Separate Assault Brigade, performing combat missions near the Donetsk airport in the village of Opytne. When he was discharged from the service, he decided to travel around Europe to take a moral break from the fighting.

“Since I love traveling, I decided to combine business with pleasure,” says Ivan Kravchuk. ”For some time, I just traveled around and worked there, and when I had seen enough, I returned to Ukraine in 2019 and got a job at Rivne NPP. At the plant, I met volunteers. Together with them, I helped the defense forces long before the full-scale invasion.”

From then on, as the nuclear professional jokingly says, his thorny destiny as a volunteer began. After February 24, 2022, support for the defenders at the frontline required a larger scale and greater efficiency, so the volunteers' activities were forced to transform. At that time, our Guardian had an urgent need to volunteer officially.

“Creation of the NGO “Energy of Victory” was necessary", explains the RNPP employee. ”We made this decision after realizing that it was better both to report to people and cooperate with various individual entrepreneurs, LLCs, or other organizations.”

Today, Energy of Victory has about 50 volunteers and 19 board members. As stated in the charter, these people are exclusively employees of Rivne NPP. The main activity of the organization is to quickly and efficiently help fellow military personnel and plant employees whose relatives serve in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. When necessary and possible, the NGO also helps locals.

“First of all, we meet the needs of our employees and their families,” explains the head of the NGO, ”and then we help locals. We provide everything they ask for: from Mavics, FPV drones, electronic warfare, generators of various types, and car repairs to the opportunity to undergo rehabilitation after being wounded at the front. Our results are very cool. During the year of Energy of Victory's existence, we organized our work perfectly and managed to close requests for about UAH 65 million.”

Ivan Kravchuk emphasizes that each volunteer feels incredible when they manage to close all requests, but admits that there are also sad moments in this activity:

“It's very upsetting when the amount received is lower than the number of requests. Then we realize we will not help everyone this month, and it hurts.”

Therefore, Ivan Kravchuk calls on Ukrainians to help and support the military. It is imperative to donate and be their wings. He is convinced that “we, the nation of the unbreakable, will be able to defeat the enemy just after realizing the war concerns everyone.”

The head of the NGO “Energy of Victory” assures the defenders of Ukraine that the volunteers are well aware of the situation of the military, so they will do everything to meet the needs at the front line as soon as possible. Ivan Kravchuk also thanks the Ukrainian superheroes for their courage and bravery and urges them to take care and come back alive.

Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the heroes!