A Safe Place for All: Finding Refugee at Zernove Transit Shelter
After enduring more than two years of bombing, attacks, and occupation many Ukrainians are forced to flee their homes in eastern Ukraine in search of a safer future. Evacuating from frontline areas can be very dangerous and civilians are often given little time to prepare, leaving with only what they can carry and no plan of where to go once they are out of immediate danger.
In the city of Kharkiv, there are many public shelters that provide safe accommodation for those evacuated from dangerous areas while they wait to move to other cities or find long-term accommodation locally. Unfortunately, these shelters do not accept people who do not have personal identification documents and are also not well-suited to support those with low mobility.
To address this gap, a small number of organisations have created private shelters that accept those without documentation and with unique support needs. One such shelter is in Zernove, Kharkiv, a private shelter for those displaced from their homes, run by NP’s partner, Way of Ukraine.
The Zernove shelter can host up to 80 people at a time and provides comprehensive supports for residents including medical assistance, case management, accompaniment with procuring documents, psychosocial support, a safe space for children, and a dedicated space for residents with low mobility.
The residents of Zernove come from a wide range of backgrounds, each with a compelling story of resilience, survival and displacement. Most spend 5-7 days at the shelter, but some stay for far longer as they secure necessary documents and plan a new future for themselves and their loved ones.
The Faces of Zernove: Yurii
Zernove resident Yurii is originally from Luhansk where he worked as an artisan sewer; he learned this technique in an orphanage at the age of 7, as his parents abandoned him when he was two years old.
Yurii has been displaced since 2014 when he fled Luhansk at the beginning of the conflict in the Donbas region. Yurii’s documents burned when he left Luhansk, significantly limiting his access to support services. He moved from town to town, and when the full-scale invasion began in 2022, he was living in Kharkiv in a home for people with disabilities. He was initially evacuated together with other residents on a train to Kyiv, but when he arrived volunteers told him there was no space for him and recommended that he return to Kharkiv.
From there, volunteers sent him to Odesa, and he was again sent back to Kharkiv. Giving up on flight to another city, Yurii settled in Kharkiv where he was unhoused and made a living through collecting metal. In 2024, he had an episode of epilepsy, and his foot was hit by a car and broken. Eventually, volunteers in Kharkiv told him about a private shelter that accepts people without documents, and they took him to Zernove.
Yurii says that he lives well at the shelter, no one bothers him, and he feels safe. Staff are helping him obtain documents and he will seek opportunities to move on to long-term accommodation after he receives them.
The Faces of Zernove: Mykhailo
Another resident of Zernove, Mykhailo, is originally from Khmelnitsky oblast, but moved to Kharkhiv oblast, Kupiansk area when he was two years old. Mykhailo worked as an electrician for the Ukrainian Railways for 42 years.
When the full-scale invasion started, Mykhailo did not have time to evacuate as Russian Forces entered the Kupiansk area very quickly. He and his family lived under Russian occupation from February to September 2022. Mykhailo did not find life under occupation to be too difficult. He had a bountiful garden and chickens and a lot of flour, which his wife used to bake bread. When Kupiansk was liberated by the Ukrainian army, Kupiansk area became a new frontline, and his life became increasingly difficult and dangerous due to constant shelling by the Russian Forces. Mykhailo’s house was nearly destroyed, and he could not eat or sleep because of very high stress. His father and brother are both disabled and lived on the opposite side of the town, which made it hard for Mykhailo to care for them.
On the 4th of September 2024, Mikhalo called a free evacuation number, and volunteers evacuated him along with his wife, father, and brother to the shelter in Zernove. Mykhailo appreciates the shelter in Zernove because public shelters would not accept his father and brother due to their lack of specialized care. “There is no way I would leave my dad or brother behind” he shared.
Mykhailo and his family will soon move to Poland where he hopes to have a garden and chickens once again.
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NP has supported Zernove by providing referral resources and training to staff as well as securing funding for a playground and the renovations necessary for the space for those with low mobility. Currently, NP provides comprehensive funding for the shelters under a subgrant. This includes monthly rent and utilities, in addition to providing salaries for employees of the shelter.