“The war has taken everything from me”
“The war has taken everything from me”
75-year old Petro used to live a good life. He had his house in Preobrazhenka village in Ukraine’s southeastern Zaporizhzhia region – and as he has done his entire life, he was farming and cultivating the land. As a young man, he graduated agricultural school in Crimea, and he worked in different gardens, while also growing his own vegetables and fruits.
Then came the war and everything changed.
“The war has taken everything from me: It took my house, it took my land, and it has taken everything from my mother who is 101-years old,” says Petro. When the full-scale invasion began in February 2022, he evacuated his older mother to safety after her village was occupied by the Russian Armed Forces. First, they went to Ivano-Frankivsk in western Ukraine, but the homesickness drew them back, and they returned to their region, settling in Zaporizhzhia city.
“My mother would like to die next to her husband, so we returned here. However, it’s really hard for her to live in the city. She lived in the village for almost 100 years,” explains Petro.
However, there is not much left of the house where his parents lived. It was completely damaged back in 2022 by the attacks and fighting – and so was his own house. “Only walls are remaining. There are no windows, no roof.”
Not only was Petro left without anything of his childhood home and his own property – he was also facing difficult legal challenges: for years, he was not able to formalize his inheritance rights on the family house and land that he inherited when his father passed away in 2000. Without the will and original ownership documents that had been lost, and the lack of access to local archives due to the war and occupation, Petro was not able to obtain a proper certificate of inheritance.
Petro sought legal assistance from UNHCR's NGO partner, Right to Protection, who requested documents from local archives, helped recover archival inheritance records and helped him file a court claim. “It was impossible for me to solve the inheritance case on my own, and I am very thankful. The lawyers have been really helpful. They assisted me in court. I could not have paid for the procedure, but they also covered all the court fees,” explains Petro.
In 2026, the court recognized his ownership rights to both the house and landplot. He was then able to register and immediately became eligible to apply for compensation through the state’s eRecovery program. He is currently awaiting the decision. Through Right to Protection, Petro also received cash assistance from UNHCR. “This support was a lot. It helped us cover the rent for several months,” he adds.
Since the start of the full-scale invasion, UNHCR together with its NGO partners have provided over 785,000 free legal counseling sessions to internally displaced people, returnees and other war-affected families. This is made possible thanks to support from donors, including the European Union, and this assistance helps people restore lost and damaged documents that can ensure them access to services and social support. As in the case of Petro, many people also receive legal support to deal with property issues or help to apply for and access the state’s compensation programme for war-damaged homes.
UNHCR’s response in Ukraine also includes a comprehensive cash assistance programme which includes emergency cash aid to displaced people and families whose homes have been impacted by air attacks. Since 2022, more than 743 million USD has been distributed directly to over 2,5 million people across Ukraine, helping people cover their most urgent needs while supporting the local economy.
For Petro, the support received offered immediate relief – and has strengthened his determination to keep hope alive, for himself and his mother: “My mother has survived a lot, she survived two famines, she survived World War II and now she has to live through war again. We are waiting for the victory, so we can die in peace, and so I can be able to bury my mother next to my father.”
