No pause in emergency response: UN Volunteers in Ukraine 

For four consecutive years, the United Nations Volunteers (UNV) has supported the UN system's response to the war in Ukraine and its spillover to the neighbouring countries. Since the escalation in 2022, UN Volunteers have been central to the UN’s crisis and emergency efforts, providing a continuous human presence.  

Across the country, while air-raid sirens cut through daily life, UN Volunteers keep working. Water runs out. Power fails. Heating stops. They stay. Because in crisis, systems alone do not hold the line—people do.   

Each UN Volunteer carries a different story. But they share one unyielding choice: to remain with their country and its people when leaving would be easier. In one of the most challenging chapters of Ukraine’s modern history, they are not watching events unfold. They are standing inside them.  

Maryna Shalyhina is a UN Volunteer serving with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) as a Durable Housing Specialist. In 2022, she was internally displaced due to the war. After returning home, her family survived several drone attacks. That experience became her motivation to support others facing similar loss and uncertainty.  

“I see myself as just a small part of the bigger good that UNHCR is doing. I carry out my work with care and empathy, and I always try to help resolve people’s problems when they reach out.”  

Oleksandra Suvorova is a UN Volunteer Engineer with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Deeply affected by the war, she shared:  

“Honestly, when your country is going through something this difficult, it is hard to stay aside—especially when you have skills that can help. As an engineer, I understand that the professional decisions we make today shape how safely and effectively communities recover tomorrow.”  

Serhii Revenko is a 3D Scanning Engineer with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). His motivation stems from a commitment to protecting Ukraine’s cultural heritage a mid widespread destruction. Through the use of advanced technologies, his work documents damaged sites to ensure they can be restored accurately and efficiently.  

“In these difficult times for Ukraine, I am committed to transferring valuable knowledge, training others to work with advanced technologies, and supporting modern documentation practices. These tools help restore damaged cultural heritage sites faster and more accurately,” —   shares Serhii Revenko, UN Volunteer with UNESCO.  

 Yuliia Kutsokon is a UN Volunteer Gender based Violence Programme Assistant with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). Her choice of serving in Ukraine is one that is guided by a strong sense of purpose and solidarity with those affected.  

 “Being part of this work means knowing that our efforts reach thousands of people across Ukraine, and choosing every day to turn commitment into action, even when the realities are hard to face.”  

Pavlo Yanchenko is an Explosive Ordnance Victim Assistance Coordinator with UNDP and a resident of Kharkiv—a city located just 20–30 kilometers from the frontline and regularly affected by shelling and drone attacks.  

“Becoming a UN Volunteer was my way of choosing action over passivity, standing alongside affected people and contributing my skills where they are needed most,” -   says Pavlo Yanchenko, UN Volunteer with UNDP.  

Iryna Yakovlieva is a UN Volunteer Senior International Cooperation Specialist with UNDP, whose motivation to serve is deeply rooted in her identity.  

“What motivates me most is something I consider essential and valuable for any person who has grown up in a free society—the awareness of my inalienable identity. It was during the war that I fully came to understand this identity, and it has become my greatest and most meaningful discovery.”  

Since the war started in February 2022, over 1,300 UN Volunteers have been deployed onsite across Ukraine and neighbouring countries, complemented by more than 500 Online Volunteers mobilized across the region. In 2025, Ukraine ranked among the top global countries for UN Volunteer deployments, with Ukrainian nationals constituting the largest volunteer group, reflecting strong national ownership alongside international solidarity. UN Volunteers have supported 18 UN entities providing expertise across priority areas including energy and environmental policy, green recovery, data analysis, communications, cultural heritage protection, child‑focused digital innovation, and gender‑based violence prevention.  

Not circumstance but choice  

Their roles differ, as do their professional backgrounds. What unites UN Volunteers is not circumstance, but choice. By remaining engaged, UN Volunteers demonstrate how expertise, accountability, and commitment can become resilience. In a context defined by uncertainty, they continue to act—not symbolically, but practically. And through that continued presence, they help ensure that recovery, solidarity, and support for communities in Ukraine do not pause, even when conditions demand it most.