Clothes and essential supplies for wounded soldiers in Kharkiv

27 November 2026 – Sunflower Scotland delivered 117 sets of clothes and essential hygienic supplies to the wounded soldiers in one of the hospitals in Kharkiv. This was the result of a combined effort together with Scottish Presbyterian churches and ASA Scotland Charity. In Kharkiv, we distributed the aid together with chaplains from the Holy Trinity Church.

When soldiers are brought from the front their clothes are stained in blood, they are cut off and thrown away. People literally have nothing to wear. The hospital gives them shabby used clothes, which soldiers have to return at discharge.

Because of constant power cuts in Ukraine, hospitals have water for 4-5 hours during the day. A couple of hours in the morning and the same in the evening. It’s hard to even take a shower, and washing is near impossible.

That’s why we responded and decided to help. Our plan was to give every wounded soldier a set of warm clothes and essential supplies.

Scottish churches answer the call

We asked Scottish Parish churches from West Lothian and East Lothian to help us. Several churches responded our call and worked hard and in just two weeks gathered aid. I would like to personally thank all members of churches and Guilds who worked tirelessly and helped:

Every member in these churches and guilds made such a fantastic job. The helped immensely to those who are struggling, and showed everybody what it means to be a true Christian! Thank you very much.

Especially we’d like to thank ASA Scotland Charity, and in particular Tommy Davidson, for donating £500 and contributing a full car-load of top-quality warm jackets, t-shirts, joggers, and much more. Their help was absolutely marvellous.

ASA Scotland Charity makes a donation of clothes for wounded soldiers in Kharkiv

Some donations were already organised into bags (thank you!), others needed sorting. But luckily we had enough to prepare the required number of bags for everybody. The Sunflower team spent several days sorting the donations and prepared 117 individual sets.

two t-shirts (size L or XL)
a pair of jogging bottoms (size L or XL)
a towel
a packet of disposable razors
a toothbrush
a tube of toothpaste

Kit of supplies for wounded soldiers in Kharkiv

In addition, people donated a bunch of hoodies, socks and underpants, and we included them where we could. Most clothes were new (some t-shirts were used but washed and in good condition), which makes such a big difference for the people who get them.

Bags of supplies for wounded soldiers in Kharkiv

Aid delivered directly to hospital

We travelled from Scotland to Kharkiv, and brought aid directly to the hospital.

Sunflower Scotland's van with supplies for wounded soldiers in Kharkiv hospital

They had 117 wounded soldiers with various wounds. We gave donations to everyone, no one was left behind. We visited every department and every room room, said words of support and gave them their bags.

Sunflower donating clothing to a wounded soldier in Kharkiv hospital

Everyone who received aid were really grateful. Perhaps it was the first time they saw someone from Scotland. They heard about Scotland on the TV or in books, but before it was just a word. Now, people in need saw what Scotland stands for, that Scotland is there to help them in the day of need. Of course, our donation Many will take this memory with them for the rest of their lives.

Questions and Answers

Q. Why did we need to prepare individual bags?

A. When you are donating to a hospital, you are given only a short time. In this case we had to go across five departments (trauma, ophthalmology, urology, intensive care, surgical) on four floors, and about 40 rooms. Each room will have several people. Most of them can’t walk, or at best can master a few painful steps.

So bringing everyone their individual bags is the only way you can distribute things in reasonable time. If you have a pile of t-shirts, a box of razors etc, you cannot really drag all that stuff with you across the hospital. You cannot set up a distribution point in a hall, because people are in pain and will not come.

Q. Why does the state not supply soldiers with clean clothes and toiletries

A. The scale of the war is huge, and it’s been dragging on for almost four years. There are so many people who were injured and wounded. Hospitals are overwhelmed. The medical system never prepared for such a disaster. In contrast, it is widely reported that Russia sends their wounded soldiers in repeat assaults on crutches, and they die on the battlefield. While Ukraine humanely rescues their wounded and they get medical treatment. It is where the society and humanitarian organisa

Q. Why Sunflower Scotland is able to provide this help, why the Red Cross and the United Nations aren’t doing that?

A. Sunflower Scotland is working directly on the ground, and we pick up many pain signals. This time, it was the Christian chaplains from a church in Kharkiv who told us about the problem (that the wounded had no adequate clothing) and helped us to organise the distribution.

There are so many disasters everywhere during the war. The Red Cross and the UN are doing other jobs, and helping other people. The truth is, all humanitarian resources combined are not enough to help everybody. It’s a long and dangerous war, and the number of NGOs and charities working in Ukraine has been decreasing. So there is more pressure on those who remain. We have been working non-stop for the last four years. There is so much work for all humanitarian organisations, big like the Red Cross and small like Sunflower.