From Grassroots Humanitarianism to Mutual Aid: Citizen Responses in Poland and the Czech Republic to Russia’s War in Ukraine

Russia’s full-blown war in Ukraine created an unprecedented humanitarian crisis in Europe. By the end of 2022, over eight million Ukrainians had become refugees throughout Europe, with more than 11 million crossing Ukraine’s borders (UNHCR Operational Data Portal). The Ukrainians have fled to many countries, but Poland and the Czech Republic have received some of the largest numbers of Ukrainian individuals seeking protection. The multilayered response to this influx of people has been impressive and surprising, with ordinary individuals showing up at the border to provide food and transportation while ordinary citizens and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) mobilized to create local systems of humanitarian assistance. This paper explores grassroots citizens’ aid in Poland and the Czech Republic from February 2022 until August 2024. It argues that in both countries, private individuals and small volunteer-run groups organized creative grassroots initiatives that went beyond providing immediate material assistance. Solidarity with Ukrainians also fueled citizen-led mutual aid and transformative spaces of care aimed at altering existing institutions and practices and integrating Ukrainians.