Translation. Region: Russian Federation –
Source: Moscow Government – Moscow Government –
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Since the beginning of 2025, public organizations, volunteers, church parishioners, schoolchildren, and pensioners from the capital's South-Eastern Administrative District (SEAD) have collected and sent over 20 tons of humanitarian aid to the special military operation (SMO) zone. Since the beginning of the SMO, over 100 tons of humanitarian aid have been collected in the SEAD, over 8,000 nets have been woven, and hundreds of thousands of trench candles have been cast.
From camouflage nets to cars
Efforts to support SVO participants in the district have been ongoing since the very beginning of the special operation. As Elena Khromova, Deputy Prefect of the South-Eastern Administrative District, noted, the initiatives of individual activists gradually evolved into the activities of volunteer communities. Today, they have over 200,000 members and are distinguished by their high level of organization, discipline, and efficiency. Volunteers fulfill the extensive needs of frontline soldiers, medical workers, and orphans in cities of the Luhansk and Donetsk People's Republics.
"Humanitarian convoys regularly send hundreds of camouflage nets, thousands of trench candles, warm underwear, personal hygiene items, medications, stretchers, as well as equipment, radios, thermal imagers, and much more, including drinking water and food, to their destinations. Volunteers also take on more complex tasks—in 2025 alone, several vehicles, an excavator, as well as furniture and exercise equipment for hospitals, were delivered to the SVO zone," said Elena Khromova.
Weaving camouflage nets in the southeast of the capital is a common practice: workshops operate in almost every district. For example, in Vykhino-Zhulebino – on Tashkentskaya Street (building 26, block 2); in Kapotnya – in the 3rd quarter (building 23); in Kuzminki – on Yeseninsky Boulevard (building 14, block 1); in Lyublin – on Lyublinskaya Street (building 53); in Maryino – on Donetskaya Street (building 11); and in Tekstilshchiki – on Malysheva Street (building 19, block 2).
Workshops in temples
Churches in the district are also actively engaged in the production of nets and other consumables needed at the front. One of these workshops is inclusive. Volunteers with disabilities work at the St. John of Kronstadt Orthodox Pastoral Care Center in Lublin, located at 12a Novorossiyskaya Street. These include members of the Orthodox community for people with multiple sclerosis, as well as deaf and hard-of-hearing parishioners from Moscow's deaf communities.
According to Archpriest Mikhail Zazvonov, spiritual director of the spiritual care center, they cut and twist ribbons, then weave them into camouflage nets, cast dugout candles, make fire starters, cut and sew surgical gauze drapes, and produce "Caution, Mines" signs, essential for sappers.
"At first, there were about 20 volunteers, but now there are about 80 people helping in the workshops. Over the course of a year, they've woven and sent hundreds of camouflage nets to the SVO zone and made thousands of trench candles," noted Mikhail Zazvonov.
From young volunteers
Young residents of the South-Eastern Administrative Okrug are also helping with the work. For example, members of the "Podrostok" (Teenager) club, located in the Maryino district on Podolskaya Street (building 25), made over 300 New Year's cards with greetings in December and donated them to the soldiers. Together with their parents, the children regularly collect humanitarian aid—clothing and food. In December, two trucks from Maryino sent sets of children's bedding, warm blankets, throws, and pillows to an orphanage in Luhansk.
The most active home front workers were recognized with awards. In December, a celebratory meeting, "Patriots of Russia," was held at the Moscow House of Public Organizations in the Ryazan District. It was initiated by the "Officers of Russia" organization, the Federation of the Union of Cossacks, and the South-Eastern Administrative District Veterans Council. Participants of the SVO and volunteers received commemorative gifts and certificates of appreciation.
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Please note: This information is raw content obtained directly from the source. It represents an accurate account of the source's assertions and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.