Our long-time friend and trusted partner—Dutch journalist and volunteer Patrick Haar, who has been consistently supporting Trostyanets and its residents for many years—paid another friendly visit to the Trostyanets city
Over the years, Patrick has repeatedly provided our hromada with much-needed assistance: he has delivered generators, donated a vehicle to the police, and provided other humanitarian aid. And this time, he didn’t come empty-handed either.
The volunteer brought two charging stations and turnstiles to Trostyanets for the departments and institutions of the Trostyanets City Council, as well as three laptops and a printer for the needs of the Trostyanets City Council. This assistance is extremely important for ensuring the uninterrupted operation of city’s municipal institutions.
During the meeting, Patrick Haar presented Trostyanets Mayor Yuriy Bova with flags of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and his hometown of Leeuwarden. It is the residents of this Dutch city who have repeatedly organized charity fundraisers in support of Ukraine, and Leeuwarden itself has become a true sister city to Trostyanets.
In response, Mayor Yuriy Bova presented the guest with books about our city—the historical publication “Trostyanets: A History from Antiquity to the Present” by Mykola Artushenko and Yevhen Polozhiy’s documentary novel “Trostyanets: Chronicle of an Unconquered City”. These books are intended to introduce our Dutch friends to the history of Trostyanets, its culture, and the resilience of its residents during wartime.
During their conversation, Yuriy Bova and Patrick Haar discussed the hromada’s most pressing needs. The Dutch journalist and volunteer assured them that he would continue to support both the residents of the Trostyanets city hromada and all Ukrainians in need of assistance.
Trostyanets City Council sincerely thanks Patrick Haar for his long-standing, systematic, and consistent support of our hromada. His compassion and willingness to help not just with words but with concrete actions are extremely valuable to the residents of Trostyanets city hromada. It is thanks to friends like him that Ukraine feels the strong support of international solidarity, and our city has the opportunity to overcome the challenges of wartime.
We deeply appreciate this friendship and support and are convinced that cooperation between Trostyanets and our Dutch partners will continue to grow stronger in pursuit of our shared goal—peace, recovery, and development in Ukraine.
Patrick van ’t Haar (also written as Patrick van ‘t Haar or Patrick Haar) is a Dutch journalist based in Leeuwarden, Friesland.He works as a city/regional reporter for the Leeuwarder Courant (LC), a major regional newspaper in the northern Netherlands. He covers local politics and community news in Leeuwarden and the surrounding area.
He works as a city/regional reporter for the Leeuwarder Courant (LC), a major regional newspaper in the northern Netherlands. He covers local politics and community news in Leeuwarden and the surrounding area.
Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, he has become widely known for his reporting from the war zone and for combining journalism with humanitarian work. He has traveled to Ukraine roughly 20–23 times (as of late 2025/early 2026 reports), often to places such as Irpin, Bucha, Kharkiv, Kyiv, and frontline areas.
His interest in Ukraine began earlier, after the Euromaidan Revolution and the 2014 downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 (which carried many Dutch passengers). At the start of the full-scale war he went to the Ukrainian-Polish border to report on refugees and helped evacuate some women and children to the Netherlands.
Journalism + fundraising
Van ’t Haar writes human-interest stories about ordinary Ukrainians living through the war for the Leeuwarder Courant and partner papers. These reports helped launch large joint fundraising campaigns by the Leeuwarder Courant, Dagblad van het Noorden, and Friesch Dagblad.Reported fundraising totals include approximately:
- ~€400,000 in 2022
- ~€675,000 in 2023
- Further substantial sums in later years
Overall estimates exceed €2.5 million. The money has funded ambulances, generators, medical supplies, housing repairs/reconstruction, support for children (including donations to the Voices of Children foundation), equipment for the Ukrainian military/medical units, and other aid. He and colleagues have personally delivered aid on multiple trips.
voices.org.uaHe is also known for personal connections formed during his reporting, notably with a young boy named Dima from Irpin, whose birthday he has celebrated on visits. He has given public lectures in the Netherlands about his experiences and the ethical choices involved in war reporting.
@PatrickvtHaar. He continues to report regularly on Ukraine while remaining a local journalist in Friesland.
