Blog
The Sound of Drones Instead of Birdsong: Psychosocial Support for Children in Frontline Communities
Living in frontline proximity is not only highly dangerous – it also affects every aspect of children´s lives. It limits their opportunities to connect with peers, it eliminates all possibilities to roam freely and discover the world, and deprives them of nearly all other experiences that are a natural part of childhood.
Kateryna Shutaliova
Psychologist with Somatic Experience Ukraine projects
Return and Arrival
The teenagers’ pimped-up motorcycle roaring through the streets of Berlin could be a Shahed drone. The noises coming from the construction site resemble an explosion. Returning from Ukraine to Germany does not merely come with logistical baggage.
Ira Ganzhorn
Humanitarian Aid Officer
What is independence? Ukraine’s long fight for autonomy.
From the Ukrainian People’s Republic in 1917 to Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine’s struggle for independence has been shaped by repression, resistance and the defence of its right to self-determination. Writing from a Scottish perspective, this blog explores how Ukraine’s history has shaped a different understanding of what independence means to me and why Ukrainians continue to defend it today.
Grace Maclean
Intern
A little peace of mind
Hannah tells the story of two escapes, a dilapidated house in Saksahan, and the search for a place safe from shelling. When we visit her to talk about the new windows in her house, it quickly becomes clear how much loss, fear, and exhaustion lie behind this new home. What new windows can mean for a family that has already had to leave everything behind twice.
Ira Ganzhorn
Humanitarian Aid Officer
What Russian occupation really means for Ukrainians
When politicians discuss occupied territories during peace negotiations, they speak as if these are empty spaces. But millions of Ukrainians live there. These people are caught in a gray zone with no tools to defend their rights, freedom, property, lives, children, or loved ones.
Oleksandra Matviichuk
Ukrainian human rights lawyer and the head of the Center for Civil Liberties.
How do you survive winter in Kharkiv?
I am sitting in the passenger seat next to my friend Ivanka. Suddenly she says: “Don’t put on your seatbelt.” I laugh. “Is that a new law in Kharkiv?” She answers seriously: “It depends what you’re more afraid of – a car accident or not being able to get out of the car quickly enough during a Russian drone strike.” We laugh. But we don’t buckle up.
Kseniia Levadna
Public Relations Officer
The light disappears, the life goes on.
Russia is systematically attacking Ukraine’s civilian energy infrastructure. Attacks on power plants and substations are causing massive electricity, heating and water outages and are deliberately targeting the civilian population. Around 60,000 households in Kyiv alone are without electricity, with outside temperatures at -15 degrees.
Kseniia Levadna
Public Relations Officer
Prayers in the basement
The most recent attacks on residential buildings in Dnipro show how crucial it is to continue providing humanitarian aid to the affected civilian population.
Ira Ganzhorn
Humanitarian Aid Officer
In the Carpathians: our somatic summer program begins
Through deep rest, body-based practices, and honest conversations, we strengthened our team and supported frontline professionals working with veterans, returned POWs, and families of the missing. Self-care, safety, and connection were at the heart of it all.
Imke Hansen
Vice Executive Director & Program Manager MHPSS
“Only the Dog Sleeps Through It”: An Account of Nighttime Kharkiv
Dariia Khlebnikova works as a project manager at our partner organisation WBWU in Kharkiv. In this account, she has written down her experiences of the night-time attacks by the Russian army.
Dariia Khlebnikova
Project Manager at WBWU in Kharkiv