Ukraine two years on: surviving one of the coldest conflicts on earth

As the brutal Ukrainian winter bites, British Red Cross funded programmes have made a life-saving difference to vulnerable people in Ukraine.

Winter brings bone-chilling wind to the Chernihiv oblast where Valentyna lives, rattling through broken windows and shelled buildings. Temperatures here go down to -4 degrees in winter, but can plunge to -20.

Valentyna’s home, near the Belarussian and Russian, border is freezing. Damage to civilian infrastructure mean that her frontline village is cut off from electricity, with no heating.

“At the start, there was no light, no warmth. The flowers on the windowsill froze”, she says.

Paralysed after a stroke, she survived the first winter of the conflict by lying under two sets of blankets, fully clothed.

Her neighbours gave her hot water bottles, potatoes and rationed canned food cooked on gas. But like Valentyna, they were also trying to survive hour-to-hour.

“I remember the day it started, 24 February,” Valentya said. “I was lying on my couch.”

It was scary. I turned my head to the wall. Covered one ear with a pillow. And lay like that. I couldn't go anywhere. I couldn't move.

“People were hiding in basements, sitting, (others were) leaving the area. My pear tree, we had such a tree. It burned down. But still, I didn’t want to leave – this is my home.”

For many in Ukraine, this is the new normal. Life on high alert, seeking safety in basements and subway stations, power blackouts and disrupted healthcare and schooling.

But for 3.7 million internally displaced or vulnerable people like Valentyna, the conflict has been especially dire. Alone and living in poor living conditions, many cannot afford food, essentials or seek medical treatment. 

And when temperatures drop below zero, surviving through conflict gets so much harder. Many internally displaced and vulnerable people need warm shelter, clothing, fuel and insulation, along with support for additional heating costs.

Damage to energy infrastructure may also leave communities without power or electricity. It’s demoralising to say the least.

Helping those left alone

But there is hope. Over the last two years the Red Cross Movement has reached 18 million people in Ukraine and impacted countries with humanitarian support.

As the Ukrainian winter bites, staff and volunteers have distributed blankets and sleeping bags, helped to heat homes and sheltered those forced to flee. 

For Valentyna, it also means getting desperately needed home-based care.

“Our programme is designed to help people who have been left alone during the conflict,” explains Ukrainian Red Cross Society social worker Natalya, who now visits Valentyna in the Chernihiv oblast to cook, clean and keep her company.

“There are conditionally lonely individuals, and there are truly lonely ones who need assistance.,

“When I met Valentyna she had just buried her husband. So, indeed, her state of mind was very depressed.”

Due to limited healthcare in affected parts of the country, Valentyna was referred to the Red Cross by Ukraine’s embattled social services.

“They told me that since I'm not able to walk, they cannot serve me. “And thank you (Red Cross). I was helped," she says.

“I have no facilities anymore so Natasha (diminutive of Natalia) here provides services for me. She cooks food, cleans, washes my head when needed and helps keeps me warm.”

British Red Cross: 'we're in it for the long term'

The British Red Cross has helped fund the expansion of home-based care for vulnerable people across Ukraine.

And thanks to the generosity of British Red Cross supporters, we have also part-funded modular housing units in Chernihiv.

Part of the Ukrainian Red Cross’ winter preparation programme, the scheme gives internally displaced people a warm and safe place to live.

It includes 112 separate apartments for people displaced by the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, and offers everything needed for comfortable, safe and dignified living conditions.

It also has the added benefit of having two back-up electrical generators capable of providing enough power to the settlement in the event of disruption to the power grid.

The British Red Cross’ Ukraine country manager, Jeremy Smith, was at the opening in November 2023 and says:

“Winter in Ukraine is brutal, and if things continue as they have been we know that we will need safe and warm housing for several more winters to come.”

Petro, a pensioner who survived a direct hit on his home in 2022, was one of the first to move in.

The 79-year-old had been living in his home in Chernihiv when the conflict started. Miraculously, despite being thrown against a wall and partially buried by the rubble, he was rescued unharmed about an hour and half later.

Volunteers pulled him from the debris after his building had been badly damaged during the explosion in 4am in the morning. He fondly recalled the first words of his rescuers:

You're alive? Then you will surely live another 100 years!

Speaking about his new accommodation at the modular settlement, with a smile on his face, he simply said: “I am satisfied, very satisfied.” Thanks to the Red Cross supporters, he now has a roof over his head again.

Single mother Lyudmyla, 50, is also relieved. She and her 12-year-old daughter also lost their home in March 2022 when heavy fighting occurred in the town.

“Most of those who stayed in our building in Chernihiv were killed, including our neighbours, a family with three children.” “We had nowhere to go back to. But the main thing is that we survived,” she said.

They were given a one-room apartment in the modular settlement and moved in immediately.

“We are grateful to the Red Cross for this opportunity”, she says.

The worst humanitarian crisis in Europe for decades

Over the course of the conflict, the Ukrainian Red Cross has done it’s best to protect people from harsh Ukrainian winters.

Two years on, and the humanitarian situation in Ukraine continues to be increasingly dire and desperate, on a scale that Europe has not seen in decades.

If you can, please help us support more people like Valentyna, Petro and Lyudmyla.

• Donate to support our work in the UK and around the world

• Donate to the Ukraine Crisis Appeal