“For many people, this winter decides whether they live or die,” says Oleksandra Titorova, a Ukrainian member of the Welthungerhilfe team who has just returned from a visit to the highly contested Kharkiv region. “If electricity and heating fail in the middle of winter, while prices rise and incomes are lost, families’ survival is threatened.”
Since the beginning of the Russian war, more than 63,000 energy supply facilities have been damaged nationwide. The consequences are particularly serious in regions where Welthungerhilfe operates, including in Kharkiv, where the organization has been active since 2023. A few days ago, one of the region’s most important heat and power plants was severely damaged. According to the authorities, around 110,000 households have no heat, and the heating supply had to be switched off as a precaution in about 800 buildings.
An example of what this means in practical terms is offered by Liudmyla Bilous (55) from the village of Vasylenkowe in the Kharkiv region, only about 50 kilometers from the embattled city of Kupyansk. Liudmyla lived there under Russian occupation from February to September 2022, during which time she saw schools, shops, and medical facilities being destroyed. Although the occupation is now over, her safety is far from assured. “Drones and rockets are constantly flying overhead,” reports Liudmyla. She adds that, because the drones frequently target people, many residents hardly dare to leave the house; this oppressive, penetrating fear creates a widespread mental exhaustion. Liudmyla lives with her 88-year-old mother and her 85-year-old mother-in-law. She takes care of them both since they are in no condition to flee. “My monthly pension in December was mainly spent on medicine and energy costs,” says Liudmyla.
Given the ongoing attacks, cash assistance remains a central component of humanitarian assistance in winter. Distributing cash enables the affected people to react flexibly to rising costs and to failures as they arise, enabling them to pay for heating materials, utilities, food, or medicine, for instance. Since 2022, Welthungerhilfe and its partner organizations have supported more than 190,000 people through cash assistance.
“Humanitarian assistance can save lives, but it does not replace peace,” emphasizes Oleksandra Titorova, explaining, “to escape the constant fear and return to building their future, the people of Ukraine need more international solidarity and, above all, peace. The war must stop at last!”
Welthungerhilfe continues to stand by the people of Ukraine, including in especially embattled areas such as Kharkiv, Sumy, Mykolayiv, and Kherson. To maintain and expand this support, Welthungerhilfe is urgently asking for donations.
Oleksandra Titorova is available for interview upon request.
Welthungerhilfe is one of the largest private aid organizations in Germany; it is politically independent and non-denominational. With courage and determination, it is striving for a world without hunger. Since it was founded on December 14, 1962, 12,777 overseas projects in about 72 countries have been supported with 5.42 billion euros. Welthungerhilfe follows the principle of empowering people to help themselves to sustainably improve their living conditions, through approaches ranging from fast disaster relief to reconstruction and long-term development cooperation projects with national and international partner organizations.
