When war makes difficult life circumstances even harder: the story of support for Zoia, an evacuee from Kramatorsk
Zoia from Kramatorsk was still recovering from the amputation of both lower limbs when russian shelling in her city intensified. Staying there was dangerous, while she was no longer able to evacuate on her own. The woman then contacted the EAST SOS Charity Foundation hotline.
Zoia moved from Mykolaiv to Kramatorsk after her husband’s death. He died of COVID-19 in 2021, leaving her alone with three children. In order to provide for her family, she moved to Donetsk Oblast in search of better employment opportunities.
Earlier this year, Zoia suffered severe frostbite to both legs. The damage was irreversible, and doctors had to amputate both lower limbs. Her postoperative recovery coincided with a period when staying in Kramatorsk was becoming increasingly dangerous.
🆘 In April 2026, an evacuation crew of the EAST SOS Charity Foundation helped Zoia leave the city. First, she was taken to a transit center in the city of Lozova, and later she received temporary shelter at the Center for Social Adaptation of People with Disabilities “Ocean of Good”. While she received the care she needed, social services specialist Oksana Akchebash began preparing for the next stage – arranging her resettlement to a permanent place of residence.
The EAST SOS specialist helped Zoia restore her passport and tax identification number and open a bank account. The next step was obtaining Group I disability status, after which Oksana helped her submit documents to the Pension Fund of Ukraine to receive the payments she was entitled to. In the summer, Zoia moved to Ternopil Oblast to a permanent place of residence where she could receive the necessary care.
“Every day, we meet people who simultaneously experience their own difficult circumstances and the consequences of war. Every case is a separate story. Zoia worked and cared for her family all her life, and now she herself needed support. For me, it is important that we can do more than help resolve individual issues – we can accompany a person until they are ready to move forward. I am glad that Zoia will leave for her new place of residence with her documents restored and her payments arranged, better prepared for a new stage of her life,” says the social services specialist.
🙌 In July 2026, with the support of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), the EAST SOS Charity Foundation provided war-affected people with 674 social services consultations and 284 psychological consultations and helped 92 people find a safe place to live. Psychological support specialists also conducted 5 group psychological relief activities for people affected by the war.
In addition, from April to July 2026, the Foundation’s team provided 106 evacuees with 2,406 portions of hot meals at the “Bez Mezh” shelter in Kharkiv, which was established by the EAST SOS Charity Foundation in partnership with the NGO Volunteer-68.
📍Psychosocial support was provided under the project “Protection and Psychosocial Services for People with Limited Mobility and Persons with Disabilities Affected by the War,” supported by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA).
Meanwhile, EAST SOS is renovating a residential care facility in Zmiiv, Kharkiv Oblast.
