The Ukraine conflict: three years in crisis

On the 3rd Anniversary, we wanted to highlight the impact of several years of conflict on people and communities across Ukraine. But we also wanted to shed light on the incredible work of the British Red Cross and Ukrainian Red Cross Society.

The situation in Ukraine

The levels of humanitarian need in Ukraine are still staggeringly high. Conflict over the last few years has affected an estimated 16.3 million people, claiming lives and homes*. 3.6 million people have been displaced*, and many don’t have access to water, electricity, heating, emergency healthcare, or social services.

Millions of people have fled the country, leaving behind everything they’ve ever known – often including their loved ones. In 2025, it’s estimated that approximately 12.7 million people will need humanitarian assistance*.

What our support has helped to achieve

To help meet this staggering need, the latest round of funding from our Crisis Response Grants programme is supporting the British Red Cross and Ukrainian Red Cross Society’s homebased care programme, which cares for and supports some of the most isolated and vulnerable people in Ukraine.

Ukraine has one of the oldest populations in Europe, with 44% of people over the age of 70. Many are home-bound due to limited mobility, poor health, and having no support networks – leaving them isolated, lonely, and unable to access the health and social care they need. There are an estimated one million people in Ukraine in need of homebased care.

Since the escalation of the conflict in February 2022, the Ukrainian Red Cross Society and British Red Cross have been supplementing the efforts of the diminished public health and social care sectors by stepping in to provide homebased care for older people and people with disabilities. Red Cross social helpers travel to people’s homes and deliver services tailored to each person’s needs.

This involves practical assistance like cleaning, doing laundry, purchasing and delivering food and medicine, or helping people bathe. But crucially, it also means spending time with people for companionship and conversation. For those they help, the Red Cross social helpers’ voices may be the only voice they hear for days. 

With our support, it has been possible to continue and scale up this vital work to meet the heightened need for homebased care that the conflict has given rise to. We have helped the Ukrainian Red Cross Society and British Red Cross to reach more people and build out the programme to provide more comprehensive support.

Through this programme, in 2023, the British Red Cross and Ukrainian Red Cross Society...

• Delivered over 114,000 services – from cleaning people’s homes and helping them bathe, to delivering food and medicine.
• Supported 176 people in need of homebased care.
• Trained Red Cross social helpers so they can support people with complex and specific needs like HIV, tuberculosis and hepatitis.
• Delivered homebased care across 80% of Kyiv city’s districts, in areas of active conflict.

And, in 2024, they…

• Supported 472 people in need of homebased care.
• Conducted 15,520 visits.
• Extended the programme’s coverage, beyond Kyiv city and into the wider Kyivska region.

Valentyna’s and Natalia’s story

Valentyna is an elderly widow who lives alone in Chernihiv, Ukraine, and needed support at home after a stroke left her with mobility difficulties. The British Red Cross and Ukrainian Red Cross Society’s homebased care programme has been a lifeline for her.

Speaking of her social helper, Natalia, Valentyna says: “She helps me with everything. She brings me groceries. What needs to be prepared, she cooks it. . . She washes the dishes. And does everything, everything.”

Natalia remembers when she first started supporting Valentyna: “She had just buried her husband. . . She was left alone.”

But, in the face of these devastating circumstances, we have helped the British Red Cross and Ukrainian Red Cross Society be there for people like Valentyna to provide – in Natalia’s words – everything they need from us.

To learn more about the incredible work of the British Red Cross and how they’re supporting people in Ukraine, visit: https://www.redcross.org.uk/ukraine-impact

*Statistics referenced from ‘Ukraine Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan 2025’: https://reliefweb.int/report/ukraine/ukraine-humanitarian-needs-and-response-plan-2025-january-2025-enuk

** Image credits: IFRC / Oleksandr Ratushniak