Metro-Detroiters continue relief efforts as war in Ukraine enters third year

Local residents work for Ukraine relief

Dave Spencer interviews two Metro Detroit residents working on relief efforts in Ukraine.

SHELBY TWP., Mich (FOX 2) -
February 24, 2022, is a day that Shelby Township resident Emily Rutkowski won’t soon forget.

That was the day the Russian attacks on Ukraine started in full, two years ago today.

Rutkowski is the founder of Misha's Angels Ukraine Relief, and charity she named after a cat she found in Ukraine.
"Since then, I’ve been pretty much every day just working," she said.

As part of her relief efforts, working with the non-profit Aerial Relief Group, she has gathered supplies and visited the war-torn country.
"I went for the first time in the fall and winter of 2022," she said. "They still had power outages, water outages, and more attacks."
She said the two biggest items to take over there are tourniquets and chest seals for chest wounds.

Andrew Powers, a member of the Ukranian American Crisis Response Committee of Michigan, is working for those he can from here in Michigan as well. He says the relief money the U.S. has been spending has benefits here at home as well.

America is not sending a blank check to the Ukraine," he said. "We are sending weapons there and stockpiles that could be outdated within years."
Powers said those weapons can be tested in battle to see how effective they are, without risking many American lives.

Rutkowski is on her way back to Ukraine for a month’s long visit to deliver supplies.

Anyone who wishes to help in her quest can find Misha's Angels on social media at the following links: https://linktr.ee/mishasangels.