Britain’s Lord Ashcroft Steps up Support for Ukraine

From the editors: Lord Ashcroft is former Deputy Chairman of the UK’s Conservative Party, an international businessman, philanthropist, author, pollster and strong supporter of Ukraine.  During his visit to Kyiv Post’s office on Sep. 13, we agreed to cooperate in highlighting Ukraine’s struggle and needs.

Announcement made on Sep. 20, 2024.

A new section dealing with Lord Ashcroft’s work in war-torn Ukraine has been added to his official website.

The Ukraine section appears on www.lordashcroft.com and mainly highlights his contribution in the fields of media and philanthropy.

Lord Ashcroft has written a series of newspaper articles and blogs on the situation in Ukraine since the start of the all-our war in February 2022. He has constantly urged the West to do more to help Ukraine thwart Russian aggression and he wants to see immediate moves toward allowing Europe’s second biggest country to become a member of NATO.

Lord Ashcroft has made a series of donations to charitable and other good causes in Ukraine – some of these are in the public domain and others are not. Earlier this month, it was announced he is donating £1.3 million ($1.7 million) to the Olena Zelenska Foundation (www.zelenskafoundation.org), a charity set up by Ukraine’s First Lady.

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He has also accompanied two British aid groups, Macclesfield Ukrainian Aid (www.ukrainianaid.org.uk) and the Ukraine Freedom Company (www.ukrainefreedomcompany.org), on a tour of the war-torn country to deliver medical and other aid, some of which he had donated.

In February of this year, Lord Ashcroft was sanctioned by Russia because of his public support for Ukraine. He and other British officials, historians and academics were accused of spreading “Russophobia.”

To date, Lord Ashcroft has made nine visits to Ukraine since the start of the all-out war, the most recent one was earlier this month to support the work of the First Lady’s charity. Accompanied by Olena Zelenska, the wife of the President, he visited a new laboratory at a children’s center in Lviv to which he had donated.

Lord Ashcroft says: “I am trying to do my bit to help this country and its courageous citizens during these challenging times. If everyone supporting Ukraine does a bit too, then we can and will make a difference to their war effort.”