In that spring, Ukraine formed volunteer battalions, some of which were associated with the self-defense units from Maidan. These battalions lacked proper equipment and relied on other volunteers for essentials such as food, uniforms, medicines, vehicles, and even weaponry. According to Roman Makukhin from the National Interests Advocacy Network, these volunteers essentially took on the role of the government in providing necessary resources to protect their neighbors, friends, brothers, and sons.
Oksana Mazar and Lyuda Kuvayskova, the founders of Front Line Kitchen, initially connected while sewing camouflage nets and balaclavas for the volunteer detachments. Many of their friends, as well as Kuvayskova’s son, participated in Maidan. Although the conflict hadn’t been officially recognized as a war, Mazar states that they wanted to help because the guys had nothing—no clothes, no shoes, and no food.
Oksana Mazar cofounded the Frontline Kitchen in the aftermath of the Euromaidan demonstrations, to support Ukraine’s self-defense units. Since the Russian invasion, the Kitchen produces 20,000 meals per day.Illustration: Mark Harris
They started cooking meals for soldiers and experimented with packaging homemade borscht and holubtsi (cabbage rolls) as ration packs for the 1,000-kilometer journey to the Donbass. These packages were often transported in the back of cars or trucks by anyone going in that direction. The cooks initially worked in small batches, drying the food in their friends’ kitchens, until they received their current premises. They eventually acquired their own dryers and expanded gradually. Once the full-scale invasion began, volunteers and suppliers filled the kitchen’s front yard, wanting to help because they knew the kitchen was providing food for the military.
With 1 million Ukrainians mobilized to fight the Russians, the demand for meals has significantly increased. The kitchen now produces 20,000 meals daily, delivering truckloads of food to the east and directly taking orders from the military. They relied on donations, often facilitated through the @frontlinekit Twitter account, to scale up their operations. The account is managed by Richard Woodruff, who came to Ukraine from the UK with the intention of joining the international brigades in the Ukrainian army, despite having no military training. However, after witnessing the intense defense of Kyiv, he reconsidered his chances of survival and instead found his way to the kitchen after the full-scale invasion began.