From the Field: In Ukraine, ‘I have grown used to the endless fear’

Living with fear and the daily threat of death is something that all Ukrainians have had to reckon with since Russia’s invasion of 24 February, and local UN staff are no exception.

Living with fear and the daily threat of death is something that all Ukrainians have had to reckon with since Russia’s invasion of 24 February, and local UN staff are no exception.

Viktoriya Hrubas is a Public Information Officer with the UN humanitarian coordination office, OCHA, and she’s been giving her firsthand account of what it has been like to serve, and suffer, alongside her fellow Ukrainians.

© UNOCHA/Matteo Minasi

“Nobody is prepared to go through war”, she admits, despite her wide experience as a humanitarian providing emergency aid to those in need.

In the early days of the invasion, she watched “with horror” as the Russian army advanced towards her childhood home of Zaporizhzhia, especially as her mother had decided not to leave.

In September, she finally got to return to the city on assignment with OCHA, and spoke to defiant local residents, including her mother, determined not to let the war destroy their lives completely.

You can read her full, powerful story here.

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