Everyone can be a hero: the humanitarian response in war-torn Ukraine. Part 2

Andriy Smirnov, a 68–year-old father of two daughters and a Kharkiv native, knows first-hand what forced displacement looks like.

Andriy has been working as a driver at Proliska, a local UNHCR partner NGO, when conflict broke out in the Eastern region of Donbas. Back in 2014, he helped the local population by evacuating those from the conflict-affected areas, and by providing the logistical support to get humanitarian aid to the people in need.

Now, Andriy is working in another region, and one that’s close to his own heart. He has returned to the region in which he grew up – Kharkiv – to help his local community grapple with the ramifications of war.

Hoptivka is a small village where almost 1,000 people lived before the full-scale invasion, located 2 km from the Ukrainian-Russian border. It has felt the heavy weight of the war since 24 February. The settlement was under the temporary military control of the Russian Federation in the early days of the full-scale invasion. Constant shelling and armed clashes in the region pushed most residents to flee with only some 58 people staying behind.

“When people are in trouble, we need to help them. I took the minibus that I used to drive around Donbas. At first, we transported everything we could take with us. We tried to raise funds through social media. We helped with evacuations as well. The bus can accommodate up to seven people, but I once had to evacuate 17 children with their parents under shelling. Of course, I was as scared as the people who had lived in such conditions for months. I like to think that I managed to save a few lives,” explains Andriy.

Practically every house in Hoptivka is either destroyed or badly damaged. The local hospital and school were also destroyed. The village was retaken by the Government of Ukraine in September, but shelling is still a daily occurrence due to its proximity to the border. Attacks on civilian infrastructure mean that there is no electricity or heating in the village. With winter here and little means to rebuild, locals are in dire need of support.

“It hurts to see this village. Broken settlements with broken lives. That is why I feel I need to give everything I can to them. I saw these people: men, women, children. What they have witnessed and experienced. It is as if they were held hostages. I never doubted what I did,” continues Andriy.

When the town was retaken on 11 September, humanitarian organizations rushed to reach locals who had been isolated for so long. Proliska was one of the first to arrive, providing tarpaulins to hold off the rain, solar lamps for light, warm blankets and hygiene kits including items like toothbrushes and sanitary towels. With Proliska, Andriy continues to provide urgent life-saving assistance to the people of Hoptivka.

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