Supporting communities impacted by the war in Ukraine
An exhausted older man wearing thick gloves is already waiting outside his snow-covered yard as the tractor with the most valuable treasure of the winter arrives at its first destination – the village of Kyrykivka in Ukraine’s Sumy Oblast.
The man is busily spreading out sacks, onto which he will unload the fuel briquettes. Are these briquettes an urgent need? Yes, they are. Is it the most important thing? No.
“I just want the war to end soon,” replies 62-year-old Hryhoriy. He is not just tired. There is a huge hole in his soul. It was caused by an aerial bomb that took the life of his son, Dmytro, at the frontline.
After a long pause, Hryhoriy eventually pulls himself together. “So, is firewood the first necessity? I think so. I have two grandchildren, Dmytro’s daughters – one is in the sixth grade, the other in the third”.
Military aircrafts flew here and dropped bombs on the heads of civilians. “When the planes were flying, the children were very afraid. There were no sirens then. We ran to the basement right away. And then they got used to it. Children now know where to fall if a missile or drone flies…”
The tractor goes to the next household on a parallel street. A weary woman comes out to meet it. “We lived well until the war broke out. It’s been eight months since my husband died in the Donetsk Oblast,” Tetiana (55) says.
She makes long pauses between sentences, as if these pauses will help her catch her breath and recover. “My husband and son came from abroad on purpose, when all the people were going there, and they were going here. They travelled with volunteers, travelled with numerous transfers. And when they arrived, they immediately went to the military enlistment office.”
From time to time, a silent man with a walking stick comes outside. He is Tetiana’s 85-year-old father-in-law. Now it was just the two of them. Tetiana’s mother used to live with them, but she passed away a month after Tatiana’s husband was killed at the front line.
“When the war started, I was already retired, but I used to go to Kharkiv and work in a sanatorium for old people,” Tetiana explains. “And the war caught me there, in Kharkiv. I saw it all. My husband was the first to arrive from abroad. And I was there, I couldn’t leave yet. Kharkiv was already being bombed, and I couldn’t leave.”
Kyrykivka has a gas supply. But heating with firewood, although almost as expensive, is better. It’s warmer, says Tetiana. “How does this winter differ from the previous one? Back then, everyone was alive and well. I was waiting for my husband to come on vacation. And this winter, it’s hard to live somehow.”
Assisting with winter needs
With winter temperatures frequently falling to -10 degrees at night, assisting people to meet their winter needs is a focus of the Joint Emergency Response in Ukraine (JERU), founded by Alliance2015 members Concern Worldwide, Welthungerhilfe and CESVI. Together, with a network of 10 Ukrainian partners, they are supporting impacted communities in 10 oblasts in eastern, southern, and western Ukraine.
In addition to providing briquettes, they are installing solid fuel stoves and providing cash for utilities, in a country where energy and heat prices are crippling for ordinary people.
“The cost of briquettes for the winter period (November to March) is beyond the reach of many people – the equivalent of nine basic pensions for the same period,” Concern Worldwide’s programme manager in Ukraine Erica Niel explained. JERU primarily helps vulnerable people, including female-led households, families with three or more children, older people, those with disabilities and those on low incomes. Some of these families have had to move locations more than once to seek safety or have been displaced for more than two years.
JERU reached 121,000 people in Ukraine last year with humanitarian assistance. In total they supported over 320,000 people there since the current phase of the conflict began in 2022.
“2024 was the toughest year yet for ordinary people in Ukraine as the compound effects of multiple factors really took their toll,” Ms Niel noted. “Take for example, women with children. They are dealing with the daily power cuts, children who cannot go to school or who are taking part in online learning from home, and the lack of livelihoods and income. On top of this, because of conscription, many men have been drafted and so they have nobody else in the house to help.”
Scheduled power outages are part of daily life and are a major challenge for ordinary people. Ukraine’s energy infrastructure has been targeted as part of the conflict, with significant damage caused, resulting in long periods of water and power outages.
“Elderly people living in high rise blocks of apartments are particularly affected because, in addition to having no heat, light or water, when the lifts are not working, they are dependent on others to bring them supplies to survive.”
Keeping warm is a major challenge for families, especially as many houses are damaged or poorly maintained as a result of the conflict. People in urban areas go to community hubs which have generators to charge phones, stay warm and get hot meals. In rural areas people burn firewood or briquettes in stoves. “One of our priorities is to provide cash assistance to cover the urgent needs of those impacted by the conflict,” Ms Niel explained. “We support volunteer groups involved in rapid response activities. We help to evacuate people from towns and villages on the front line, provide psychosocial support to those traumatised by the conflict, fund quick repairs of damaged windows and doors, and provide emergency cash to families.”
JERU is also supporting those most affected by the conflict with emergency livelihoods at household level to support the transition away from humanitarian assistance and towards economic recovery. They are providing grants for micro, small and medium sized businesses, agricultural grants for livestock feed, to buy tools and equipment and to prepare for the start of the growing season.
By Oleksandra Titorova, WHH.
