Ukraine · Shelter Response · Field Journal

Where walls still stand,
and where they don't.

Dispatches, methodology, and field notes from Ukraine's shelter response — for practitioners, policymakers, and anyone working to rebuild dignified housing in conflict-affected communities.

2.5M+
Homes damaged or destroyed since Feb 2022
3.3M
Internally displaced persons across Ukraine
8
Oblasts in the Shelter Cluster Crescent Zone
$524B
Estimated reconstruction needs (UN, Feb 2025)
Latest Dispatch
Field Report
Kharkiv & Mykolaiv · 2026
August 2026 📍 Kharkiv · Mykolaiv
Common Spaces: The Repair Nobody Budgeted For

Local authorities in Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Mykolaiv are receiving massive requests for common space repairs in multi-apartment buildings — but have no municipal budget to respond. Meanwhile, damaged common spaces are blocking 25% of residents from accessing eVidnovlennia state compensation.

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All Dispatches
Field Report
Hard Repairs at Scale: Why Category 2 Can't Wait Any Longer

For families who lost everything, Cat. 1 has no answer. The case for structural repairs — in private houses, in apartments, and in rural communities tied to their land.

CCCM
Collective Centres Were Never the Answer. What Comes Next?

Near the front line, repair is still an emergency. Further away, the transition to temporary housing (Resolution 495) and social housing (Law 12377) must begin now.

Opinion
Build Back on Their Own Land: The Case for Typological Housing

For total-loss households, the land still belongs to them. Duplexes and townhouses on owned plots could reach two categories of need in a single intervention. A practitioner's reflection.

Common Spaces
Common Spaces: The Repair Nobody Budgeted For

22,253 multi-apartment buildings damaged. 25% of residents blocked from state compensation. Local authority budgets exhausted. The gap that humanitarian actors must fill.

Resources
Key Documents: SOPs, Activity Matrix, SIDAR & More

Direct links to all core Shelter Cluster technical documents — SOP Category I, Common Spaces SOP, Activity Matrix 2026, Activities Handbook, REACH Assessment, and SIDAR platform.

Policy
Key Legislative Instruments: eVidnovlennia, Resolution 495, Law 12377

The legal framework governing humanitarian shelter, IDP housing, and social housing in Ukraine — from CMU Resolution 381 to the landmark Law of December 2025.