This would be the third Christmas celebration that the ISHR (International Society for Human Rights) has organised for aid workers and victims of the war

 

Christmas celebration at the children’s hospital © ISHR Ukraine Section

“The situation in northeastern Ukraine is deteriorating. People there are suffering from ongoing power outages, inadequate logistics, and especially the psychological pressure of approaching, buzzing drones. Due to unpredictable missile attacks, children spend most of their school time in air-raid shelters. The winter cold forces them to decide: to leave or to stay? They feel overlooked by large aid organisations and the government. That’s why we are helping there. In Putivl, a small town of approximately 15,000 inhabitants, roughly 20 kilometres from the Russian border, high school students are assisting us in distributing humanitarian aid to newly arriving displaced persons and refugees from the front lines. They even venture out to reach elderly people who cannot bring themselves to leave their homes, which are already under fire. We want to organise a public Christmas celebration with these high school students, who themselves are living in difficult circumstances, and bring together aid workers and those receiving assistance,” wrote Anton Alekseyev, head of the ISHR Ukraine section.

This would be the third Christmas celebration that the ISHR (International Society for Human Rights) has organised for aid workers and victims of the war. Last year, we supported two celebrations: one at the children’s hospital in Kyiv for children who couldn’t be discharged to their families for Christmas because one or both parents had died in the war, and another celebration at a school held in a makeshift shelter. To lift their spirits, ISHR members sang and played games with them, and each child received a small gift. Our commitment remains firm.