We’re still there for older people in Ukraine

On 24 August, Ukraine celebrates its Day of Independence, but this year the date also marks six months since the current conflict began. With a focus on listening to older people and what they most need, and thanks to the generosity of the UK public donating to the DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal and a formidable team of Ukrainian volunteers, we have been able to adapt and evolve our response as the conflict continues. 

With our partner HelpAge International, we have been supporting older people affected by conflict in Eastern Ukraine since 2014, so were able to act quickly to respond when the conflict escalated in February. Since then, many people in Ukraine have seen their homes destroyed or made unsafe with local infrastructure damaged and disrupted and millions have fled to safer areas of Ukraine and to neighbouring countries. Fortunately, following the amazing response to the DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal which has raised over £380million, Age International has been able to adapt its support for older people accordingly.

Our colleague Orla Murphy, who leads the humanitarian programme for our partner HelpAge Ukraine, said:

“One of the things that have really struck me is the solidarity that has been shown - both the Ukrainian people and volunteers stepping forward, and the huge support from the British public. In the immediate weeks after the conflict started, we were distributing urgently needed food kits. Our programme then started to evolve, using our experience to look at the specific needs that we were hearing from older people. For us working with those impacted is central - they need to define what's important to them.”

As well as reaching people who can’t leave their homes, donations to the appeal enabled us to support those older people and people with disabilities who managed to flee to safety and are now living in shelters in Ukraine and across the border in Moldova and Poland.

Valentina, 81, is one of the many older people who had to leave their homes due to the danger of shelling and now lives in temporary accommodation with her sister in Dnipro. Since arriving, she has been able to get food packages, hygiene items and medication thanks to donations to the appeal. She told us:

“In Severodonetsk, we all lived separately. I was given my house by the government because of my work. Now I don’t know what’s happened to it. Before I left, a bomb hit nearby and the windows were broken, but there is no one left there to call to ask if it is still standing.

“I used to be a teacher and after retirement I tutored classes for older people. We had a club for retired people at the library and we would talk or discuss books, exhibit handicrafts and it was called “Ladies”, which in Russian also sounds like “yes, us”. We wanted to affirm that we exist and we treat life with interest.

“In Dnipro I have lost my independence. I injured my knee in a fall some time ago and I barely go out now. When the war started, I was in the hospital with a lung infection and my relatives collected me at the end of February. I stayed at Sasha’s [a relative’s] house, hiding in the corridor or in the basement. I did not have a chance to try to recover until we came here.

“Volunteers brought me some medication for my lungs. My son [in France] is thinking about how to get me over to him but it’s a long journey when you have a bad knee. This is the third war I have survived. In 2014, it was short, but we don’t know where this war will take us.”

Many of the older people who left their homes like Valentina did so in a hurry, without their possessions or access to an income and living in temporary accommodation. Those who stayed behind in conflict areas have seen key infrastructure including water and energy disrupted or cut off, making the freezing weather ahead a bitter prospect. Fortunately, the generosity of the UK public and the determination of Ukrainian volunteers means we will be able to continue meeting older people’s needs as the country heads into another winter.

Learn more about how we’ve supported older people like Valentina over the past six months:

Ukraine: Six Months On