Support arrives after attacks: how house repairs help Ukrainians stay warm through the winter
Support arrives after attacks: how house repairs help Ukrainians stay warm through the winter
Nina is 67 years old and has lived in Zaporizhzhia in southeastern Ukraine her entire life with her husband Oleksandr who has a disability.
On the evening of 7 July 2025, the couple heard explosions echoing across the city. Moments later, four powerful blasts struck close to their home as drones hit the area, causing significant structural damage to the house.
"It felt like the roof went up and down four times," Nina recalls.
After the explosions, she saw that her roof and windows were severely damaged. She also noticed a fire in her yard and was worried that the gas supply pipe could have been impacted, but luckily, it remained intact. With the roof badly damaged, water began leaking into the house whenever it rained.
Right after the attack, UNHCR’s NGO partners Proliska and R2P provided emergency assistance to Nina’s family, including construction materials, essential household items, as well as legal and psychosocial support.
Nina received basic shelter materials to quickly cover the broken windows and the roof. But that was a temporary solution. As the colder season approached, Nina worried they would not be able to afford to repair the house before winter.
"With our small pensions, it would be impossible for us to deal with it. We are older, we do not have enough strength to go and try to find the workers and materials to fix it. For me, the only concern is how to get the medicine for my husband. We were very lucky," Nina says.
With support from donors like the King Salman Humanitarian Aid and Relief Center, KSrelief, Nina was helped by UNHCR’s NGO partner Caritas with life-saving house repairs. Within a month, the damaged floor beams, roofing elements and broken windows were replaced with new ones.
Thanks to this support, Nina and her husband were able to make their home warm again before the cold season arrived. This rapid assistance is critical for many people, living through this crisis, especially ahead of winter, when timely repairs help prevent further damage and protect homes from freezing temperatures.
Thanks to the support from KSrelief, UNHCR Ukraine has this winter supported thousands of families with life-saving support: more than 1,100 families with rapid thermal kits, some 2,200 families with emergency shelter materials and over 1,000 families with building materials for house insulation and repair works. The generous contribution from KSrelief helped improve the thermal insulation of damaged homes and enabled urgent repairs, supporting vulnerable families to remain safe and protected during the extremely cold months this winter season.
