- October 1, 2026
- 7:22 pm
- World News
On October 3, 2026, the Israeli team #RunForUkraine will join the international charity event “Time of Life. Unbreakable.” Participants will run five kilometers along the Tel Aviv coast, and the organizers of the international challenge are raising 800,000 hryvnias (about 55,000 Israeli shekels at the exchange rate on September 29, 2026) for the equipment of the operating room of the 66th military hospital of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, whose medics work in the Pokrovsk direction. You can join regardless of your athletic training. Help — even without running the distance.
Author: Anton Pshedinsky
The Israeli team of the international running community #RunForUkraine invites everyone to a charity run, which will take place on Saturday, October 3, 2026, at the Tel Aviv Port. Gathering is scheduled for 07:45, start — at 08:00. Participants will cover five kilometers, and the main result will not be the finish time, but the assistance to Ukrainian military medics.
From the organizers – https://t.me/runforukrainetelaviv/12232
The event is part of the international charity challenge “TIME OF LIFE. UNBREAKABLE” organized by the Ukrainian Safe Charity fund.
The central event of the campaign will take place in Kyiv on October 4. Tel Aviv joins a day earlier.
The organizers’ invitation includes a phrase that quite accurately explains the meaning of the whole endeavor: the war cannot be ended tomorrow, but life, movement, and support for your military can be maintained every day.
For residents of Israel, this is an opportunity to participate in an international initiative to support Ukraine. Without ceremonial speeches, a long official program, and the need to be a professional athlete. Just come to the sea in the morning.
Five kilometers in Tel Aviv: where participants meet
The starting point was chosen as Tel Aviv Port — known to Israelis as Namal Tel Aviv. It is a popular promenade area on the Mediterranean Sea, with wooden decks, restaurants, and open spaces.
Landmark for participants — the large sign I ❤️ TLV.
The organizers announced the following conditions:
Date: Saturday, October 3, 2026.
Gathering of participants: 07:45.
Start of the run: 08:00.
Distance: 5 kilometers.
Declared average pace: 6 minutes per kilometer.
Estimated time to complete the distance at this pace: 30 minutes.
Clothing: comfortable sportswear and shoes. Ukrainian flags, yellow-blue symbols are welcome.
Six minutes per kilometer is just a guideline for the group. Everyone can choose their own comfortable speed, so the lack of habit of regular runs should not stop those who wish to join.
The exact route scheme has not yet been published. Also, the organizers did not specify a mandatory minimum donation amount specifically for the Israeli run.
However, the meeting place is extremely specific. You won’t have to search for the group among dozens of kilometers of the city promenade.
What they run for: 800,000 hryvnias for the 66th military hospital
Behind the sports part is a very specific medical task.
The SAFE fund announced the collection of 800,000 hryvnias for the equipment of the operating room and the needs of military medics of the 66th military mobile hospital of Ukraine, working in the Pokrovsk direction.
For the Israeli reader, let us explain: Pokrovsk is a city in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, around which the Russian army is conducting military operations. The Pokrovsk direction is the name of a section of the front, not the designation of one specific settlement.
The 66th hospital is not an ordinary city hospital. It is a military medical institution providing assistance to wounded servicemen. Its task is to receive the injured, perform operations, stabilize patients’ conditions, and ensure further treatment or evacuation.
The history of the hospital is directly connected with Pokrovsk since 2015. Medics worked with the wounded during the battles in Donbas, including after the events near Debaltseve and in the Donetsk airport area.
In January 2025, the hospital’s surgical units were evacuated from Pokrovsk due to the threat of Russian strikes. Therefore, the current collection is related to the medics of the Pokrovsk direction, not with the assertion that the operating room is still located in the city itself.
Operating equipment for such an institution is not a matter of comfort or planned renewal of medical inventory. The equipment determines the doctors’ ability to perform surgical interventions and provide assistance to the severely wounded.
That is why the organizers decided to combine the international sports initiative with a specific medical collection.
NANews — News of Israel | Nikk.Agency previously reported on another direction of Ukrainian-Israeli medical cooperation: how Ukrainian patients and doctors arrived in Israel as part of the UNBROKEN project to receive assistance and gain experience from local specialists.
The current campaign works in the opposite direction. People living in Israel are raising funds for Ukrainian military medicine.
Who is behind #RunForUkraine and why the project appeared during the war
The Israeli part of the initiative is conducted by the international running community #RunForUkraine.
Its founder is marathon runner Olga Amelina, who also leads the Israeli direction of the project.
The community appeared in the spring of 2022, shortly after the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The first large-scale action was the participation of runners and supporters of Ukraine in the Toronto marathon in May 2022. Hundreds of people took to the distances in special yellow T-shirts #RunForUkraine.
Then there were marathons in Ottawa, Chicago, Tel Aviv, charity events in Canada and other countries. The project also organized a collection of funds for winter shoes for Ukrainian servicemen.
Now the community has participants and teams in Israel, Poland, the UK, and other countries. Tel Aviv is one of the active platforms of the project.
Here, the model itself is important. There is no need to organize an expensive concert or gather a huge audience in one hall. People go out for a regular workout, invite friends, make a donation, and turn an ordinary sports event into an international initiative.
A similar practice is developing in other public initiatives in Israel. For example, on October 17 in Jaffa, the “Ukrainian Gratitude Meeting” — a meeting of Ukrainians and Israelis, part of the funds from which will be directed to help the signalmen of the 47th brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is planned.
Different formats, different organizers. But behind them is one very practical thing: helping Ukraine does not stop after the next public action ends.
Kyiv, October 4: international challenge and memory of the fallen commander of “Azov”
The day after the Tel Aviv run, on October 4, the central program “Time of Life. Unbreakable” will take place in Kyiv. The start is scheduled for 10:00.
Participants are promised a joint workout, international online connections, and a special sports complex “Bilotur”.
The ambassador of the event is announced as Viktoria Onopriyenko — Ukrainian gymnast, European champion, Olympic Games finalist in Tokyo. The host will be Daniel Salem. The organizer is the SAFE charity fund, the co-organizer and general partner is the Agency of Mass Sports of Ukraine.
The name of the sports complex is also not chosen by chance.
“Bilotur” is the call sign of Ukrainian officer Dmytro Bukaryov, deputy commander of the “Azov” regiment, who participated in the defense of Mariupol and “Azovstal”.
After the defenders of Mariupol were taken prisoner, Bukaryov ended up in a Russian colony in Olenivka, where he died on the night of July 29, 2022.
The complex is named in memory of him and other fallen defenders of Ukraine.
Thus, the international initiative has two tasks at once. The first is to raise money for those who save the wounded today. The second is to preserve the memory of people who can no longer return home.
For participants in Tel Aviv, this does not mean the need to perform the Kyiv sports program. The Israeli team organizes its own five-kilometer run as part of the overall campaign.
What the SAFE fund represents
Safe Charity is a Ukrainian charitable fund working with humanitarian, educational, cultural, and medical projects.
One of its activities is helping people affected by the war, psychological support, organizing medical collections, and charity events.
In July 2025, the fund held a charity evening in Kyiv, where, according to its own data, it raised almost two million hryvnias for special unit servicemen and medics.
The current challenge continues this work but uses a different tool — mass sports.
People from different cities and countries can participate in it, even if they have never met each other.
How to register and make a donation from Israel
Registration of participants in the international challenge and collection of donations are organized through a special page of the Ukrainian Agency of Mass Sports.
Official registration and donations:
https://sportforall.gov.ua/chas-zhyttia-nestrymni/
Additional page of the SAFE charity fund:
https://safecharity.org.ua/chas-zhittya-nestrimni
The fund’s and organizers’ page contains information about the event. People who do not physically participate in the run can also support the collection.
In Israel, organizational issues are handled by the #RunForUkraine team.
Email for contact: runforukraineil@gmail.com.
Project website: https://runforukraine.org.ua/
The final list of equipment and the exact cost of individual medical positions are not provided in the published announcement. The announced amount is the overall goal of the charity collection, not a report on already received funds.
Tel Aviv, Ukraine, and five kilometers, behind which there is much more
For some Israelis, Pokrovsk is just the name of a Ukrainian city that regularly appears in military reports. For people whose relatives are in Ukraine, this is a completely different story.
Some have relatives serving in the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Some have been helping civilians and military personnel since 2022. Others have long lived in Israel but continue to look for opportunities to do something useful for Ukraine.
And there are those who have never lived in this country but consider it necessary to support people affected by the Russian invasion.
The #RunForUkraine initiative allows everyone to unite without a complex organizational structure.
On Saturday morning, participants will meet by the sea, run five kilometers, make donations. And on Sunday, the international campaign will continue in Kyiv.
How many people will start in Israel is still unknown. What part of the total amount will be collected thanks to the Tel Aviv run is also unknown.
But the address of the help is already determined. These are the medics who receive the wounded and perform operations in the Pokrovsk direction.
And even if a person does not intend to put on sneakers and go the distance, they can join the collection separately.
October 3, 2026, 07:45. Tel Aviv Port, near I ❤️ TLV.
Five kilometers. One common goal. And very specific people who need help.
