In the past year alone, more than 250,000 residents have left the Donetsk region, a focus of Russian attacks in southeastern Ukraine, close to their shared border.
Evacuations are also ongoing in neighboring Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Sumy, and Zaporizhzhia.
The UN refugee agency, UNHCR, is supporting both evacuees and those who remain behind.
Federico Sersale, head of UNHCR’s office in Dnipro, told UN News that the majority of people who want to stay are elderly or those with disabilities.
Some are unwilling to leave their homes, fearing they may never return. Others are simply unable to evacuate on their own and require assistance.
A difficult decision
People who remain in the frontline areas live in harsh and extremely stressful conditions, facing constant attacks and disruptions to basic services.
Their movements are also limited by the security situation. Yet, despite these difficult circumstances, persuading them to leave is no easy task.
“I think the most important thing is that it’s their decision whether to leave or stay. What we try to do, as far as possible, is to give them the information to make an informed decision,” Mr. Sersale said.
Assisting evacuees and frontline communities
In the meantime, UNHCR and its NGO partners are providing them with much-needed assistance.
“When we have access to those communities, we are providing different types of services and assistance – from basic relief items like blankets to shelter materials and repair items in case their houses are affected by airstrikes, but also psychosocial support and legal aid.”
The most vulnerable evacuees go through transit sites – government-led facilities, where they stay briefly, receive basic services, and move on.
Federico Sersale, the head of UNHCR’s office in Dnipro.
“Forty-six percent of the people who have gone through transit sites are either older people or people with limited mobility. That is a new development,” according to Mr. Sersale.
“We help set up these sites, provide basic equipment like beds, blankets, washing machines, whatever is needed for them to function. We also provide services, including psychosocial and legal aid, as well as cash assistance, that allow people to cover their most urgent needs. It varies depending on what the gaps are.”
Frontline holdouts
Svitlana, an elderly woman from a frontline community in the Zaporizhzhia[DD1] region, passed through one of these sites south of Dnipro City.
Although encouraged to leave earlier, she and her husband refused. They lived in very harsh conditions, without electricity and with drones constantly flying over their house.
Svitlana, an evacuee from Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia region.
When the frontline started to shift in Zaporizhzhia and the situation worsened a few weeks ago, she finally decided it was time to go.
Svitlana spent a few days at the transit center, receiving cash and other assistance, and was later moved to “An Ocean of Kindness” in Dnipro City, a UNHCR-supported facility providing temporary accommodation for internally displaced people (IDPs) like Svitlana, who use wheelchairs or have limited mobility.
“That’s where I met her”, Mr. Sersale said. “It’s a temporary solution. She’s waiting to find longer-term accommodation.”
“When I met her, she had incredible energy. Despite everything she has gone through, her eyes were still full of hope and energy.”
Long-term solutions and resilience
One of the biggest challenges for vulnerable IDPs like Svitlana is finding long-term solutions, including housing and more comprehensive support.
“This could mean an assisted living facility. It could mean receiving home-based care, living in a house, but also receiving certain services,” Mr. Sersale said.
“Housing for internally displaced people is one of the main gaps. We are actively working in this area alongside our emergency response efforts.”
While Svitlana explores options for a more permanent arrangement, UNHCR continues to provide support to her and other IDPs.
“I think her story is a perfect example of what life on the frontline is like. You have to make a difficult decision on whether to leave or not and then find the resilience to start again.”
