Ukraine Humanitarian Response Impact Report

Executive Summary

Situation Overview

The war for Ukraine’s sovereignty began in 2014 when the Russian Federation forcibly occupied Crimea and supported insurrection in the eastern regions of Donetsk and Luhansk. At the outset of 2022, the United Nations estimated that nearly three million Ukrainians were in need of humanitarian assistance as a result of the eight years of conflict. As the Russian military began to concentrate its forces along the eastern border of Ukraine in the beginning of 2022, the threat of an expanding war became a present reality. On February 24, 2022, the Russian Federation launched an all-out invasion of Ukraine which, through the course of the year, has resulted in massive displacement of civilian populations, the rise of a refugee population in Europe of over eight million, devastation to Ukraine’s infrastructure and economy, and the loss of over 7,000 civilian lives, including over 400 children.

Russian attacks have increasingly targeted civilian infrastructure, including over 700 verified attacks on health facilities in 2022. Industry across the country has been badly compromised or completely destroyed while supply chains and the country’s power grid have been under direct attack. Ukrainians are facing innumerable challenges, including displacement, loss of homes and livelihoods, physical and mental trauma, and separation of families. Moreover, from a demographic perspective, Ukrainians make up one of the oldest populations affected by humanitarian crisis in the world. With access to chronic medications and basic health care badly disrupted and natural support networks destroyed, this has compounded the suffering of a particularly vulnerable cohort and complicated the emergency response efforts.

Project HOPE began preparations for a response in early February as the threat of invasion grew. It initiated contingency planning with the Health Cluster in Kyiv, under the chairmanship of the World Health Organization (WHO). Project HOPE also reached out to partner organizations and medical facilities in Ukraine in the weeks leading up to the invasion, while simultaneously putting emergency medical supplies on standby for immediate shipment.