How ex-model Nina Yevtushenko dodged floating Russian mines to rescue victims of the horrendous flooding that followed one of Putin’s most egregious war crimes

Before the war in Ukraine started, Nina Yevtushenko's biggest decisions were about which modeling assignments to accept and which beauty pageants to enter.

Today, life could hardly be more different after she founded a humanitarian aid group that operates in and around the frontlines to provide food, clothing, blankets and basic goods to those in need. Almost every day, Nina risks her life dodging Russian missiles, rockets, drones, artillery and mortar fire.

As she talks passionately about her role in the war, there is no doubt that she gets infinitely more satisfaction from her lifesaving work than from her groundbreaking modeling assignments.

“As sad as it sounds, I found my calling during the war,” says the 26-year-old. “Every day I look for a thousand opportunities to find support and humanitarian aid, because it helps Ukrainians survive this hell. And every day I thank my foreign friends for their help and reiterate how important it is that it does not stop.'

Nina's life was turned upside down in February last year. Although Russian troops had been massing on the Ukrainian border for weeks, they did not think they would invade.

Almost every day, Nina risks her life dodging Russian missiles, rockets, drones, artillery and mortar fire

Then, four days after her 25th birthday, while she was in western Ukraine with her sister and cousin, her family called at 5 a.m. on February 24 to say that the war had started and that shots were being fired in her home city of Zaporizhia.

Separated from her loved ones, Nina recalls, “My sister and I were very scared. We were alone and had no idea what to do.”

Initially they went to stay with friends, but three weeks later they traveled to Slovakia, where they stayed for several weeks and raised money to send to volunteers in Ukraine. But she says she wanted to be more useful and decided to return because most of her family in the Zaporizhia region was under Russian occupation.

She contacted a friend, Kate Shkoliar, a volunteer aid worker, and asked her to start a charitable foundation together. Within a week of Nina's return to Ukraine, they had launched a fund they called the Mriya Foundation (“mriya” means dream in Ukrainian).

Over the past 19 months, the nonprofit has helped many thousands of Ukrainians, many of whom live on or near the front lines.

Nina tells me how they help displaced people, families with babies, the disabled, the elderly, large families and the military. They also provide shelter for animals and transport pet food to areas where there are many abandoned dogs.

The foundation takes on challenges that other aid groups cannot (or do not want to) take on.

Nina explains: “When someone turns to us for help, it means they need it 100 percent. We will do everything in our power to deliver it. I want people to know they are not alone.'

Inevitably, Nina and her team will come under fire.

Their most dangerous moments came in November last year, after Ukrainian forces retook land in the east and southeast of their country from Russia. She says they were the first response group to reach the areas around Kharkov and Kherson after Russian troops left.

Over the past 19 months, the nonprofit has helped many thousands of Ukrainians, many of whom live on or near the front lines

Nina and her team, led by her friend Kate, were bringing three trucks of aid to Kherson when the Russians suddenly started shelling and shooting indiscriminately.

She says: 'It was chaos, but we had a queue of 4,000 people wanting help. It was very scary, but everyone kept helping.”

In the Kharkiv region, they took a truckload of humanitarian aid, including 2,000 food boxes and 4,000 blankets. “When the time came to divide them all, a [Russian] rocket flew over us,” Nina remembers.

On another occasion, she and a friend were bombed while trying to deliver pet food within two miles of the front line.

When Russian forces blew up the Kakhovka Dam in June, killing 58 people and destroying the lives of some 40,000 people in the Dnipro River area, Nina's team was at the center of the rescue efforts. Despite the enormous dangers, with the river banks mined by Russians and explosives floating in the water, the volunteers used small boats to help those in need.

Nina says: 'Kate arrived there shortly after the explosion and brought food and other aid to the flooded areas.'

Two days later, Nina arrived in one of the worst affected villages together with the Scottish-based aid organization Siobhan's Trust. 'We made pizza and also brought food to areas where the water had receded but there was still no electricity. I also helped distribute food parcels for an entire village.

'The scenes we saw were desperate: many houses were almost completely submerged in water.'

In the Kharkiv region, they took a truckload of humanitarian aid, including 2,000 food boxes and 4,000 blankets

Unsurprisingly, Nina and her team of volunteers have witnessed some heartbreaking scenes over the past 19 months, especially in her home town in March. They arrived there within hours of a Russian missile hitting a five-story building.

'On the second day we found a family who had been killed by the rocket. A little girl, eight months old, her mother, her father and their cat were all dead and lying on the bed. It was very traumatic because for two days everyone had hoped that they would be found alive.'

The people of Ukraine have endured terrible suffering. Before the war, the country's population was almost 44 million. But an estimated 70,000 people have been killed and another 120,000 injured in the past 22 months. The invasion has displaced more than eight million Ukrainians and forced even more Ukrainians to become refugees.

Having visited Ukraine five times since the war began, my respect for the courage and resilience of the Ukrainian people knows no bounds. Now that the war is in a difficult phase and, according to some, has reached a kind of stalemate, I am more convinced than ever that the rest of the world should not let the terrible events in the Middle East distract from our determination to help . Ukraine. Humanitarian support is no less important than military support, especially as winter begins to bite and temperatures drop as low as -20 degrees Celsius.

Since Nina founded her foundation, it has attracted private donors, and the help she has provided in the form of food, medical equipment and other supplies has been immeasurable.

She says: 'I'm proud of the work we've done, on such a small budget. Our donors know that their money goes to good causes.'

Fortunately, no one from Nina's immediate family was killed or injured. Early in the war, they smuggled her closest relatives – her mother, younger brother and grandfather – to safety.

However, their hometown is still occupied and they cannot return.

Nina married just after the war broke out and her husband, Viktor, works for the Ukrainian army as part of the country's security service. Due to their different and demanding roles, they spend a lot of time apart.

Nina and Kate are looking for new charity partners to maximize their effectiveness. Initially the pair did everything themselves, but now they have a small staff and twenty permanent volunteers.

An estimated 70,000 people have been killed and another 120,000 injured in Ukraine in the past 22 months.

Nina, who is almost 6 feet tall, became a model in her third year as a mathematics student at the University of Zaporizhia. She won a local beauty pageant and then represented her city in a national competition, which she won, and then played for Ukraine in a global competition. Since then she has worked as a fashion model.

Nina hopes that the war will end soon, but fears that it could last a long time. Like many Ukrainians, she desperately wants the West, especially the US and Britain, to continue their support with military weapons and humanitarian aid.

One thing is certain: Nina's work to help those in need will continue and even increase. “I want to help Ukrainians get through this horror,” she says.

Mriya has opened a warehouse close to the front line, where equipment is stored before being distributed. There are plans to expand the operation as well.

Nina adds: 'I want to help children, who have only been studying online for almost two years, to increase their knowledge level.'

She and Kate are also thinking about opening a rehabilitation center for injured soldiers.

'In some ways we don't want to wait until the end of the war. We have to live in the present and try to be 100 percent useful. We have learned to live every second as if it were our last.”

But Nina's long-term hope is that Ukraine will be a safe place again. 'One day I want to have a big family. Everything we do now is to ensure that in the future we can live, develop and enjoy in a free country without war.'

Anyone who would like to know more about the Mriya Foundation, or donate to the work of Nina and her team, can visit their Instagram and/or Facebook page @mriya_charity.

l Lord Ashcroft KCMG PC is an international businessman, philanthropist, author and pollster. To learn more about his work, visit his website. Follow him on X/Facebook @LordAshcroft.