Artur Gabovich swears to continue feeding the people of Kyiv until his compatriots succeed in fighting Russia.
Gabovich, a former scientist turned businessman, was born in Ukraine and spent the five decades of his life there. He is co-owner of the Campus Community A-Hotel in downtown Kyiv, which opened two years ago and before the Russian invasion offered a unique hotel experience that could accommodate 260 people at a cost of $10-15. per night and per bed.
But the invasion changed the scenario of the hotel, like most others in Ukraine. Now, Gabovich and a number of employees and associates spend their time preparing approximately 1,500 meals a day for people in shelters, hospitals and the military who are on the front lines 24/7. 7.
In total, between the meals prepared at Gabovich’s hotel and those prepared by a restaurant association in Kyiv, he said about 30,000 meals are currently being distributed.
Artur Gabovitch
“As soon as the invasion starts, there are no tourist activities at all and we start doing lunches,” Gabovich said. Newsweek. “We get food, make lunches and put them in lunch boxes and deliver them to places.”
The meal are made from food provided by various Kyiv-based warehouses and restaurants. Gabovich said the school and store closures have caused him and others to reevaluate how to provide citizens with livelihoods. Sirens and bombings are commonplace, although he added that his property contains an underground shelter area for refuge.
There were between 15 and 20 people involved in this particular operation, including 10 to 12 people in a kitchen with limited space. Large jars of food are prepared and portioned, then separated and placed in boxes which are placed in plastic bags and delivered to the big city – which Gabovich says is “not like New York or Los Angeles” in size, although the distance for deliveries can extend up to 50 miles and should be planned in advance.
“Half the country is working and the borders are open,” he said, saying central and western parts of Kyiv are still working and not everything is bombed or destroyed. “Although sometimes rockets are fired at and shelling, people are working.”
Artur Gabovitch
The situation currently remains “more or less stable”, although Gabovich said he had to plan for different scenarios. For example, he said the vehicles will soon need repairs in the form of new tires, oil changes and filters due to the rocky road conditions. He also spoke to associates in Turkey and Germany to help provide more resources, such as plastic to transport the large amount of meals delivered via vehicles.
He personally has family still in Ukraine, but they have migrated out of Kyiv for security reasons.
“I’ve never been to places of war before,” he said. “I saw some countries after the war but never in the middle of the war. Now the bombs are falling and I hear the sound of bombardments all the time. [P]people get used to the situation. Unfortunately, people get used to it. It’s a lot easier when you do something instead of doing something and thinking about it.”
Gabovich said donations provided by companies like Airbnb helped subsidize meal costs. An Airbnb spokesperson said Newsweek this financial support has been provided to Gabovich’s hotel by guests from around the world who have booked stays with no intention of staying in Ukraine, rather than by Airbnb itself.
On Wednesday, the company’s founders promised to match up to $10 million in donations to the company through March, primarily to support refugee housing for those fleeing war-torn Ukraine.
Gabovich said meals started being prepared on the third or fourth day of the Russian invasion, when everything quickly shut down and “no one knew what to do.” All he knew was that the people needed help and the small towns were targets for rapid demolition.
Some days he spends five or six hours in the car due to security checkpoints and negotiations related to bulk food purchases and deliveries.
“We will do this until we win,” he said. “I’m sure we will win because our army is highly motivated, it stands still. We are fighting with the evil empire. We are protecting all of Europe today.”
To make meal donations, visit the hotel’s website at help.a-hotel.com.ua/en.
Updated 03/16/2022, 12:38 PM ET: This story has been updated with additional information.
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