Ukraine Crisis Explained

Brutal conflict in Ukraine has left millions of people with no safe place to call home. Innocent civilians are being killed, families and lives are being torn apart.

Now, 11 months after the start of the war, almost 18 million people are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance.

ShelterBox is giving people thermal blankets, clothing, and emergency repair kits. These items will help people fix damaged roofs, seal windows and doors, keep the heat in and make homes watertight.

But as the winter continues on, we need your help to continue responding. People living in damaged buildings with little or no heating are facing temperatures as low as -15°C.

Watch ShelterBox Ukraine Program Manager Rachel Harvey provide an update on our upcoming winter project.

ShelterBox has helped more than 37,000 people affected by the war in Ukraine so far. We’ve supported people displaced within Ukraine, as well as refugees who crossed the border into Moldova.

With our attention now firmly on supporting people through the bitter winter months, we’ll be reaching around 30,000 more people with essential items to help them survive.

People are living in damaged homes without heating or lighting. That’s why we’re providing thermal clothing, solar lights, water carriers and stoves with our new partner, NNLPD.

We’re also working with ReliefAid and Green Chernobyl to provide emergency shelter repair kits. This will help people fix damaged roofs, seal windows and doors, keep the heat in and make homes watertight.

1. Millions of people in eastern Ukraine have been severely affected by an ongoing conflict that began in 2014 when Crimea was annexed from Ukraine.

2. Before the recent escalation in conflict, the UN estimated that 2.9 million people in Ukraine were already in need of humanitarian assistance.

3. According to the UN Refugee Agency, before the latest increase in violence, nearly 1.5 million people were internally displaced within Ukraine, with half being over the age of 60 – making it one of the ‘oldest’ crises in the world.

4. Since 2014, Ukraine has been the target of multiple cyber-attacks, some resulting in devastating power blackouts affecting thousands of people.

5. Winter temperatures fall as low as -8 °C (about 18 °F) in Ukraine, causing even more challenges for people caught up in the conflict.

We are deeply concerned for families in Ukraine fleeing their homes in below freezing temperatures. That is why we stand with the UN in calling for peace and the protection of civilians affected by the crisis in Ukraine and critical basic infrastructure and services.