6.3 Million IDPs and a Humanitarian Crisis: Ukraine’s “New Normal”

Even if the war in Ukraine ended tomorrow, the country’s humanitarian needs would be colossal. Around 6.3 million people are displaced internally, with many still living in communal shelters not suited to the coming winter. While fighting rages on mostly in Ukraine’s east and south east, the effects of war reverberate throughout the rest of the country, which has no choice but to adapt to a “new normal” amid a continuing war.

In this last episode of Season Three of War & Peace, Olga OIiker and Elissa Jobson are joined by Alissa de Carbonnel, Crisis Group’s Deputy Europe and Central Asia Director, and Simon Schlegel, Senior Ukraine Analyst, to learn how life goes on in wartime Kyiv and western Ukraine. Alissa and Simon – back from a recent visit to Kyiv, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, as well as smaller towns outside the regional capitals – share stories of displaced people whose lives have been turned upside down by Russia’s invasion and volunteer humanitarian workers finding creative solutions to an ever-changing set of problems. They talk about their experience crossing the Polish border at Przemyśl, travelling through western regions and onto Kyiv. They recount what they saw: men and women lining up outside military recruitment offices, gyms and school halls converted into shelters for the displaced, and building windows sandbagged due to the threat of Russian airstrikes. As Ukraine adapts to this new reality, Alissa and Simon outline the enormous challenges of an emergency response for millions of people in need spread across one of the largest countries in Europe, where war is still raging.

Click here to listen on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

For more about the war in Ukraine, make sure to check out Crisis Group’s Ukraine country page.