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Nearly 800,000 homes have been destroyed by the war. The most affected families will have to face a harsher winter than normal, amid gas shortages and power outages.
In the neighborhood where Olena and her son Misha live, on the outskirts of the city of Chernihi, only ten of the forty families who used to live there remain. The destruction is so strong in this area, due to its proximity to Belarus at only 50 kilometers, that most of the houses are not habitable.
The city of Chernihiv was not occupied by Russian troops, but it was besieged and bombed for a month, leaving hundreds of houses and residential buildings in ruins and the population cut off from communication, without water or electricity. About 100,000 of the 280,000 villagers who lived before the war remained, but as the war seemed to stall in eastern Ukraine, other families were encouraged to return to Chernihiv to start rebuilding their homes.
The bombing of power plants and installations in the country’s main cities in recent weeks has increased concerns that winter will be harder for the most affected families. Since the war began on February 24, around 800,000 homes and businesses remain without power in Ukraine.
“We have nowhere to go. It is our only home. Winter is coming and gas is expensive. We need heating. So I am saving all the broken wooden furniture and windows to use as firewood,” Olena tells France 24.
More than six months have passed since Russian troops withdrew from Chernihiv and the images of destruction have not changed. There are still burned-out vehicles, large holes in the facades of buildings and piled-up rubble.
In another suburb of the city we find Tetiana and her 11-year-old daughter Veronika. All that remains of her home is littered in the driveway. Her house has been turned into a vacant lot.
Despite her affliction, Tatiana can consider herself lucky because she is one of the few who has found refuge for the winter. She currently lives in a shelter for internally displaced persons, which has the help of UNICEF and other humanitarian organizations.
Thousands of families who have decided to stay live in houses that have been bombed and are not functional for the winter and will have to seek refuge in camps for the displaced.
