The central Kirovohrad region of Ukraine has become the volunteer heart of the country in response to Russia’s full-scale war: thousands of tonnes of humanitarian aid have been delivered to the war-torn areas of Ukraine via the oblast.
Kropyvnytskyi, the Kirovohrad region’s center, has accepted 90,000 internally displaced persons, which makes up nearly a quarter of the city’s population. Every week the city receives one or two evacuation trains from the Donetsk region. This is a great responsibility but the city and its services are coping well. The city also welcomes entire educational establishments and enterprises relocating from the areas with active hostilities.
But it is not the region’s center only that has invested great efforts in helping the displaced. The village communities such as Maryanivka, located right at the road connecting the eastern and western parts of Ukraine, served as a hub for people fleeing the war zone, with all schools and kindergartens working day and night as overnight stays. Some of the IDPs decided to stay and are now being integrated into their hosting communities.
Speakers:
- Svitlana Kravchenko-Bobrynets, deputy head of Maryanivka village community, Kirovohrad region
- Oksana Rybchenkova, chief editor of Kirovohrad region’s social-political weekly “Narodne Slovo”
- Kateryna Koltunova, co-founder of volunteer center Krop:Hub Kropyvnytskyi
UKRAINE IN FLAMES project is created by Ukraine Crisis Media Center and NGO “Euroatlantic Course”. We are aiming at searching a loud support for Ukraine in the war started by Russia on the 24th of February 2022.
If you want to support Ukraine against Russian aggression, check the link with recommendations by Ukraine Crisis Media Center – https://uacrisis.org/en/help-ukraine.
NGO Euroatlantic Course collects donations to support Ukrainian Army and civilians – https://eac.org.ua/en/main-page/.