Security issues as well as the reconstruction of housing and infrastructure are key concerns for residents of the evacuated communities in the Kharkiv, Kherson and Mykolaiv oblasts.
This was stated by Yaroslava Shaporda, an analyst at the School of Political Analysis of the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, when she presented to Ukrinform the results of focus group discussions in the liberated communities of Kharkiv, Kherson and Mykolaiv regions.
“The first need is security, which consists of two key components: demining, since a significant part of the cleared areas are still mined. And unfortunately, accidents keep happening, blowing up adults and children. In addition, a significant part of the agricultural land is mined, making it impossible for people to work…” Shaporda said.
Another aspect of the security issue is the provision of emergency shelters for communities, as respondents say that in some communities these are inconvenient and cannot accommodate the required number of people.
“It also means rebuilding housing infrastructure and infrastructure in general. Of course, the extent of destruction depends on individual communities, but in general there is a need for it everywhere… In general, there is hope that with the participation of the state and on our own, we will be able to rebuild everything,” the analyst added.
She clarified that respondents also mentioned the need to rebuild infrastructure, which is especially important for remote areas and settlements.
“A very important issue that has been discussed in almost all communities and that is no less important today than security and reconstruction is the education of children,” said Shaporda.
In addition, she stressed that respondents emphasized the need for economic recovery linked to mine clearance, as mined land is not cultivable.
“We can understand that the focus of respondents has shifted from survival to the full revival of the city or village community. And, of course, this is impossible without the functioning of essential businesses. Next comes access to services, primarily medical and legal. There is a big problem with the supply of hospitals to communities,” the analyst said.
In addition, psychological help for the residents of the liberated areas is an important need, she said.
Shaporda also stressed the need to support certain groups of the population, including pensioners, internally displaced persons, veterans, etc., as some respondents noted that “the state is slowly starting to forget about them – there is less humanitarian aid and not enough volunteers to help vulnerable populations.”
“If we compare this (the results of the second wave) with the previous group, the need for educational institutions has increased significantly because communities are slowly coming back to life. And from all the answers of the respondents, we can conclude that they are very much looking forward to the return of those who left, and they are eager to see their communities, their hometowns and villages as they were before the large-scale invasion, and are waiting for a full return to life,” Shaporda stressed.
At the same time, Anna Osypchuk, research director of the School of Political Analysis at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, noted: “People understand that in communities that are under attack in one way or another, it is impossible to restore everything to the way it was before the invasion.”
“These are the results of the second wave. We carried out this second wave in April 2024, and before that, in October 2023, we had the first wave,” Osypchuk recalled.
According to their information, the survey was conducted in 15 focus groups with a total of around 150 participants.
“We tried to ensure that the group members reflect the structure of the population, that they do not all have the same occupation, that they are not all the same age, that there are both men and women, so that the age (of the respondents) ranges from 18 to 65 years. A focus group lasts about two hours, and for an older person it can be difficult to withstand such active participation, also because of the technical devices,” explains Osipchuk.
She added that the next wave of surveys under the project is scheduled to be conducted by the end of October this year.
The project is implemented by the School of Political Analysis of NaUKMA with the support of the USAID/ENGAGE activity funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and implemented by Pact in Ukraine.
