Second winter with war: how UNHCR helps to keep homes warm and hope high in Ukraine

Improving home insulation

Almost two years since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the small village of Huta-Mezhyhirska in Kyiv region still bears visible signs of the heavy fighting that took place in February-March 2022.

“The frontline was just a few hundred meters away, and we spent several weeks in our basements hiding from shells flying in different directions,” one of the villagers recalls. Now, as the second winter during war sets in, many homes remain unprepared for freezing winds sipping in through shattered windows, battered doors, and compromised roofs.

“We have 18 windows in our house, some of them were damaged by shelling. We replaced them  ourselves, but without insulation it can get quite cold inside. We use a wood stove to get the house warm,” said Olha, 69, who lives with her son-in-law Mykola, 51, and her 17-year-old grandson, Vlad. The family received Rapid Thermal Kits from UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and its local partner “Right to Protection” and can use the materials to quickly and easily insulate their home to get through the cold months.

Each Rapid Thermal Kit includes items which are traditionally used by people in Ukraine to improve home insulation: reflective insulation screens, transparent plastic sheet for window repairs, foam draft blocker, and building tape. These materials help reducing heat loss, making it easier and cheaper to keep homes warm.

Keeping collective sites warm

Providing winter assistance to displaced and other war-affected people in Ukraine is a top priority for UNHCR during the cold months, and the plan this winter is to reach at least 900,000 people with different types of assistance. This is possible thanks to the support from the European Union.

To support internally displaced people staying at collective sites across the country, UNHCR is repairing and insulating the premises as well as maintaining heating and electrical systems. Most of these collective sites were established in social facilities like schools and dormitories as a temporary solution to address the massive displacement at the start of the full-scale war. At the end of 2023, 116,000 displaced people continue living in over 2,500 collective sites that are often ill-prepared for winter.

In the city of Berezne in Rivne region, UNHCR replaced 46 old windows in a dormitory of a local college hosting almost a hundred people who were forced to flee their homes due to the war. The new windows help to keep the site and its residents warm and save energy. “When we first arrived at this dormitory, I wondered how we would survive the winter. There was a lot of moisture and mold due to the draught from the windows, and we were worried about the children’s health. With the new windows, it instantly became warmer and brighter,” says Kateryna who fled her hometown Kreminna in Donetsk region with her family. They have been staying in the collective site for more than a year. Returning home is not an option for the family as Kreminna suffered heavy destruction and remains under the temporary military control of the Russian Federation.

“We have no home to return to,” says Kateryna whose 10-year-old daughter has started attending a local school while the family tries to build a new life from scratch in their new community.

Helping to pay increased utility bills

Elina’s story of displacement started in 2016, when she fled from Donetsk together with her son Mykyta, amidst the armed conflict. The need to take care of a family member with a disability forced them to return. Then, with the start of the full-scale Russian invasion, Elina and Mykyta became internally displaced again. Being a single parent, Elina also takes care of her elderly mother who fled with them. After leaving Donetsk, the family had to rebuild their life in Dnipro where they found temporary shelter in a modular house.

“The previous winter was terrible. Blackouts, cold, and greyness, we got ill several times…I had two jobs to feed my family, and when my son asked to buy a toy or a sweet, I could not do this as I knew I had to pay my bills,” Elina recalls.

While struggling to make ends meet, Elina was unable to access the state allowance for internally displaced people as the document certifying her situation as an IDP was outdated. Thanks to the free legal assistance provided by UNHCR’s NGO partner Right to Protection, Elina was able to renew her documents and receive the payments again. The family also received cash assistance from UNHCR to help cover basic needs, like food and medicines, and the additional costs for heating and utilities that significantly increase during winter.

“It was a miracle. We did not expect to receive this assistance. Now I feel more confident in the future. I understand that we will manage to pay the bills, and we will stay warm. And I will buy a gift for my son for the upcoming holidays,” Elina said.

As of December 2023, and thanks to funding from the European Union, UNHCR jointly with its NGO partners have reached over 560,000 people in Ukraine with to support them through this year’s winter season. This includes cash assistance for paying energy bills and purchase of heating materials, Rapid Thermal Kits for insulation of homes, winter clothes and other items, such as sleeping bags, warm blankets, repairs of homes as well as improvement of living conditions in collective sites hosting displaced people.

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