In response to the challenges caused by Russia’s military aggression, the “U-LEAD with Europe” program provided support for 10 territorial communities of Lviv region in the form of generators, water containers, sleeping bags and other essential items.
The community received such help in the summer, but now it is especially relevant during a power outage. This is reported in the regional office of U-LEAD in the Lviv region.
The communities of Lviv Oblast have suffered a number of rocket attacks from Russia over the past month, which caused massive power outages due to the destruction of critical infrastructure facilities.
The territorial community of Novorossiysk faced new challenges prepared, as it had an action plan drawn up for this and the appropriate equipment provided by the “U-LEAD with Europe” Program and other organizations.
As Olha Ganachevska, deputy head of the Novorozdil community, said, as a result of the “arrival” of critical infrastructure, the residents of the community were left without electricity and, accordingly, without water and other important things.
“The received generators and water containers were very useful to us. We used generators in mobile stations located in our city and other settlements. At these points, people could recharge their phones and other equipment. Several such points operated in our city to make it as convenient as possible for people. We have a lot of critical infrastructure facilities, we have already experienced what war is like, what “arrival” is like. We understand that many people remain without electricity, communication, water, so such help from U-LEAD is very necessary. Thank you for the generators and other equipment, which is very important for us,” emphasized Olga Ganachevska.
Containers with water in the community were placed in certain social premises, if necessary, residents could approach and replenish their supplies. Sleeping bags and other items that have been provided to the community have been donated for the needs of internally displaced persons living in hostels and the private sector. There are currently three shelters operating in Novorozdilsk community on the basis of dormitories of educational institutions.
The community plans to extend the practice of setting up mobile points for recharging equipment to all settlements. Now the Novorozdil community is actively working on the creation of heating points, which will also work thanks to generators.
“In our community, there was no electricity for more than two days, everything was discharged, and mobile points became the only possibility to charge a phone or laptop. There were several stations in the city, so residents from different districts and parts of the city could charge their devices. Thanks to this, we all stayed in touch with our relatives and were able to solve our work issues,” shares Volodymyr Kryzhanivskyi, a resident of the Novorozdil community.
Similar problems were encountered in Rudkivska hromada, which also experienced power outages. In the community, generators from “U-LEAD with Europe” were placed in social infrastructure facilities – the House of Mercy, a school and a local health care facility.
“During the blackout, we used these generators as an alternative source of electricity. In the same institutions, there are containers with water, so that in the event of a power outage, we have reserves. This kind of help is extremely important for us, since there were practically no generators in our community, at least in social facilities,” said Svitlana Ferenc, deputy head of the Rudkiv community.
According to the head of the U-LEAD regional office in the Lviv region, Halyna Khrushchak, when the “U-LEAD with Europe” program planned to provide emergency aid to communities of Ukraine affected by the war in the first month of the war, communities from the western regions of the country received such aid that would help them cope with the challenges of hosting large numbers of internally displaced people.
“We didn’t plan that these things would help communities overcome such challenges as direct destruction of infrastructure and its consequences. It is very good that thanks to this equipment, which was already in the communities, residents were able to meet their primary needs during power outages,” the expert emphasizes.
The Ukraine Program for Local Empowerment, Accountability and Development “U-LEAD with Europe” is jointly funded by the EU and its member states Germany, Poland, Sweden, Denmark, Estonia and Slovenia to support Ukraine on its way to strengthen local municipality. U-LEAD promotes transparent, accountable and multi-level governance in Ukraine that meets the needs of citizens and empowers communities.