Luba and Romchik in a shelter run by the Association of Ukrainians in Poland. Photo: Katarzyna Komar-Macyńska/AUP
Luba and Romchik in a shelter run by the Association of Ukrainians in Poland. Photo: Katarzyna Komar-Macyńska/AUP
After deciding to leave, Luba, stayed up all night to buy tickets for a direct train from Kyiv to Przemysl in south-east Poland. On the way, she searched for support groups and found the Association of Ukrainians in Poland (AUP), a CARE partner organization, on Instagram.
Luba and Romchik are part of a new wave of Ukrainian refugees in Poland. Since February 2024, more than 6.8 million refugees have left Ukraine—that’s more than 15% of the country’s population and more than the populations of Chicago and Los Angeles combined.
Nearly a million of them remain in Poland. While many arrived in 2022 at the start of the renewed conflict, the need for aid continues.
“Every day we receive people from Ukraine asking for help. They are desperate, in very bad mental and physical condition. And the support offered to them is being reduced,” said Igor Horkow, chairman of the Przemysl section of the Association of Ukrainians in Poland.
CARE Poland is currently the only organization providing cash assistance to new refugees entering Poland. Similar programs run by other NGOs have been closed, mostly due to lack of funding.
“Thanks to our partnership with AUP and Santander Bank, we are able to send humanitarian assistance in the form of cash to eligible refugees in less than 24 hours. This is critically important in ensuring that those fleeing conflict and crisis can meet their urgent needs—whether for food, shelter, or medical care—without unnecessary delays,'” said Piotr Sasin, country Director at CARE Poland.
“Swift financial support provides dignity and choice, allowing refugees to decide what is best for their families in a time of uncertainty. At CARE, we remain committed to delivering life-saving aid efficiently, ensuring no one is left behind,” he explained.
The number of people leaving Ukraine for the EU for the first time increased by one-third month-to-month, to 24% in December 2024. Approximately 3,000 Ukrainians apply for temporary protection in Poland each month. Almost all new refugees interviewed by the UNHCR say the deteriorating situation at the front as their reason for leaving.
Luba lived most of her life near the border with Russia and Belarus. The first bombs hit her in Chernihiv. She became active in grassroots relief—running a makeshift shelter in a basement with her sister, while her boyfriend rode his bicycle to deliver medicine.
“We were able to cook dinner for 40 people with just water and potatoes,” she recalls.
Bombs struck nearby — on a children’s hospital, a theater, and a hotel, —sometimes just a few hundred yards from her shelter.
In April 2022, she moved to her family’s house in the countryside. Even though it was quieter, she found it hard to shake survival habits. At first, she still slept in her clothes, ready to leave at a moment’s notice. Soon after, her mother passed away, and she gave birth to Romchik.
By the fall of 2024, drones began flying over her windows. At first, they were headed toward Kyiv and Zhytomyr. Then they came closer.
“The noise was so loud that I thought they were going to explode on the next street,” she remembers. For three days, she and Romchik hid under the stove in the kitchen, watching cartoons to drown out the sounds of war.
On the third day of constant drone shelling, she decided to leave. With the help of her family, she reached Kyiv and boarded the train. The Association of Ukrainians responded to her on Instagram, promising to assist her as soon as she arrived in Przemysl.
“I thought I would go with them or to a hostel, but hostels are expensive,” she recalls.
“I got there, and they gave me a bed, then a psychologist came. They gave me food, offered me a doctor, I had time to wash and rest. In one day, I was able to get a social security number, apply for benefits, open a bank account, get a SIM card. I also received cash assistance. I received a lot of care and help. I go to church every Sunday, and, in my prayers, I always mention Mr. Mykhailo from the Association who took care of me,” she adds.
She was placed in a shelter on Basztowa Street. Later, she moved to the next shelter on Szykowskiego Street (both run by the Association; the shelter on Szykowskiego Street was bought and partially renovated with CARE funding), where they have their own room, a garden, and a playground. Romchik especially loves the slide.
In September, he will probably start kindergarten in Poland. By then, the family hope to move from the shelter into a rented apartment.
And they still watch cartoons together. This time, with Polish dubbing—so Romchik can learn a new language. And they don’t have to hide behind the stove or turn up the volume to silence the drones.
