“In the past six months, over 200,000 individuals have been displaced from conflict zones in the east and north,” stated Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, on the third anniversary of the war, February 24th, 2023.
Mr. Grandi further mentioned that since the conflict began, approximately 10.6 million people have been forced from their homes. Despite most displacement happening early during the Russian invasion, the ongoing suffering persists.

Daily drone presence over cities

Many displaced in the east and north of the country initially arrive at transit centers before being assisted to find temporary accommodation in converted public buildings known as collective sites.

Serhii Zelenyi was recently evacuated by bus to a transit center in the eastern city of Pavlohrad after fleeing his home in Pokrovsk in the frontline Donetsk region, approximately 130 kilometers from the Russian border.
“It was very difficult in Pokrovsk. Drones were everywhere in the city daily, from early morning till late evening,” Zelenyi remarked. “Sometimes there was a two-hour pause, then the bombardments resumed. It became impossible.”
The handyman and small-scale farmer, among the last to leave, finally decided the constant danger, lack of amenities, and need for seclusion were unbearable.
Upon arrival in Pavlohrad, Mr. Zelenyi received clothing and cash assistance from the UN Refugee Agency, UNHCR, and its local partners, and now contemplates rebuilding his life. “I lost everything,” he said, “I need to start over from scratch.”

A space for emotional release

Mr. Zelenyi’s experience is common, as noted by Alyona Sinaeva, a psychologist with Proliska, UNHCR’s partner organization in Pavlohrad. Arrivals from frontline areas are “in acute stress, having fled from cities with ongoing conflict.”

The transit center offers a secure environment for traumatized civilians. Proliska and other UNHCR partners provide evacuees with essential support, including clothing, cash assistance for essentials, hygiene kits, legal aid, and psychosocial support.
“In this space, they can rest and finally express their emotions,” Sinaeva stated. “They’ve endured too much; everyone is exhausted of the war.”
Three years after Russia’s full-scale assault on Ukraine, and 11 years since the conflict’s onset in the east and the annexation of Crimea, devastation and displacement are still a daily reality, with an estimated 12.7 million individuals—roughly a third of Ukraine’s remaining population—requiring humanitarian assistance.