The Rapid Response Team is a volunteer association of Boryspil residents founded by the family of Maryna and Yevhen Bevzenko. Before the full-scale invasion, Yevhen Bevzenko worked as a technical engineer at Boryspil Airport. Maryna Bevzenko has been a sales executive at an international beauty company for the past few years. With the start of the full-scale invasion, it became clear that work at the airport work and beauty company became a thing of the past for them.
However, like many Ukrainians, Yevhen and Maryna could not stay away from the war and decided to help in any way they could. So, in early summer, the Bevzenko family started volunteering and attracted many people to join them. The first stage of the association’s activities was to help residents of the de-occupied villages in Kyiv Oblast to dismantle the rubble of destroyed houses and try to repair them if possible. Until the cold weather hit, Yevhen and his team helped the affected families with housing and its restoration.
With the onset of cold weather, repair work became impossible. At that time, a new need emerged – heating systems for civilian housing and the military. Now, a team of volunteers led by Yevhen is manufacturing a variety of heating cylinders.
His wife Maryna has gathered around her a large number of women who engaged in helping the service members. Their main activity now is weaving nets for the military at the front line and preparing long-lasting food. They also help women involved to support each other and put their skills to good use. The women also prepare long-lasting food and deliver it to the military at the front. They hope that this will help the Ukrainian Army to resist the enemy.
Throughout its activities, the volunteer rapid response team has managed to unite about 200 dedicated volunteers who continue to organize various activities. In our film, we managed to talk to some of the Rapid Response Team members about their work.
