When Russia started its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February, Chernihiv, located about 70 km south of the Belarusian border, was hit hard by attacks. The city was surrounded and under siege by the Russian army for over a month, and more than half of the 300,000 inhabitants fled as the city was under almost constant attack for long periods.
The Russians pulled out of the region at the beginning of April, and since then the locals have been busy rebuilding Chernihiv, which during the siege was also named a Ukrainian Hero City for its role in the war.

Collaboration Partner

DSGU cooperates with the local NGO Искра Добра – Iskra Dobra – which was formally founded on March 30, but were from the very beginning of the invasion behind setting in motion a lot of relief initiatives.
It has ended up being a major operation, and today they have 12 depots in different places in the city, from which they deliver up to 10,000 bags of food, hygiene products or medicine every day.
They are also in full swing rebuilding the town, and at the time of writing they have partially repaired around 500 homes and fully rebuilt 120 homes.
So far, it has all been run by volunteers, and they are today a team of around 100 volunteers.

Plan in practice

Iskra Dobra feels they are busy with the reconstruction in Chernihiv. In just over a month, the rain will start in the area, and in three months it will start to get cold.
Many homes have had their roofs and windows destroyed, and they are scrambling to ensure that as many houses as possible can withstand the coming rain and cold, so that they can minimize water and frost damage.
There is a large difference between the different houses and the extent of damage to them, but as a rough estimate it costs Iskra Dobra about $1000 on average to replace the roof of a home.