People Evacuated from Frontlines Helped to Get Back on Their Feet, while Explosives are Removed

Over the past 21 months, the European Union (EU) has maintained its crucial backing of DanChurchAid and Norwegian Church Aid (DCA‑NCA) in the regions of Mykolaiv and Kherson. While people in frontline communities continue to live under shelling, with displacement, and the omnipresent danger of unexploded ordnance, the EU-funded initiatives have enabled demining operations, legal assistance, and psychosocial support that are steadily transforming lives.

Video: 21 months of EU support in Mykolaiv

“The war has changed us all”

One of the more than 1,200 people – primarily evacuated from frontline communities – who have been supported to recover and rebuild their life during the 21 months of the EU funded project is 37-year-old Kateryna.

Last winter, she was aboard a Kherson-bound bus when an artillery shell struck the vehicle, resulting in extensive injuries. Since then, she has endured over 40 surgeries and a long rehabilitation process. Living now in Mykolaiv with her husband and young daughter, her family was unsure how to navigate the support systems. She has now settled in with her family in Mykolaiv with support from DCA‑NCA and their partner, Right to Protection Charitable Fund. Her daughter, eight-year-old Sonia, is still struggling with her trauma.

“Sonia is seeing a psychologist, but it’s hard to heal the wounds she has on her soul. Children get more worried than adults, but the war has changed us all,” says Kateryna.

© Rasmus Emil Gravesen

Kateryna Survived Artillery Strike in Kherson

More than 45,000 civilian casualties have been recorded in Ukraine since 2022. With EU funding, victims of war like Kateryna are helped to recover.

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Kateryna received help reconstructing vital documents, applying for war-victim status, and obtaining financial aid, including an exercise bike crucial for her physical recovery.

“I didn’t know how many documents I needed to get the support I needed. I didn’t know Mykolaiv that well, and I didn’t know how to apply for the correct status to get benefits and compensation, which allows my family to rebuild our lives,” says Kateryna.

Humanitarian Mine Action in Mykolaiv

Demining teams funded by the EU and deployed through DCA‑NCA have achieved significant improvements of the safety for the population in Mykolaiv. These operations are part of a broader mine‑action strategy designed to survey contaminated lands, conduct explosive-ordnance risk education, and mobilize legal and social support.

The project is aimed not only at preventing injuries and deaths following explosive incidents, but also helping people after disaster has struck.

Seventy‑three‑year‑old Oleksandr, grievously injured by an artillery strike while returning to Kherson, exemplifies the cost of Ukraine’s ongoing hostilities. With the help of legal partners, he secured “war victim” recognition—unlocking access to prosthetics and a pension increase from 4,900 to 12,300 UAH per month. Now settled in Mykolaiv, he is adjusting to life with a prosthetic leg and gradually finding his stride again outside his home.

Visits to Evacuated Valentya helps her recover

For many of the people, who are being support by the project, it is not just the support to get a higher income or humanitarian support that is vital. The visits themselves play a critical role in recovering for people, who have evacuated from their home and their social life.

89-year-old Valentyna, lived for months on the frontline, and after evacuating she faced isolation at the shelter, where she was now living . She couldn’t reach her family without a cellphone, and residents in her room would keep coming and going.

“Every day, I sit here alone. Both my son and daughter have passed away, and the rest of my family is either abroad or far away.”

© Rasmus Emil Gravesen

Staff from Right to Protection helped her obtain essential documents like her tax identification number, a new pension certificate, a bank account, and a SIM card, which allows her to stay in contact with her family abroad. This support is a lifeline, enabling her to access her pension and even seek medical assistance for her injuries.

Along with the conversations with Right to Protection case managers, the calls help her combat loneliness at the shelter, where she lives.

While minefields and mental scars remain, and the war is far from over, the impact of the interventions over the past 21 months of EU support are clear: safer areas for a civilian population, vital support in recovering after living on the frontlines for families and individuals alike, and restoring a sense of normalcy in life for the people, who have lived with war for over three years.

© Rasmus Emil Gravesen

Lyubov was a nurse at the frontline, but got injured in an explosion

59-year-old Lyubov, a retired nurse from Kakhovka, southern Ukraine, lived on the front line and treated the wounded neighbours and other civilians throughout the war.

“I’ve lived my whole life in my beautiful village. Before the war, I had a family, but my father and husband died,” she says.

In September 2024, shrapnel struck her head.

“My hands were covered in blood. I wasn’t afraid.”

Her house was destroyed multiple times. “I miss my house and neighbors. I was born there.”

Now living with her cousin in Mykolaiv, she receives medical support from Right to Protection to get psychological support, an increased pension, and new dentures.

© Rasmus Emil Gravesen

Oleksandr had his leg ambutated after being hit by artillery in Kherson

“I was home for only three days before I was hit by an artillery shell,” says 73-year-old Oleksandr.

Sitting in a wheelchair near Kherson, he recalls returning in late 2023 to rebuild his life after fleeing in 2022. On his way to the pharmacy, everything shook.

His wife Tatyana remembers: “There was a huge bang. Oleksandr lay on the ground. He said, ‘I can’t feel my leg.’”

Oleksandr tried to stop the bleeding but couldn’t. After months in the hospital, his leg was amputated.

With support from Right to Protection, he gained war victim status, saying, “Without that, I’d be in a much worse situation.”

© Rasmus Emil Gravesen

Lyudmyla evacuated after her husbands death

After months of searching, 67-year-old Lyudmyla finally found a two-room apartment on the outskirts of Mykolaiv. She had stayed in Kherson throughout the war, where bombardments were constant.

“It was so awful to live with every day. I stayed as long as I could, but in the end I couldn’t bear it anymore,” she says.

Her husband died of a heart attack in January 2024.

“I don’t know if the stress of the shelling caused it, but I can’t rule it out.”

Now, she’s getting help from Right to Protection to get settled in.

EU support for DCA-NCA in Mykolaiv

The European Union has supported DCA-NCA in with funds to reach Ukrainians in vulnerable situations in the Mykolaiv region.

DCA-NCA has identified and surveyed hazardous areas, mapped protection needs and risks, conducted tailored explosive ordnance risk education (EORE), conducted clearance of contaminated areas, and identified cases for legal aid, and social support services.

The target group for the project includes war-affected civilians in the Mykolaiv region, specifically those with damaged homes, former hostages, torture victims, and people living with injuries from the war. The project also extends assistance through DCA-NCA’s Ukrainian partner organisation Right to Protection to the families of deceased or missing individuals, as well as supporting the elderly, internally displaced persons, and first-line responders.