icon icon icon icon icon icon icon

Dispatches from Lviv: Displaced women share their stories

People assessing a table full of food and supplies.

Photo: Petr Stefan/People In Need

Photo: Petr Stefan/People In Need

More than 6.8 million people in Ukraine have fled to neighboring countries since the conflict began, and more than 8 million have been internally displaced. All these people, most of them women and children, need support and protection.

CARE and partner Charity Foundation for Stabilization Support Services (CFSSS) are working together to deliver live-saving assistance for people in need inside Ukraine. CARE and CFSSS are providing food and water as well as distributing hygiene items and medical packages for internally displaced people. Recently, CFSSS food distribution has taken place in Lviv, Chernivtsi and Truskavets.

Portrait of Liudmila
Liudmila photo: ©CF SSS/Alex Bondarenko

Liudmila, Dnipro

Widow, one daughter, two grandchildren

“I am so grateful for this support; you can’t even imagine. We really need food for our children. I am so grateful to all the volunteers and organizations that are helping us. Thank God we are safe now and so many people are willing to help. They really brought us everything we need right now – children’s stuff, curtains, and everything else. People are very kind to us.”

Portrait of Tetiana
Tetiana photo: ©CF SSS/Alex Bondarenko

Tetiana, Kyiv

Mother of five, fostering a friend’s child

“These food packages are really helpful. We use a lot of cereal and cook soups for the kids. I also bake a lot because the kids like to eat something sweet, so flour is always appropriate. And for us it is quite expensive to buy it in a store.”

“We live in the outskirts of Kyiv, not far from Boryspil Airport. As we heard a huge explosion – so strong that the walls began to shake – we realized that we had to flee. We lifted our children, who were still in their pajamas, into the car and drove away.”

Portrait of Olena
Olena photo: ©CF SSS/Alex Bondarenko

Olena, Severodonetsk

Mother of four

“I was one of the first people to pack everything, a few days before the war broke out. The situation was very tense, and I called all my relatives and told them to pack everything and prepare for evacuation.”

“We need a lot of things for our children. We could not take much of our belongings because it was freezing in February, but we found some clothes in the humanitarian centers. Food is very important, of course, and hygiene items.”

Back to Top