Ukraine: Two Years of Conflict and Displacement

It’s been two years since war broke out in Ukraine, and millions are still affected by the ongoing humanitarian crisis. Families across the country are facing unprecedented poverty, rising food prices, and widespread disease—not to mention daily barrages of missiles and drone attacks. The violent conflict has cut them off from food, water, healthcare, and critical resources. Bombs have destroyed hospitals, schools, energy plants, roads, and homes.

The sheer numbers illustrate the grim reality: this year, 14.6 million Ukrainians, or 40% of the population, will need urgent humanitarian support. In 2024, there have been several instances of Russian forces launching missiles at heavily populated civilian areas. Daily airstrikes destroy housing and shopping malls, and unsuspecting men, women, and children are left buried under rubble. Over 10,500 civilians, including more than 580 children, have been killed, and 18,500 people have been injured since the conflict began on Feb. 24, 2022.

As winter blows through the villages, covering towns in snow and plummeting the temperatures below freezing, many families are completely cut off from heat and electricity. The poverty level in Ukraine increased five-fold in 2022 alone, with 24% of the population now impoverished. The vulnerable people are most at risk and bear the brunt of the war’s impacts. Children, people with disabilities, older people, and people with illnesses struggle to survive. The ruined infrastructure has prevented so many from living normal lives—or even staying alive at all.

With an average of 42 civilians killed per day, the conflict is as dire as ever.

Since February 2022, when the war began, around 4 million people have been displaced inside Ukraine. Millions more—around 6 million people—have fled to other countries, where they struggle to restart their lives from scratch. Those left in the country, including millions in rural areas and on the frontlines where only 4% of aid is delivered, are most desperate for assistance. They mourn dead relatives as the death counts continue to rise.

The need has never been greater. With more than 7.3 million people requiring food and livelihood support, Action Against Hunger is providing vital humanitarian support in Ukraine. Since the start of the conflict, our team of nearly 2,000 staff have reached 1.54 million people.
Coordinated from Kyiv, our teams support people in Chernivtsi in the West and Dnipro, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, and Sumy in the East. We also helped more than 150,000 refugees in Moldova, Romania, and Poland between March and December 2022.

Alongside nutrition and health, our support focuses on promoting mental health care, ensuring access to water, sanitation and hygiene, supporting displaced people, and providing access to childcare.

About Action Against Hunger

Action Against Hunger leads the global movement to end hunger. We innovate solutions, advocate for change, and reach 28 million people every year with proven hunger prevention and treatment programs. As a nonprofit that works across 55 countries, our 8,900 dedicated staff members partner with communities to address the root causes of hunger, including climate change, conflict, inequity, and emergencies. We strive to create a world free from hunger, for everyone, for good.