My name is Varvara, and I’m organizing this fundraiser for my very dear friend, Andrei Artiukhov. I have known Andrei for 20 years, and he is one of my dearest friends — someone I truly can’t imagine my life without.

For anyone who grew up around Russian skateboarding, Andrei’s name means something. He was one of Russia’s early sponsored skateboarders in the 1990s and later became one of the photographers who helped document and shape the country’s emerging skate culture.

Long before skateboarding had the visibility it has today, Andrei was photographing the skaters, streets, tricks, and people who built that community. His work appeared in Russian skate publications as well as internationally, including Transworld Skateboarding. Over the years, he became known not simply as someone photographing the scene, but as someone who was genuinely part of it.

Many of the people Andrei photographed went on to become important figures in skateboarding and street culture, and his photographs have preserved a piece of that history for more than three decades.

Today, Andrei is facing a very different kind of fight.

He has been diagnosed with primary myelofibrosis, a serious blood cancer. His condition has progressed and is now causing severe anemia, repeated blood transfusions, and significant enlargement of his spleen. His current treatment is no longer giving him the response he needs.

We are currently working with doctors in Israel who are reviewing Andrei for a clinical trial specifically for patients with his CALR mutation. If he is accepted, he may need to travel to Israel on very short notice. If the trial is not an option, we will need to pursue other treatment, including access to momelotinib, as well as ongoing medical care.

We are raising funds to help cover Andrei’s treatment, medications, medical testing, travel to Israel, accommodation, and other expenses connected with his care.

Andrei has spent decades creating work, friendships, and memories with people all over the world. Now we’re asking that community to help him. No contribution is too small — $20, $50, or simply sharing this fundraiser can genuinely make a difference.

I am based in the United States and am organizing this fundraiser on Andrei’s behalf so that his friends and supporters outside Russia have an easy way to contribute. All funds raised will go toward Andrei’s medical treatment and related expenses.

Thank you for supporting Andrei, and please share this fundraiser with anyone who knows him or his work.