In the Ukrainian city of Odesa, southern Ukraine, aid charity Heritage Ukraine continues to welcome and shelter displaced people fleeing from conflict.
“The war is still going on. It is not bad weather; it is missiles hitting people's homes. It is real and people get killed every day,” explains Alyona Puzanova of Heritage Ukraine. “We can smile, we can give a hug but, in our circumstances, people need more than a hug. They need a home, they need medicine, they need so much more.”
Heritage Ukraine is supported by Christian Aid through a partnership with Scotland-based Blythswood Care and with funds from the Scottish Government. Before the war, Heritage helped orphans and families in crisis. However, since the full-scale invasion in February 2022, they expanded to provide shelter, food, cash and legal support to the elderly, children and people with disabilities.
“At first [at the outbreak of the war] it was definitely a huge shock,” Alyona Puzanova of Heritage explains. “As a team, we all felt lost, and we found ourselves looking at each other and asking what we do next?” We didn't know if we could continue because of how dangerous it was. But within a week, and with more volunteers, we adjusted. We went to the train station with thousands of sandwiches for people fleeing the fighting.”
These actions were not without dangers. Missiles were fired overhead as they operated. “Since then, everything we have owned at Heritage over the past eight-years has been given away,” Alyona says. Our mats, our tents, our kitchen supplies, everything. We didn’t know if we would use them again, but we knew people needed them.”
Heritage report one of their aid workers suffered a concussion after his truck was hit directly by a Russian drone. Alyona continues: “We encourage one another. There is no time to sit, think and feel sorry for yourself. When there was an air raid, it was stressful, but now we are so busy helping others.”
Alyona was speaking following a visit of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, alongside Christian Aid to Heritage Ukraine in Odesa earlier this month. Among those Archbishop Justin met was 73-year-old Lyuba who told him how her home was destroyed, and her daughter killed in a Russian attack just a month before arriving in Odesa.
Lyuba comes from a village in the Kherson region, a four-to-five-hour car drive away from Odesa. Her village was under Russian control earlier in the war. It once had 3,000 inhabitants, but she believes all but 100 have fled.
“We did not plan to be evacuated but our daughter was killed on 21 December when she was walking on the street. We buried our daughter on the 26 December, but then the Russians hit our home at new year. That is when we made the decision to evacuate. We left with nothing and now we feel homeless.”
Prior to evacuating, Lyuba and her family lived for a year without electricity. They endured shelling non-stop and the sight of Russian troops across the river. She explains she now suffers from bronchitis because they were living in a basement.
“I don’t know what will happen, but we miss home very much, and we want to go back,” Lyuba says. Because so many people from her village are without mobile phones, she can’t stay in touch and fears what has happened.
Now in Odesa, Heritage Ukraine provides Lyuba with shelter and food. “The very first days we were scared to go out because we were so used to shelling, but now we try to overcome that fear.”
Millions of Ukrainians are living in damaged homes or in buildings which will not provide sufficient protection from the harsh winter. An estimated 14.6 million Ukrainians need humanitarian assistance. The war has also sparked the largest refugee crisis in Europe since the Second World War.
Alla and her eight-year-old son, Kolya, also from the Kherson region and evacuated by the military to Odesa in September last year met with The Archbishop of Canterbury too. They used to live close to the Nova Kakhovka Dam before it was destroyed, flooding their home. Experts conclude that it was Russian forces that likely blew up a segment of the dam when under their control.
“A lot of people from our village evacuated, but to many different places. The ladies here [Heritage Ukraine] helped me find housing and now we stay in a house not too far away. They have been very helpful and helped me with documents to register, as an evacuee, for social benefits. They have accompanied me throughout and we continue to visit them, it is like a community. Everyone loves my son!” she laughs.
Alla says she is still “scared to this day.” She continues: “The war will end one day, and we will have to go home but we will have no home to go to. I have a mother and two older daughters who still live under occupation. I don't even know if they live.”
Kolya, Alla’s son, has now started school at the age of eight. But for Alla, she says it is hard to think about the future “because it is very scary.” She says she really hopes “no one else must go through the same experiences.”
Alyona and the team at Heritage Ukraine remain determined to support one another and help people in need, like Lyuba, Alla and Kolya. “We want Heritage Ukraine to be a place to be as home to many as possible. We know that for people who flee from Mariupol, Kherson, and Nova Kakhovka there is nowhere else to go. Be it running craft or yoga classes, we want them to feel at home and cared for.”
David Green, Christian Aid’s Public Engagement Lead who travelled from Scotland to meet with Heritage Ukraine and the Archbishop of Canterbury, reflected: “Meeting Alyona and speaking with Lyuba, Alla and Kolya was a humbling experience. It wasn’t surprising, or easy, to witness how heavy the toll of war has become and the ever-increasing need for psychological support.
“My message to our political leaders is therefore simple; do not give up on the people of Ukraine. We must do all we can to put the humanitarian support needed, for as long as it is needed, in the hands of the crisis-affected people who know how best to meet the challenges they face and work towards delivering a just and lasting peace.”
ENDS.
Notes to editors:
Photos are available on request.
Comments from The Archbishop of Canterbury can be found here: https://www.archbishopofcanterbury.org/news/news-and-statements/not-likely-stop-soon-archbishop-justins-calls-long-term-support-people
