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Tag: Ukrainian refugees

Beyond refuge: how Lviv is adapting to Ukraine’s new reality of displacement

The city of Lviv has become a destination for many Ukrainians fleeing communities on the front line. At first, many viewed this move as a temporary measure. However, Lviv’s new residents are now starting to contribute to a wider discussion on the city’s identity.

August 26, 2026 - Alison Jones

Ukrainian refugees in Canada are successfully integrating into society

An interview with Valeria Yakushko, who is pursuing a PhD in Sociology at the University of Western Ontario. Her research focuses on the Ukrainian refugee crisis and integration of Ukrainian refugees in host countries.

January 9, 2026 - Andrii Kutsyk Valeria Yakushko

Hospitality in practice: how does Estonia support Ukrainian refugees?

Estonia has been supporting Ukraine and Ukrainians significantly over the last three years since the full-scale invasion. Even though it was a challenge to receive a significant number of Ukrainian refugees at such a quick pace, the small country of Estonia managed to establish a specific approach to integration.

September 26, 2025 - Nino Chanadiri

Damian Kocur: “I don’t have the moral right to show the war as it is because I am not Ukrainian”

People continue to suffer on the front line of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. However, those more removed from the fighting also face great mental anguish. This is the reality that drives the Polish film submitted for this year’s Oscars.

June 30, 2025 - James Lewis

Share your experience: Ukrainian refugees’ integration in the Balkans, Spain, Poland, Italy

Did you leave Ukraine after the full-scale invasion started in February 2022? Did you find refuge in another European country? Did you manage to integrate? Tell us your story.

May 29, 2025 - New Eastern Europe

Peace, not surrender: under these conditions Ukrainians will return home

According to Ukraine’s ministry of national unity only 30 per cent of those who are abroad have said that they were ready to return home immediately. Another 40 per cent are waiting for the official end of the war and long-term security guarantees. The remaining 30 per cent have now said they would build their lives abroad.

Many Ukrainian refugees who are now spread around the world fear that even after a ceasefire the war could flare up again, putting their families at risk one more time. Diplomatic pressure without guarantees of a just and lasting peace that takes into account Ukraine's interests is perceived as something akin to surrender. Such a peace would not provide what Ukrainians need most: certainty that their lives will not be turned into rubble again.

May 5, 2025 - Halyna Khalymonyk

Amid war, Nova Post’s growth connects Ukraine’s large diaspora

Europe’s Ukrainian communities, vastly increased by forced displacement due to the Russian invasion, seek connections to home. The foreign expansion of Ukraine’s Nova Post stands at this crossroads, offering communication channels while fostering timely economic internationalization during a costly conflict. In Berlin, inputs from refugees and Serhii Symonov, the CEO of Nova Post Deutschland, shed light on this two-way affair.

June 21, 2024 - Paul Mazet

Roma refugees from Ukraine face additional adversity

Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, a large portion of Ukraine’s Roma population escaped as refugees alongside their fellow Ukrainians. However, they were not always met with open arms and many faced additional challenges and discrimination.

In the face of Russia’s war on Ukraine, the subsequent hardships of Ukraine’s Roma population, both as refugees and internally displaced people, has drawn the world’s attention to the double standards refugee host countries hold even in the face of danger and destruction. It is estimated that of the approximate 400,000 Roma living in Ukraine (this rough figure is due to migration and lack of Roma documentation), 25 per cent have fled since the beginning of Russia’s February 2022 invasion. Yet, unlike non-Roma Ukrainians, who have generally felt welcomed when seeking refuge in Ukraine’s neighbouring Eastern European countries, Roma Ukrainians have oftentimes faced prejudice and distrust. This is similar to that which they face in their homeland.

November 19, 2023 - Madeleine Cuckson

The long exodus

The ongoing war in Ukraine has forced many refugees to make tough decisions about their future. This is particularly true in neighbouring Moldova, where many Ukrainians are deciding to settle on a more long-term basis. Despite the difficulties of this new life, a large number of refugees are trying to make the best of the situation.

Olena Mustiats, 41, had only the most basic requirements when she fled Ukraine with her six-year-old daughter last March: safety, affordability and a local language she knew. Leaving from her native Odesa, in Ukraine’s southwest, Mustiats settled on Moldova and headed to the capital, Chișinău. “I chose Moldova because it’s closer [to Odesa] than Poland, they speak Russian there, and because prices at the supermarket are cheaper than in Poland,” Mustiats said. A year and a half later, Mustiats and her child are still in Moldova, with no plans, and limited options, to go anywhere else.

September 11, 2023 - William Fleeson

From workers to refugees to workers again. What’s next for Ukrainians in the EU?

Europe’s active response to the millions of Ukrainian refugees who fled Russia’s invasion has often been viewed as a positive approach to migration policy. Despite this, the future remains uncertain for these new residents. Government decisions across the continent will now play a role in deciding not just the economic future of the EU but Ukraine itself.

Russia’s decision to launch a full-scale war in Ukraine has resulted in millions of Ukrainians fleeing the country via its western border. According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), as of April 2023, 8,174,189 people have been recorded as refugees from Ukraine across Europe. Exactly 5,044,039 of them registered for temporary protection schemes in Europe.

July 4, 2023 - Lesia Dubenko

Ukrainian refugees fleeing war battle with French bureaucracy

Ukrainian refugees who arrive to France face the daunting task of not only coming to a new country where they do not speak the language but also of trying to understand the complicated bureaucracy. In many cases, additional help from volunteers and online community groups is the only way to fully navigate the process.

When Olena Kondratova arrived in Paris in August 2022 after having fled the Russian invasion, she found shelter in temporary accommodation provided by French social services. The small apartment, where she lived with two other Ukrainian women, was two hours away from her new university, but it meant safety from the bombs raining down on her native city of Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine.

July 4, 2023 - Cristina Coellen

The easy times are behind us, but we are not giving up

Poland responded generously to the mass inflow of refugees from Ukraine as Russia invaded in February last year. However, the need for help continues with every day of the war. While times are indeed hard for the country’s army of volunteers, they are determined to continue aiding people in their time of need.

Right before the end of 2022 the vice chairman of the Polish Development Fund, Bartosz Marczuk, published a tweet in which he presented the amount of money that Poland had spent on helping Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian aggression on February 24th. The data that he presented showed that altogether in 2022 it was between 35 and 40 billion Polish zlotys, which is between 7.5 and 8.5 billion euros. Out of it, ten billion zlotys were spent on weapons, six billion amounted to state support for Ukrainian refugees (including support for children), around ten billion was spent by local governments and non-governmental organisations, and another ten billion was made up of the private help of the Polish people.

February 16, 2023 - Iwona Reichardt

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