Restored Water Systems Promise Stability for Ukrainian Families on the Frontline (2024)

CORE is restoring over a dozen water systems across Mykolaiv to ensure families can access stable water supply.

Repeated attacks on civilian infrastructure, including vital energy and water systems, schools, and hospitals, have disrupted the lives of millions of Ukrainians throughout the war and severely impacted local governments’ ability to swiftly implement much-needed solutions.

With the war now deep in its third year, efforts to restore damaged homes, schools, and systems are well underway. Many Ukrainians, particularly those living along the former frontline, are steadily rebuilding their lives despite repeated attacks that threaten their safety, shelter, and access to medical care and education.

Leontiy Zynkevych lives in Kyselivka, a small village in eastern Mykolaiv that endured eight brutal months of fighting being just 25 miles away from the front line. Most of the village’s 600 residents fled their homes to seek safety, including Leontiy and his wife who immediately moved away after a shell landed in their yard and shrapnel hit their home, injuring Leontiy.

They returned a year later to an unrecognizable town without water or power and covered in debris from ruined homes and buildings.

In addition to slowly rebuilding their homes, restoring water infrastructure in Kyselivka was crucial for Leontiy and his neighbors. “We need water to cook, shower, and wash dishes,” Leontiy said.

Before CORE arrived, these normal routines were often difficult as community members got their drinking water from barrels and were careful not to waste it. Listening to their needs and coordinating with local leaders and organizations, CORE worked to install two water towers in Kyselivka that provided the village with easy access to water.

Ivan Hentosh, the head of Yevhenivka village in Mykolaiv, echoed the significance of these projects. As in Kyselivka, the nearly 600 residents of Yevhenivka faced persistent instability because of the war. They relied on water from old wells in the village, which often dried up during the summer. Some residents were reluctant to return, disheartened by the inoperative infrastructure and lack of necessary resources.

Ivan hoped that the new water tower would alleviate villagers’ concerns about maintaining their farmland and accessing water in their homes. “Thank you for your cooperation, volunteering, for your concern and for thinking about people,” he shared. “I think when the water comes, more people will return to their homes.”

Nearly all 1,000 residents of the remote village Zelenyi Hai have returned. Located north of Mykolaiv, the village suffered considerably in the war’s early months. Russian shelling destroyed homes and hospitals, and an air strike hit a school where community members were sheltering, sadly killing many. In a region that already had unstable access to water, the fighting destroyed what little infrastructure they had.

With our partners, CORE repaired two kilometers (about 1.2 miles) of water pipes, which now provide all 1,000 residents of Zelenyi Hai and Olenivka, a small neighboring village, with uninterrupted access to water.

The head of Zelenyi Hai, Oksana Hnedko, said, “Almost all people have returned. So, this is a very big job that we are doing together with [CORE]…For nine months, the village was without water because there was no electricity. People know how difficult it is to get water when it doesn’t come directly to their homes through pipes.”