Rebuilding life: how support from UNHCR helps displaced families find stability again

Sitting in the kitchen, eating sweet cherries and playing with a ginger kitten, Liudmyla and her 10-year-old nephew Mykola finally feel at home again. Yet just a short time ago, their lives were marked by loss, displacement, and uncertainty brought by the full-scale Russian invasion.

Before the war, they lived in Beryslav, a town in Kherson region. Liudmyla, 47, was raising Mykola as his legal guardian while also caring for her elderly parents, both in their late 60s and 70s. On the very first day of the invasion – 24 February 2022 – Beryslav was occupied. For months, evacuation was impossible due to dangerous military checkpoints and her mother’s severe mobility challenges.

Although Ukrainian forces regained control of Beryslav in November 2022, the town had been left devastated by shelling that destroyed infrastructure and disrupted basic services. After enduring a harsh winter, the family finally fled in March 2023, seeking safety in the town of Velyka Oleksandrivka, also in Kherson region.

At first, they found shelter in a rented apartment. But two years later, they were asked to leave when the owner’s daughter returned to Ukraine and needed to stay in that apartment. Once again displaced, with nowhere to go, they were shown the only available apartment in the area — an abandoned unit left in disrepair since 2018. “There was no gas, no water, and no heating. The place had been ruined and was unfit for living,” Liudmyla recalls. “We had to rebuild a wreck with our own hands.”

With no alternatives, the family moved in and started repairing it bit by bit—reconnecting utilities, replacing heating systems, and patching walls. But with no steady income beyond pensions and child support, the costs quickly became overwhelming.

That was when help arrived. Through its NGO partners, Tenth of April and Stabilization Support Services, UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, provided the family with vital support. Liudmyla’s family received mattresses, blankets, sleeping bags, kitchen sets, solar lamps, power banks, towels, and hygiene supplies. To restore some normalcy, a refrigerator and electric stove were also provided, along with a computer desk so that Mykola could keep up with his schoolwork.

Helping Liudmyla to cover a part of the expenses for renovating the apartment, UNHCR also provided her with cash assistance. Thanks to this timely support, the family managed to transform the abandoned flat into a modest, but livable home.

“The aid we received was the only reason we could make it through. It meant the difference between survival and despair,” says Liudmyla.