When a psychologist once asked 13-year-old Alisa to draw a flower, the girl drew a thorny green cactus with several delicate buds blooming on it.Anna, Alisa’s mother, was not surprised – her daughter, who lives with a spinal tumour amid the ongoing war in Ukraine, is determined to thrive no matter what. "That's who she is,” says Anna, 34. “Strong, beautiful and cheerful. She goes through all the difficulties and pain with a smile, and she also supports me. She appreciates every day.”Since Alisa was diagnosed with the spinal tumour shortly before the full-scale war, she has struggled to walk. “Now I need to have surgeries,” says the teenager, who lives with her parents in Kharkiv. “We travel to different cities, because there is no possibility of surgery in Kharkiv – the doctors have left. I've already had six operations in total.” “I am really grateful” Alisa, whose next surgery is scheduled for this summer in Ivano-Frankivsk, tries to see the positive in everything. “On the one hand, the war means shelling and destruction but, on the other hand, if it were not for the war, I would not have visited almost all regions of Ukraine in such a short time, would not have met so many people, would not have found new friends."However, despite her fierce optimism, like all children in Ukraine, Alisa feels the long-term impact of the war. She was forced to change schools five times and move because of the devastating shelling of Kharkiv. The war took away her access to education and medicine. But worst of all, the war took away one of her loved ones."My brother, Alisa's uncle, died in the war,” explains Anna. “And she remembers him well. She even recently wrote an essay about him. After that, she grew up quickly. It was hard for her to realise that he had always been there and suddenly he was gone. And he was always so positive. Perhaps Alisa took this positivity from him.” Alisa has been helped by a psychologist at the Kharkiv Lyceum ‘Obdarovanist’ educational centre, opened with UNICEF support. The centre, located in a well-equipped shelter, is one of the few places where children in the district can feel safe."I am really grateful for the programmes at the lyceum,” says Anna. “I can see that they really helped. That Alisa has worked through this with psychologists here. Because due to parental love, emotions, we sometimes cannot explain everything the way a professional would. And I'm glad that she feels not only my support, but also the support here.”“I liked so many things I can’t choose”Today, Alisa and dozens of other students conducted science experiments at the centre."I liked so many things today that I can't choose one thing,” says Alisa, excitedly. “We talked about electricity, took photos, and I really liked how we made candles. Everything was interesting.”Like all school children in Kharkiv, Alisa is unable to attend school due to the security situation. So when catch-up classes began at the Kharkiv Lyceum in September 2023, Anna was one of the first to enrol her daughter. Twice a week, children of different age groups – from grades 3 to 10 – have the opportunity to attend maths and Ukrainian language lessons.Alisa has improved her maths and other sciences in these classes. She hopes one day to become an architect who will rebuild Kharkiv after the war. "Kharkiv is a hero city, a city of one love,” says the girl. “Of course, something flies here every day, but we always hide. And at any time we can come to the lyceum to the shelter and wait out the danger. But here I am at home. And the architecture here is very beautiful. Unfortunately, there are many broken buildings. But when I become an architect, I will rebuild them all.”Each of Alisa’s surgeries is performed under general anaesthesia and, after each one, she has to undergo a period of rehabilitation. "I really dream that this will be my last surgery,” she says."Looking at her, you want to live,” adds Anna, proudly. “And you think that everything is not so scary even during the war."Despite all the challenges, there is still hope embodied by Alisa and children and young people across the country. UNICEF is working with the government at the national and local levels to help recover lost learning and to build the skills and human capital needed for the country’s future.   

From firefighting equipment and clean water systems to modern waste trucks and public transport, the assistance has helped restore essential services and improve daily life. But while progress is clear, many challenges remain on the path to recovery.Waste management without pauseThroughout the early days of Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine, Mykolaiv was effectively a frontline city, regularly exposed to artillery strikes and aerial attacks. And while drones and missiles have remained a daily threat to local communities since Russian forces were pushed back in late 2022, life, for the most part, has seemingly returned to normal. Traffic jams, busy restaurants and families walking in parks show that people have returned in large numbers.Mykolaivkomuntrans, Mykolaiv’ main solid waste removal provider, serves three of the city’s four districts. Despite the conflict, the company never stopped working. From the earliest days of the full-scale invasion, it adapted quickly to keep the city clean and functioning. "[...] the quantity of daily waste has returned to 2021 levels. We have more work than ever now, because we have an additional population that arrived either from Kherson, from areas close to the front line, or from villages under [Russian] occupation," says Yulia Slobodeniuk, head of the Environmental Protection Department at Mykolaivkomuntrans.Most of the company’s older vehicles were made in Belarus, and sourcing spare parts had become nearly impossible. To support critical city services, Denmark partnered with UNOPS to supply new garbage trucks, dump trucks, fuel trucks and excavators.“The city is even cleaner now than it was before the invasion,” Yulia adds. “With modern vehicles, our work is much more efficient. We can clean up unauthorized dumpsites more effectively and maintain our fleet without worry.” While this support has made a significant difference, longer-term improvements are still needed. There are plans for a waste sorting facility to be constructed in the future.Keeping the city movingAnother municipal service provider, Mykolaivpastrans, received new equipment through support from the government of Denmark and UNOPS. The company operates four bus routes across Mykolaiv. While the number may seem small, these routes play a vital role in connecting remote areas of the city, including neighbourhoods that previously had no public transport access. One such area is Varvarivka, a historic district located on the far side of the Pivdennyi Buh river. With new vehicles in operation, residents of Varvarivka now have reliable and safe access to the rest of the city for the first time. This is a critical step in restoring mobility and inclusion in the city’s recovery."Thanks to the buses from UNOPS, we have managed to increase the number of vehicles on our routes by 40 per cent," says Pavlo Ostrovskyi deputy director at Mykolaivpastrans. “We’re ready to launch new routes as soon as we get more vehicles. Higher salaries and solid internship programmes have resolved our staffing needs. We just need more buses to serve more people.”Each bus now features GPS tracking to help passengers plan their journeys. Air conditioning ensures a safer, more comfortable ride for both drivers and passengers throughout the year. Protecting fields and forestsWildfires are a recurring threat in Ukraine, particularly during the dry spring and autumn months when fields and forests are highly vulnerable. In the Mykolaiv region alone, 84,000 hectares (close to 120,000 football pitches) of forest are managed by the State Company Forests of Ukraine, placing significant strain on local firefighting teams.To support their efforts, UNOPS, with funding from Denmark, delivered specialized fire modules designed to increase mobility and efficiency. These compact units can be mounted on pickup trucks or trailers, providing a flexible and rapid response option for firefighting teams operating in difficult terrain."I personally used the modules provided by UNOPS 15 times in 2024. They can fit in the back of a truck. They are simple to use, and one person alone can handle it,"  explains Valentyn Kashyrets, head of the Environmental Protection Department at Forests of Ukraine.In addition to protecting forested areas, Forests of Ukraine also responds to agricultural fires and has begun expanding its coverage to parts of the Odessa and Kherson regions. The fire modules provided by UNOPS have not only saved numerous human lives and livelihoods but also preserved large areas of natural habitat across the region.Improving daily life with reliable water accessAccess to clean water remains an ongoing challenge in Mykolaiv and nearby areas. Since April 2022, when the pipeline supplying Mykolaiv City with water from the Dnipro River was damaged, residents have had to rely on salty tap water drawn from the Pivdennyi Buh estuary. In many nearby villages, groundwater wells exist, but without functioning water towers, there is not enough pressure to distribute water effectively. To help improve the situation, the government of Denmark partnered with UNOPS to procure new water towers for affected villages. One of these, Lymany in the Halytsynove community, had an existing water tower that was damaged beyond repair in 2022. The new installation now ensures consistent water access for local residents."Our community has received various water towers from multiple donors, but the water tower from UNOPS and Denmark ticks all the boxes. 99.9 per cent perfect,"  says Ivanna Zvonyk, Civil Engineer at the Municipal utility company of Halytsynove village. The Halytsynove community relies on 33 wells and 12 functioning water towers.“Such water towers are highly effective,” explains Ivanna. “They maintain the necessary pressure even during power outages, meaning people still have access to water for some time after electricity cuts.”However, many of the towers listed as “operational” are, in reality, severely damaged and either extremely difficult or impossible to repair. In Lymany, access to clean water has significantly improved. This support from the government of Denmark and UNOPS is helping to restore daily life and bring families back to their homes.“People keep returning to their homes, including families with children and young people,” says Ivanna. “We have the capacity to install water towers ourselves. Any additional towers can seriously improve the situation in the community.”

Ukraine’s Kakhovka Dam was destroyed exactly two years ago on Friday, representing the most significant environmental disaster so far resulting from Russia’s ongoing invasion. Its collapse directly impacted over 100,000 people and submerged more than 620 square kilometres under water.In addition to causing widespread displacement, the disaster created a humanitarian and ecological crisis – threatening disease outbreaks and prompting the collapse of ecosystems. The loss and damage from this event is estimated to be $14 billion. UN News’ Evgeniya Kleshcheva sat down this week with Roman Shakhmatenko, a team leader with the UN Development Programme (UNDP) in Ukraine, to discuss the “far-reaching” consequences of the collapse.UN News Service: Two years have passed since the destruction of the Kakhovka dam. How would you assess the current situation, and how are people living today in the affected regions?Roman Shakhmatenko: This is a very important conversation, because we must not forget about the consequences of the disaster – and it truly is a disaster. Initially, everyone was, of course, concerned about the large-scale floods. These floods caused colossal damage – not only to residential buildings and infrastructure, but also led to a loss of biodiversity, the death of animals, and an impact on entire ecosystems. This inflicted serious damage on the environment and the ecosystem that Kakhovka had created. Although the Kakhovka reservoir is an artificial object, it became a full-fledged ecosystem. It provided a habitat for many species, including those listed in the Red Book as endangered. This fragile ecosystem was destroyed. And that was just the beginning. Next – the redistribution of water flows, which affected the water supply to a significant part of eastern and southeastern Ukraine. This directly impacted households and, of course, agriculture. Although nature recovers fairly quickly, and we’re already seeing some signs of recovery – despite contamination and siltation – the redistribution of water resources remains a serious threat to people in the region: in Kryvyi Rih, Marhanets, Nikopol, and other settlements that previously received water from Kakhovka. Even now, despite emergency measures by the government and international organizations, people are still struggling to cope with the situation. Irrigation systems are largely damaged or destroyed. This jeopardizes agricultural production, and therefore – food security in the country. Many communities are still facing a shortage of fresh water. UN News Service: Tell us about UNDP's work. How have you supported local communities and infrastructure recovery?Roman Shakhmatenko: When the Kakhovka dam disaster occurred, we immediately realized: the flood is only the beginning. We, of course, helped communities – we provided generators for pumps, equipment for clearing debris, and waste disposal. But it became clear that the water supply problem, especially in the Dnipropetrovsk region, requires more sustainable solutions. Many communities in this region experienced difficulties with water access even before the dam’s destruction, and now they have lost it completely. We understood that humanitarian aid would not be enough – solutions were needed at least for the medium term. Therefore, we began with the installation of water purification stations. This equipment allowed people to use contaminated water from available sources – for example, from the Inhulets and Saksahan rivers – and purify it. But filtration alone was not enough. Communities are spread out over a large distance from each other. Therefore, we also provided water tankers for water distribution. These water purification stations and vehicles are still operating, providing people with water even two years later.In addition, we conducted an important study of soil contamination. Together with state environmental inspections, we sent a mission to the Kakhovka dam area to analyse for heavy metals and other pollutants. We took 40 samples and conducted an analysis of more than 300 indicators. This was a dangerous mission – the region is under shelling, and the risk to the lives of specialists was high. Nevertheless, we collected primary, reliable data. At that moment, there were many assessments in the public space, but very few of them were based on real samples. We believe that this was an important contribution to the overall work of the state and the Ukrainian people in overcoming the consequences of the disaster.In Nikopol, together with local authorities, we installed a pump that allowed for the restoration of water supply. The city is shelled daily, but thanks to this pump, most of the population has regained access to water. This was a truly heroic step by local specialists. Of course, we also conducted assessments of the destruction, an analysis of the condition of settlements, and the extent of damage to buildings. But, in my opinion, the aforementioned measures had the greatest effect.UN News Service: And what are the long-term environmental consequences of this disaster, and how does UNDP plan to combat them?Roman Shakhmatenko: We will only see the long-term consequences in the future. The loss of biodiversity, the death of aquatic organisms and other species that cannot be restored – this has already been recorded. At least six mammal species are endangered due to the war and the dam’s destruction. The restoration of groundwater and the microclimate is estimated to take at least three decades. This is a task for decades to come, and Ukraine will have to deal with it long after the war ends.The infrastructural consequences are also enormous. Non-functioning or destroyed irrigation systems affect both the environmental situation and agriculture. Therefore, I believe that Ukraine faces a unique challenge that will need to be prioritized in the post-war period. UN News Service: Can you tell us about what you have seen in the affected areas?Roman Shakhmatenko: We recently visited one of the communities to which we delivered a water purification unit. These stations are autonomous – they operate on solar energy and provide clean water. There is also a water tanker on site. The station was installed in a local school. Every day at a certain time, people come for water, and the water tanker travels to nearby villages. This has become an important part of the community's daily life. And this was made possible thanks to the support of the European Union. People living in extremely difficult conditions have gained access to basic necessities. This, in my opinion, is an important example of how international partnerships truly help on the ground.The audio version of the interview is available here. Source: UN news.

War changes lives in an instant. In Ukraine, each day brings new injuries and hardships for civilians and veterans. Many suffer life-altering trauma, particularly limb loss, that leaves not only physical scars but also emotional and economic challenges.Since the onset of the conflict, thousands of Ukrainians have faced long and difficult paths of recovery, highlighting the urgent need for accessible rehabilitation, assistive technologies and economic reintegration. The United Nations is working to support those affected, restoring not just mobility, but independence, dignity and hope.Among those whose lives have been transformed is 23-year-old Oleh Bruchkovskyi, a veteran from Lviv who lost a leg while serving near Bakhmut.“I sat down on the logs to rest, and at that moment, there was an explosion next to my leg," Oleh recalls. "My comrades rushed to help, following first-aid protocol. The evacuation took about ten minutes. I was quickly taken to the nearest hospital and from there to Dnipro." Oleh grew up like any other child, fascinated with computers and later educated as an electrician. In early 2022, two months before the war started, he signed a military contract. "I was just 20 years old," he recalls. "A wounded soldier’s dream is an amputation like mine," Oleh jokes. "A 'harmless' amputation – below the knee – because with such an amputation, you can still do a lot. I was lucky enough."Oleh is one of the veterans who received a 3D-printed prosthesis at the Halychyna Rehabilitation Centre as part of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) led project "Emergency assistance for 3D-printed prosthetics and job creation in Ukraine," funded by the Government and people of Japan.Through this initiative, UNIDO is helping Ukrainian prosthetics producers manufacture high-quality, customized prosthetics using cutting-edge 3D-printing technology. This process significantly reduces costs, production time and weight, making prosthetics more accessible and effective."Everything happened quickly for me – I received my prosthesis in just two to three months," Oleh says. "Some guys wait six to eight months due to the manual work involved and the shortage of prosthetists."In collaboration with a Japanese startup specializing in 3D-printed prosthetics, UNIDO is introducing digital modelling and AI-driven design techniques. This innovation enhances precision, speeds up production and reduces costs.So far, ten Ukrainian prosthetists have completed specialized training in digital prosthetics production and thirty veterans like Oleh have already received 3D-printed prosthetics through the project, restoring mobility and independence. "When I returned from the hospital, I was walking with crutches, but now with the prosthesis, I sometimes forget that I lost part of my leg," Oleh shares.Recently, Oleh took a major step forward when he climbed 400 steps at Lviv City Hall to propose to his girlfriend. "I didn’t know the stairs there were so steep, but my mom was already waiting to record it all on camera, and my comrade, who provided me first aid during the injury, brought 101 roses. The girlfriend said 'Yes!' Then, we were congratulated from the City Hall loudspeakers."Despite the uncertainty ahead, Oleh remains hopeful and determined. "What are my future plans? I’m not entirely sure. Most of us spent two or three years at war. We never truly experienced life. But I still have a hunger for it,” he stresses. "Thanks to this prosthesis and your work, I can move forward and live fully.”The human cost of war is devastating, but stories like Oleh’s demonstrate not only suffering but also hope for recovery and a new life after injury. Support from international organizations and cooperation with partner countries are crucial for the rehabilitation and social integration of veterans.This initiative is part of the UNIDO green industrial recovery programme for Ukraine (2024-2028), ensuring sustainable recovery efforts that empower those most affected by the war.