“With the roof repaired, I know that we will get through winter”
“With the roof repaired, I know that we will get through winter”
Larysa is not afraid of the coming winter after the roof and windows in her house were repaired with support from UNHCR.
The signs of the attack that damaged Larysa’s home are still scattered across the yard where fragments of a missile lie amongst pieces of her damaged roof. The 69-year-old pensioner is accustomed to near-daily aerial attacks in Kharkiv — Ukraine’s second-largest city and one of the hardest hit since the start of the full-scale invasion. But the strike in March shook her deeply.
“My house jolted, everything rattled, and I was picking up rocket fragments all over the yard. The slate roof was completely shredded, and the chimney collapsed. The blast wave also blew out all the windows,” Larysa says.
The land where her house stands belonged to her great-great-grandfather and generations of her family lived here, growing fruits and vegetables and raising their children. When the full-scale war started in 2022, Larysa never left Kharkiv despite its proximity to the Russian border and relentless shelling. Living by herself, she was relieved that she would not need to seek temporary shelter as the damage to her home was repaired with support from UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, and its local NGO partner “Angels of Salvation”.
“First, they delivered all the construction materials, and then they completed all the work in full. I did not even expect it. I thought I would be living under the rain, the roof would keep leaking, and the house would continue to fall apart,” Larysa shares. “But all the work was finished in the last week of October, just before the cold set in. If this had not happened, I would have been sitting in the cold — it wouldn’t have even made sense to use the heating, because it would have been impossible to warm the house in such conditions. Now I am certain that we will get though winter.”
After her house was damaged by shelling, Larysa was not sure that she could stay there during the cold months, but now she feels warm at home.
Living under the constant threat of attacks takes a toll. Larysa says she barely sleeps at night, and her mental health is under strain. Yet, she is determined to remain in her home and has faith that she will see the day when the war ends:
“We are all extremely exhausted psychologically. But I am sure that we will endure everything. I feel that I am genetically connected to this land. My family is buried here, and I am not going anywhere.”
As millions of Ukrainians brace for the fourth winter since the start of the full-scale invasion, UNHCR is prioritizing support to the most vulnerable. Repairs include replacing shattered roofs, installing modern triple-glazed windows for better insulation, and fixing doors and walls to help families retain heat and reduce energy consumption — a critical need amid widespread blackouts.
UNHCR and its NGO partners support people with repairs ahead of winter.
With support from donors such as Croatia, UNHCR has repaired over 50,000 homes since the start of the full-scale invasion, enabling families to return to or remain in their communities.
