Life at the front line: caught between the love of home and the horrors of war
Life at the front line: caught between the love of home and the horrors of war
Many frontline villages in Ukraine remain home to people in high need of humanitarian assistance.
More than three years since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the nearly 1,000-kilometre-long front line stretching through the north, east and south has left large areas uninhabitable. Still, thousands of people remain in towns and villages near the fighting zone. In Donetsk region alone, authorities estimate that more than 26,000 people reside in zones with active hostilities.
Most are older people, and they feel bound to their homes to care for vulnerable family members, protect pets or livestock—or simply because they cannot bear to leave their homes. “We would rather die here, where all our family is buried,” is a sentiment often shared by residents in frontline communities.
Living under the constant threat of attack, they rely heavily on humanitarian assistance — to repair shattered homes, purchase firewood for winter, or simply to access essentials like blankets, mattresses, kitchen sets, solar lamps, medicine and food. These supplies are primarily delivered by Ukrainian NGOs, including several partners of UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, as well as through the UN humanitarian convoys, which UNHCR regularly joins. As the front line shifts, disrupting critical services and daily life, the needs of these communities grow more urgent — and so do the risks faced by humanitarian workers.
Under fire, yet determined to stay
Proximity to the front line means that those who remain face daily threats — not only from aerial bombs and drones, but also artillery fire.
Zoia is 71 years old and lives in the village Zolotyi Kolodiaz, not far from the city of Pokrovsk in Donetsk region – an area in focus of an intense Russian offensive in recent months. In May, Zoia was caught in the middle of a Russian attack when she was at her daughter’s house. Due to knee problems, she could not get to the shelter in time and stayed outside under a canopy. A sudden explosion lit up the sky — her daughter rushed out and helped her down to the basement. Moments later, a second blast followed.
“There was a bright flash in the sky — like a fireball — then a loud explosion,” recalls Zoia. “My daughter helped me down to the basement, and just moments later, another blast shook everything.”
By morning, the damage was clear: all windows were blown out, the roof partially destroyed, and shards of glass and slate scattered across the yard.
Zoia in the yard of her house.
UNHCR’s NGO partner Angels of Salvation quickly arrived to assess the destruction and provide emergency shelter materials, enabling the family to cover the broken windows. But the roof remains damaged—and with winter approaching, her home could be unsafe.
"I thought I'd have peace at this age"
The war affects not only homes, but also hearts and minds. For Oleksandr, a 74-year-old from Dobropillia in Donetsk region — just 20 kilometers from the front line — the trauma is personal. A missile struck his building earlier this year. The impact shattered the walls, but Oleksandr survived. While he does not like to dwell on the horrors of that night, the memory remains lodged inside him.
"This experience won't fade away quickly. I know that for myself. I wish this on no one. I've lived long enough to think I'd have peace at this age," he says.
It is psychological support that keeps Oleksandr grounded. Psychologists from UNHCR's local partner Proliska visit him regularly, and their presence and willingness to listen offer a rare moment of relief for him:
"The most important thing is seeing the compassion in their eyes. And that means a lot. Young children and older people like me are very sensitive. We absorb everything. Children carry memories of either something very good or something very bad. And at an older age, it just doesn't pass. It stays with you and gives you a lump in your throat when you think about it."
Aid to front-line areas
Supporting people in front-line communities remains a key priority for UNHCR in Ukraine. Through local NGO partners – who are daily on the ground to bring aid and support to people in need close to the frontline – UNHCR provides emergency shelter materials to enable them to quickly repair damages to their homes following aerial attacks or artillery shelling as well as psychosocial support to help people cope with the emotional toll of war.
Since the start of the full-scale invasion, UNHCR together with other UN agencies and Ukrainian NGOs has delivered life-saving assistance to over 850,000 people through 207 inter-agency humanitarian convoys primarily to heavily affected areas in Donetsk, Kherson, and Kharkiv regions.
During the past heating seasons, UNHCR has also provided winter cash assistance to war-affected people across nine severely impacted regions, reaching from north to east and south: Sumy, Kharkiv, Kherson, Luhansk, Donetsk, Dnipropetrovsk, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, and Chernihiv. This assistance has enabled families with specific vulnerabilities like older age and disabilities to purchase solid fuel like firewood, warm clothing and blankets, and stay warm in their homes during the coldest months of the year.
