Dominique, retired, lives 3,000 kilometers from the Ukrainian chaos, near Toulouse, and she wondered how to come to the aid of the population threatened by the bombardments of the Russian army. This Tuesday, March 8, in the morning, she turns on her computer and decides to register on the Airbnb site: “I went to see to rent a room in Kiev, a small room at 24 euros”. Dominique does not intend to go to the capital of Ukraine, but this is the way she has found to financially support a young Ukrainian, host on the booking platform. “I know that this sum will fall directly into his pocket”, she explains. Airbnb ensures that it does not take any fees on these symbolic and solidarity transactions.
“I just said ‘Hello. Of course I won’t come, but I hope this small amount can help you’.”
Dominique, a French retireeat franceinfo
The French retiree doesn’t know much about the one she’s helping, just that“she lives alone”. “I don’t know if she’s a student, what she does,” she says. Dominique sent him his contact details: “And I told her that if there was a problem, maybe I could help her in other ways or more than that. She wrote that she thanked me, that she kept my details if she had to leave from Kyiv, if she needs any help.”
Dominique says she is ready to host the young Ukrainian if she has to flee her country and decides to take refuge in France. On the French version of Airbnb, 700 nights have been reserved to financially help Ukrainians. Caroline, from Paris, had already made her accommodation available on the platform during the Covid-19 crisis, for medical staff. This time, she booked accommodation in Kiev for 100 euros: “I wanted to help in some way. I booked a room, I did a little randomly and in fact, I came across a lovely person.”
@AirbnbOrg will provide temporary emergency accommodation free of charge to up to 100,000 refugees departing from Ukraine.
More information at https://t.co/la5CrjhXen https://t.co/XA7HXBVRYs— Airbnb France (@airbnb_fr) February 28, 2022
What did this charming person say to him? “That I was very human and that she thanked me very much. And that she was going to help a friend who crosses the border with her daughter and who needs it. So it’s by ricochet”welcomes Caroline.
“People help each other there and when you send them money they can help the people who are most in need or they can help immediately. So that’s what I like, that’s immediacy”.
Caroline, a Frenchwoman who donated an overnight stayat franceinfo
More than 61,000 nights were booked in Ukraine by donors from around the world on March 2 and 3, Airbnb said. Others choose to make their own accommodation available on the platform. They are 28,000, including 2,800 in France.