In Chernihiv, the country’s northernmost regional capital, 70 per cent of the city lacked electricity due to infrastructure damage caused by heavy shelling from late February to early April. Almost half of the city’s 300,000 population left and hundreds of civilians were killed, according to local authorities. Even now, chaotic shelling puts the lives of people in the region at risk. When the war broke out in February, a massive supply chain operation, unprecedented in its size and scale, was set up by IOM, establishing a complex cross-border operation to bring life-saving items to the most conflict-affected regions of Ukraine. These items have been tailored to meet the urgent needs of people and correspond to the environment in which war-affected communities are living.
Over time, humanitarian aid began to reach locals, supporting them on their way to recovery, but trauma is still fresh in their minds. “The village suffered a lot”, recalls Kateryna. “Airstrikes, tanks, shelling… We survived the most terrible moments: executions of civilians, violence, and death.”
Delivering aid to a besieged city
The second largest city in Ukraine, Kharkiv remains under attack by the Russian Federation. As the death and injury toll in this region increases daily, assistance from the International Organization for Migration (IOM) is being delivered to help those living in shelters that were not initially designed to accommodate people.
An unprecedented operation
Beyond the necessities like food and medicine, they are desperate for news from their families. Solar lamps provided by IOM are helping displaced Ukrainians charge their mobile phones, enabling them to hear their loved ones’ voices once again.
“It was very scary to live in the darkness, but the worst thing was the lack of communication with relatives. People turned on their phones just for a while and rationed the charge as their treasure,” explains Olga, a staffer of the IOM partner NGO “Ukrainian Prism” that has been delivering the solar lamps and other aid to the most affected areas.
Solar lamps have become one of the most sought-after items. “The lamps are a real help for us – we can charge phones and use them for lighting,” says Kateryna, a mother of two.
“We transported the first batch of solar lamps from IOM in rubber boats across the frosty Desna River, along with the most important cargo for the residents of Chernihiv, when the city was still besieged,” recalls Olga.