Restoring homes and hope near the frontline in Ukraine

Liudmyla lives with photographs of her grandchildren on the walls and her cat by her side. Her apartment in Zaporizhzhia has been damaged twice by shelling. The first time, she replaced the shattered window herself. During the winter, eight guided bombs struck near her apartment building. The blast waves shattered windows, tore doors from their hinges, and scattered chunks of brick throughout the apartment.

"I grew up by the sea. When you come out of the water, a wave hits you in the back and knocks you forward. That's exactly what the blast wave felt like. Only it wasn't water—it was air. It hit me and threw me through every room all the way to the balcony doors."

The blast shattered the windows and tore away parts of the wall beneath them. During the winter, this let in the cold air, and the temperatures inside the apartment dropped to between 4°C and 7°C.

"I slept fully dressed. An electric blanket that a friend had sent me years ago kept me warm. Hot tea—that was all. I had nowhere to go. There was nobody waiting for me."

We replaced the windows and repaired the windowsills in Liudmyla's apartment. We also provided financial assistance so she could restore her front door and the damaged wall. She will now spend the coming winter in a warm home.

Boarded-up windows, destroyed balconies, and walls marked by shrapnel bear witness to the damage caused by a Russian drone strike near Anna's apartment building in Dnipro last autumn. The explosion triggered a major fire.

Most residents were at home when the strike happened; Anna and her husband were trapped in their apartment.

"The security grille was jammed. We started calling for help. The men used an angle grinder to cut the door hinges and get us out. It took about half an hour," Anna recalls.

Almost nothing was left of their apartment. The fire, soot, and water used to extinguish the flames destroyed the home the couple had built over many years.

"The doors were blown out. Everything was black and burned. The floor was flooded. We had an individual heating system—only the pipes were left. There were no windows, and the wall had been blown out. We threw away the mattress and our clothes—half of everything. There's no equipment left. Nothing."

Anna is a chemistry teacher at a local school and because of the damage, she and her husband are spending their holiday repairing their apartment, but progress is slow.

"It takes time, money, and health. We still have to go to work and earn a living. There are hardly any construction crews because so many men are serving in the military."

The new windows we installed will reduce heat loss, help the family save money on further repairs and bring them one step closer to returning home.

Despite daily air attacks, life continues in the courtyards of damaged apartment buildings in Zaporizhzhia. Children play, flowers bloom, and the smell of freshly painted benches fills the air. Many residents chose to remain in the city after the full-scale invasion. Today, they share one hope—that the attacks will end and their loved ones will return home.

"I have only one granddaughter. She never had a proper school graduation. She completed four years of medical school but never had a proper graduation ceremony because of the war. She lived with her uncle in Poland. I dream that she will live here and work here," says another Liudmyla, a resident of Zaporizhzhia.

Liudmyla lives in a private house. A missile struck the neighbouring school, blowing out all 12 windows in her home. We replaced every window and repaired the windowsills.

With support from the European Union, we have helped restore damaged homes for hundreds of families in frontline areas, including 200 families in Zaporizhzhia, 30 in Dnipro and 250 in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast. These repairs help families remain in their homes and face the coming winter in safer conditions.