Ukraine: Six Months On

With our partner HelpAge, we found that 91% of older people need help getting food, 79% say they don’t have access to clean drinking water and 34% report that they need urgent medication for their chronic illnesses. Your support is bringing relief and hope, as you will read.

Galina and her husband Leonid had to evacuate their home, leaving with only a couple of suitcases and their documents. They are now staying in a shelter in Lviv, where thanks to your support, we are providing older people with hot meals and other essentials.

Galina said: “Our city has been heavily bombed and shelled with rockets from the very beginning of the war. For many days there was no water, no electricity, no heating. We hid in the basement with the neighbours. We had to queue to get water. It was distributed by tank trucks and it was dangerous because we never knew when the next attack would come. My husband used to go to town for groceries and I was always worried if he would ever come back alive.”

Those who have left Ukraine have had to undertake physically and emotionally challenging journeys. With your support, we are providing food, hygiene kits and medical assistance to older refugees who have made the difficult journey to Moldova.

Our colleague Tatiana Sorocan, HelpAge Moldova, visited one of the many refugee centres. She reported that many people are worried about families left behind, and that there’s a huge need for psychological counselling for older people. Aliona, a psychologist at one centre told her, “Older people are very traumatised and not ready to talk about their situation.”

Sanctuary for Viktoria

Viktoria was born during World War II and never imagined she’d be forced to leave her home 80 years later. She’s now staying at the refugee centre in Moldova with her daughter Gelena. Here, thanks to your support, older Ukrainian refugees and their families are getting hot meals and other vital support from our partner HelpAge.

She said: “My neighbourhood in Kharkiv was destroyed by the interminable bombing, and I took refuge in the basement of my apartment block with my daughter Gelena. We were just trying to survive.”

After three weeks they travelled across Ukraine to Chisinau in Moldova. Viktoria explains: “At the refugee centre we receive all necessary assistance. We are both very happy with the conditions of the centre and are very grateful to the volunteers for their dedication and involvement.”

But Viktoria worries about family in Kharkiv. “My younger sister, who is 75, stayed behind with her daughter and granddaughter, and I now have another niece who was born just a week ago. How sad it is that this child was born under bombs – just as I was 80 years earlier.” Viktoria told us.