More Yurts For Ukraine As Kazakh Donations Pour In

This February 1 photo shows Kazakh volunteers carrying a "tunduk," the central portal of a yurt, towards a truck being filled with supplies for Ukraine. The men are preparing the aid shipment in the village of Qainazar, just east of Almaty.

A volunteer stacks the wooden latticework that will form the walls of yurts.

This distinctive aid shipment is the latest from a crowdfunded campaign by Nation's Future, a Kazakh activist group that began raising funds for Ukraine immediately after the Kremlin launched its invasion in February 2022. 

Kazakh activist Togzhan Kozhalieva, head of the Nation's Future group, told Reuters the idea to provide Ukraine with yurts came after she asked Ukrainians what was most needed. "They asked us for tents and we decided to bring yurts," she said, describing the traditional nomadic shelters as "a symbol of a hearth, home, warmth, comfort, providing shelter to the one who needs it."

A yurt is erected in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on February 1.

A Kazakh yurt was first set up in Bucha, near Kyiv, in early January. The shelter offered food and a warm space for locals to mingle. The Kazakh volunteers behind the initiative promised to erect more of the shelters in other Ukrainian cities.

Volunteers prepare carved boxes for shipment to Ukraine in Qainazar on February 1.

The yurt initiative sparked a minor diplomatic flare-up in early January when Russia's Foreign Ministry requested "official comment" from the Kazakh authorities over the highly symbolic aid project.
 

A Kazakh volunteer loads boxes of products onto a truck destined for Ukraine on February 1.

A spokesman from Kazakhstan's Foreign Ministry told RFE/RL’s Kazakh Service they saw no need to explain the aid project to Moscow, and claimed it was out of their hands. "This is an initiative of private companies," the spokesman said, adding, "we do not see any problems with the installation of this [Bucha] yurt."
 

One of three yurts is prepared for shipment to Ukraine on February 1.

A survey carried out in November showed 22 percent of Kazakhs supported Ukraine in the war with Russia, while 13 percent favored Russia, with the majority identifying as neutral.
 

A generator is prepared for shipment.

Nation's Future has raised around $1.5 million for its initiative to help Ukrainians in the face of the Russian invasion. Kozhalieva told Reuters she believes the massive public response to the fundraiser was because many Kazakhs see Ukraine as historically close.
 

A Kazakh yurt in Lviv on February 1

The word "Kazakh," meaning "adventurer" or "nomad," shares its Turkic linguistic roots with "Cossack," the steppe roamers of Ukraine and southern Russia.