How EAST SOS Has Been Helping People Affected by the War, 2014-2026
12 years of war. 4 years of russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
These have been years filled with pain, loss, and a daily struggle for justice. They have changed every one of us.
All this time, EAST SOS has been there for people – from Druzhkivka to Uzhhorod, from Kyiv to Mykolaiv. Every request we receive has to be answered. Every story deserves to be heard.
After the beginning of the full-scale invasion, our team was forced to leave our home city of Siverskodonetsk and move to Kyiv to Uzhhorod. Like a phoenix, we rose again rebuilding our mission in order to be able to aid those who needed it most. By September 2022, we had returned to the capital and began opening our offices and support spaces in other frontline cities, as well as in cities that had become places of refuge for thousands of displaced people: Dnipro, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv, Vinnytsia, Cherkasy, and Kropyvnytskyi.
Over these years, we have rescued people from frontline hromadas (communities) in Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, and Dnipropetrovsk oblasts. Bakhmut, Pokrovsk, Chasiv Yar, Toretsk, Dobropillia, Kostiantynivka – the names of these cities will stay forever in the hearts of our evacuation teams, because every street there is familiar to them, even without a GPS tracker.
After russian forces blew up the Kakhovka HPP, we stood by the hromadas affected by the environmental disaster – those that were flooded, and those that, on the contrary, suffered from a lack of drinking water.
We support people in rebuilding their lives after evacuation by providing psychological and legal assistance, promoting social adaptation, and helping them integrate into new hromadas. We also work to ensure that older people living alone and people with disabilities receive proper care, support, and the opportunity to live with dignity in safe conditions after evacuation.
Over these four years, we have piloted a range of projects that laid the foundation for the full-cycle evacuation model – from a call to the hotline asking for rescue, to assistance with evacuation and further resettlement. We have advocated for systemic solutions to create proper accommodation for rescued older people, brought the issue of mandatory evacuation of children with their parents from frontline hromadas to the national level, and consistently called on society, the authorities, and international donors that host communities need support just as much as frontline ones. We have also continued to advocate for localization – investing in the capacity of local organizations to respond effectively on the ground.
You can learn more about how EAST SOS has supported people affected by the war throughout 2014–2026 here.
The war has changed the life of every person on our team. We are sincerely grateful to our colleagues who are defending the country in the ranks of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. We remember those who gave their lives in the fight against the enemy. This year, we created a Wall of Remembrance at the Opinion Festival to honor the memory of our friends, colleagues, and loved ones.
We are grateful to everyone who supports our work. We have been building and cherishing this community together.
Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the Heroes!
