What do we know?
We heard from our colleagues in the morning of 24th February, which is the day Russia started invading on multiple fronts.
The Russian Federation launched a full-scale invasion on Ukraine. Martial law is in effect in Ukraine. Massive shelling is reported in the town of Stanytsia Luhanska, where the social centre of SOS Children’s Villages has been closed since 17 February, and part of the staff relocated. Until now, we have not been informed of any casualties among the children, parents and staff from the programmes of SOS Children’s Villages in Stanytsia Luhanska.
At around 12:00 pm local time (CET+1), the town of Brovary, Kyiv region, was under attack. The colleagues and programme participants who were in the SOS Children’s Village Brovary at the time, took temporary refuge in a bomb shelter. All are unharmed. Ground battles are being fought in Starobilsk, in eastern Ukraine, near the social centre of SOS Children’s Villages.
Serhii Lukashov, national director of SOS Children’s Villages in Ukraine, says: “We all feel helpless, and we all want the war to stop. Our top priority is to protect as many children as we can. We want children to grow up without hate.”
“I am in close contact with SOS Children’s Villages in Russia and Belarus. We are on the same side – on the side of children. We will continue our work to protect children from the horror of war,” Mr. Lukashov says.
Above all, Serhii told us how just yesterday they were planning for only some areas being affected by the invasion, and today has meant a more comprehensive and long-term crisis scenario plan will need to be rolled out.
How many people are affected?
Because of the scale of the invasion, it is impossible to predict numbers accurately. However, based on the previous invasion in 2014/2015 which created 1.2 million Internally Displaced People (IDPs), our colleagues estimate that the threat could be twice as big and create twice as many IDPs.
What is positive about the previous situation is that Ukrainian society remained strong and all of the 1.2 million IDPs were successfully integrated back into society: there were no camps, no people facing homelessness, the situation was contained. Therefore, there is some optimism again this time.
With so much unknown, it is hard to estimate the scale or the length of time it will take to recover, but we do anticipate it being a long-term crisis and our colleagues in the Ukraine can count on our long-term support.
For now, our colleagues in Ukraine remain in contact with all staff and families or children receiving support. For now, internet connections remain open and infrastructure is running, so they can remain in close contact and identify the best ways of providing support.
Is there anything that can be done to help?
Serhii Lukashov and staff in Ukraine are in close contact with the authorities, other NGOs in the region, the UN and SOS Children’s Villages colleagues around the world. They have been really proactive and planning for the worst since November, and recently moved children to safer parts of the country to try to ensure their ongoing security. This proactivity has meant that SOS can continue to work well and are hopefully braced for the worst in managing the current situation.
To evacuate children and families, to provide them with food and accommodation, and to support their mental and physical health in a crisis is likely to be costly and will be required in the long-term, so we will provide details of an appeal when it is live.
As it is a constantly changing situation, however, we will provide regular updates here on our website for our supporters and for colleagues around the world.
