Ukrainian storyteller and food writer Olia Hercules, and UK-based Russian cookbook author Dr. Alissa Timoshkina join forces in support of Ukraine as it grapples with a full-scale Russian invasion.
Together, the two launched a crowdfunding campaign that invites chefs, restaurants and online foodies to post pictures of traditional Ukrainian dishes they cooked along with the hashtag #CookForUkraine in a bid to raise global awareness of the situation in the Eastern European country and collect donations for the children suffering from the war.
#CookForUkraine is rapidly gaining popularity among social media users, and especially on Instagram.
All funds raised through the campaign will go to the UK-based Ukrainian branch of UNICEF — a United Nations agency responsible for providing humanitarian and developmental aid to children worldwide — which supports the thousands of refugees who were displaced from their homes due to the ongoing fighting.
Restaurants the world over have joined the cause and added Ukrainian dishes to their menus.
More than £180,000 (around $238,000) have been donated so far by about 3,000 supporters, including leading chefs, food writers, restaurateurs, and amateur cookers.
Israeli-born British chef Yotam Ottolenghi, who co-owns six delis and restaurants in London, also takes part in the campaign and has volunteered to help with the cooking.
Some participants throw special feasts to donate the proceeds to the campaign while others have written in an optional donation slot as part of the bill at their eateries.
Hercules told UK newspaper The Guardian she hopes the campaign will remind people that "Ukraine is not headlines, it's people."