Across Ukraine, lives and livelihoods have been destroyed
For almost four years, people in Ukraine have been living through a nightmare.
The conflict, which escalated in February 2022, has affected millions of people, claiming lives and homes.
- Over 53,000 people have been killed or injured.
- 12.7 million people in Ukraine need humanitarian assistance now.
- More than 6.9 million people have fled the country, leaving behind everything they’ve ever known – often including their loved ones.
- Homes, hospitals and schools continue to be damaged, forcing further evacuations.
- Red Cross teams, led by the Ukrainian Red Cross Society, have reached over 22 million people with vital support like food, healthcare, and longer-term relief.
This year, across Ukraine, families are experiencing their hardest winter yet. Attacks on vital infrastructure combined with freezing temperatures are making an already dire situation worse.
As the conflict continues, we need your help to support people in Ukraine, as well as those who have been forced to flee to other countries, including the UK.
Please donate to the Ukraine Crisis Appeal.
How can I help people in Ukraine?
The best way to help people in Ukraine is to donate to our Ukraine Crisis Appeal. Already, donations given in recent years have helped transform the lives of those affected by the conflict.
- £5 could provide a hygiene kit to someone who has had to flee their home.
- £75 could provide a fully-equipped first aider’s kit.
- £250 could provide cash assistance to someone undergoing physical rehabilitation.
Why does my donation to Ukraine matter?
The Ukrainian Red Cross Society is the lead humanitarian organisation in Ukraine and - since the onset of this conflict - has been supported by the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement with its response. In 2024 alone, 5,000 staff members and over 10,000 volunteers reached more than 8.4 million people in Ukraine.
The situation remains incredibly volatile. We can’t be sure what will happen next or where the need will be greatest. But with your help we can be ready to help more people who are suffering. Most recently, we’ve been able to provide:
- Healthcare and psychosocial support. 17 new healthcare centres have opened, expanding access to screenings and referrals.
- Safe and dignified accommodation. With funding support from the British and Austrian Red Cross, the Ukrainian Red Cross has built over 100 new apartments for people who have lost their homes in the conflict.
- Power for vital services. More than 870 generators have been delivered to support 35 railway stations, 20 hospitals, two water utilities and numerous community centres.
- Food and hygiene kits. Since the start of the conflict, the Ukrainian Red Cross Society has distributed over 13 million food and hygiene kits to people all over Ukraine.
Here in the UK our Red Cross teams have:
- Helped 68,000 people arriving from Ukraine, offering support and key information.
- Answered 83,000 calls to our support line.
- Given £3.1 million in emergency financial assistance, helping people to start rebuilding their lives.
- Distributed more than 23,000 SIM cards so people can stay in touch with their loved ones.
- Advocated for improvements to government schemes, calling for improved access to long-term accommodation solutions and family reunification policies.
Your Ukraine donations have achieved so much already. But people are still in need of urgent assistance. We’re also deeply concerned for the thousands of Ukrainian families across the UK who are facing homelessness.
Please donate to the Ukraine Crisis Appeal.
How does a monthly donation to the British Red Cross help?
Monthly donations keep us going. They allow us to plan our work, meaning we can respond at a moment’s notice and can support schemes year-round.
They also allow us to stay for longer. We are there for people in a crisis –but we are also there in the months that follow. We stay on the ground after an emergency, helping communities recover, rebuild, and regain independence. Monthly donations to the British Red Cross help us carry on this work long after the cameras have gone.
If you sign up to a regular charity donation to the Ukraine Crisis Appeal, your regular donation will be supporting the Ukraine Crisis Appeal for your first six payments, after which your regular payments will be used to fund the whole of our work, wherever the need is greatest.
Please donate to the Ukraine Crisis Appeal today.
Donate to the Ukraine Crisis Appeal and help us save lives.
How your donations have helped people from Ukraine: Olena's story
Olena, 26, was five months pregnant and working for the Ukrainian Red Cross Society when the conflict escalated in Ukraine in February 2022.
Her first thought was not to flee to safety but to go to the office to help coordinate the emergency response team’s life-saving activities. For two months she and her husband and other volunteers lived out of the office, helping coordinate emergency response work, such as providing more than 10 tonnes of aid to residents seeking shelter in the underground metro system when the first Kyiv curfew was enacted.
Her son, Zakhar, was born on 22 June 2022. Olena was back working just two weeks after his birth.
Today Olena is the head of emergency response services but hopes to return to field work soon, because helping people has been her passion since joining the organisation in 2017.
Olena says of her colleagues: “The volunteers and staff are a specific type of person. It’s hard to explain but these are the people who run towards an explosion, towards the danger. We are a big family, which is trying to support people in the place where they are needed most.”
