Dnipro's Humanitarian Front: An Interview with Marina Perederii of Pomogaem
By Matthew Parish
Tuesday 3 November 2026
The Lviv Herald speaks to one of eastern Ukraine's leading humanitarian organisers about the struggle to evacuate civilians, the shortcomings of international aid, the responsibilities of the Ukrainian state and the extraordinary resilience of a city living under constant Russian attack.
Dnipro occupies a peculiar position in the geography of Ukraine's war. It is simultaneously a city under attack, a refuge for people escaping the advancing Russian Armed Forces and one of the principal centres from which humanitarian assistance is organised for the devastated communities of eastern and southeastern Ukraine. Its hospitals receive the wounded, its railway stations receive the displaced and its charitable organisations have developed an extraordinary capacity to respond to human suffering on a scale that would overwhelm the social services of most European cities.
Among those organisations is the charitable foundation Pomogaem (Благодійний фонд «Помагаєм»), established in 2009 and based in Dnipro. Originally concentrating upon children, people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups, the foundation has developed into a substantial humanitarian organisation providing evacuation assistance, emergency accommodation, support for displaced families, medical and psychological assistance and humanitarian supplies to communities threatened by the war.
One of the leading figures in this organisation is Marina Perederii (Марина Передерій), its programme director and a prominent participant in the coordination of humanitarian activities across eastern Ukraine. She co-chairs the Eastern Regional Humanitarian Operational Coordination Group alongside a representative of the United Nations, bringing together Ukrainian and international organisations in an effort to make the humanitarian response more coherent and effective.
Her understanding of displacement is not merely professional. Originally from Donetsk, she was forced to abandon her home in 2014 with a newborn child. She knows from personal experience the humiliation of being refused accommodation, the uncertainty of losing one's home and the persistent hope that an apparently temporary catastrophe will soon come to an end. More than half of her colleagues at Pomogaem have themselves experienced displacement, while some have lived under Russian occupation.
The Lviv Herald interviewed Marina Perederii in Ukrainian. The following interview has been edited for clarity and readability while preserving the substance of her answers.
Matthew Parish, Lviv Herald: Pomogaem has been operating since long before Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. How has its mission changed since February 2022, and what does the foundation principally do today?
Marina Perederii: Our mission has remained unchanged. We help improve the lives of people who need support while preserving their dignity. Historically, we worked extensively with children, people with disabilities and other vulnerable groups.
February 2022 fundamentally changed the scale and nature of our work. We moved from predominantly programme-based and social support to a large-scale humanitarian response, including evacuations, assistance to internally displaced people, support for frontline communities and help for those who have lost their homes and livelihoods.
Today we combine emergency assistance with long-term support. The war has become not a short-term crisis but a new reality for millions of people. Our response has had to evolve accordingly.
Matthew Parish: What are the most pressing humanitarian needs in Dnipro and the surrounding region? Have those needs changed over the past year?
Marina Perederii: The most urgent needs are safe and affordable housing, employment, financial assistance, heating, electricity, water, medicines and access to medical services.
Those who are particularly vulnerable often face several disadvantages simultaneously. They include internally displaced people, residents of frontline territories, elderly people requiring permanent care, people with disabilities, large families, single-parent households and families that have lost their principal breadwinner.
Over the past year these needs have become increasingly complex. Displacement has been compounded by constant shelling, damage to infrastructure, loss of income, growing poverty and general exhaustion. As winter approaches, energy security and heating become particularly critical.
Matthew Parish: Dnipro has become one of the most important humanitarian centres in eastern Ukraine. How would you describe the city's role?
Marina Perederii: Dnipro is not simply a city receiving internally displaced people. It is also an important logistical, medical, humanitarian and coordination centre for eastern Ukraine.
People arriving here can receive initial assistance after evacuation, medical services, temporary shelter and help restoring their documents and social connections. Dnipro has also accommodated communities relocated from Donetsk and Dnipropetrovsk regions.
At the same time, assistance to communities that remain close to the front line is organised from Dnipro. In effect, the city connects the needs of those who have been forced to leave with the needs of those who continue living in dangerous areas.
Matthew Parish: Your foundation works across several frontline regions. What are conditions like in the communities you are trying to assist?
Marina Perederii: The situation varies considerably, but these territories share constant danger, damage to civilian infrastructure and restricted access to basic services.
In Dnipropetrovsk region, conditions are particularly difficult in the Nikopol and Synelnykove districts. In Donetsk region, the security situation continues to deteriorate, evacuations are ongoing and infrastructure is being destroyed. Unfortunately, because of the security risks and our lack of armoured vehicles, we have been forced to suspend direct operations in Donetsk region.
Many communities in Zaporizhzhia and Kharkiv regions also live under the constant threat of shelling, while humanitarian access to certain settlements is becoming increasingly difficult.
Our programmes extend considerably further geographically, however. For example, we provide targeted assistance to seriously ill children throughout Ukrainian-controlled territory. Last winter, families from Khmelnytskyi and Chernihiv regions approached us seeking portable EcoFlow power stations because some children's lives depend upon uninterrupted electricity supplies.
Thanks to our partners, this year we have been able to provide these devices to more than 100 families, including families in Sumy, Odesa and Zaporizhzhia regions.
We must also recognise the particular circumstances of each region, including the number of communities, the balance between urban and rural populations and the capacity and engagement of local authorities. These factors directly influence how humanitarian assistance can be organised.
Matthew Parish: Are you witnessing another wave of evacuations as Russian forces threaten more communities? Who are the people most reluctant to leave their homes?
Marina Perederii: Since August 2025 we have coordinated the work of a Transit Centre through which more than 16,000 people have passed, predominantly from communities in Dnipropetrovsk region.
We see a continuing need for evacuation and, just as importantly, uninterrupted support at every stage after someone has left their home. Particular attention is required for isolated people with limited mobility, people with disabilities, including psychosocial and mental health conditions, and those without relatives, social connections or savings.
Those who remain until the very last moment are often elderly people, people with disabilities and those caring for relatives. Their reasons vary: the absence of alternative accommodation, fear of losing their homes, attachment to familiar surroundings, domestic animals, lack of money and uncertainty about what awaits them after leaving.
For many people, evacuation is not simply moving from one place to another. It means losing their entire familiar existence. That is why it is essential not merely to remove people from danger but to provide comprehensive support afterwards.
Matthew Parish: What actually happens to someone after evacuation? Is there an effective system for helping displaced people establish new lives?
Marina Perederii: Ukraine has developed a system of evacuation and initial reception involving state institutions, local authorities, civil society organisations and international partners. But the greatest challenge begins after evacuation: providing someone not merely with temporary accommodation but with a clear pathway towards rebuilding their life.
Our foundation coordinates the Transit Centre in the village of Voloske, which has operated since August 2025. More than 16,000 people have passed through it. They can receive temporary shelter, humanitarian assistance, social and psychological support and help identifying their subsequent needs.
Nevertheless, there are substantial gaps in long-term accommodation, affordable housing and social support. Coordination with the healthcare system is particularly inadequate, and there is a shortage of suitable accommodation for people with limited mobility.
The war has also exposed deeper social problems: staff shortages, insufficient capacity within social services, security restrictions and excessive psychological pressure upon professionals. All these problems affect the quality and continuity of assistance following evacuation.
Matthew Parish: Once displaced people arrive in Dnipro, what are the principal obstacles preventing them from rebuilding their lives?
Marina Perederii: Housing is the first problem. People often have nowhere to return to, while renting accommodation can impose an unbearable financial burden.
Then come difficulties finding employment, restoring documents and accessing healthcare and education. For elderly people and people with disabilities, these challenges are considerably more serious.
There is another important dimension: the loss of familiar surroundings, social relationships and a sense of stability. Integrating displaced people therefore requires more than a single delivery of humanitarian assistance. It requires comprehensive support and the creation of conditions in which people can live independently.
The international humanitarian system
Matthew Parish: How effectively do Ukrainian charitable organisations, international NGOs, United Nations agencies and government institutions cooperate? Where does the system work well, and where does it fall short?
Marina Perederii: Coordination has developed considerably over recent years. Today there are humanitarian clusters, regional coordination groups, NGO platforms, consortium arrangements, joint needs assessments and mechanisms for cooperation with government institutions.
I co-chair the Eastern Regional Humanitarian Operational Coordination Group, or HOCG, together with a United Nations representative. I see genuine value in this mechanism, particularly in identifying gaps in the response, coordinating activities and finding joint solutions.
Nevertheless, problems remain. Information sharing at community level is insufficient, approval procedures are complicated, geographical coverage is uneven and funding arrangements are not flexible enough.
Coordination should not merely provide a forum for exchanging information. It should also be an instrument for making decisions together.
Matthew Parish: My impression from visiting humanitarian organisations in eastern Ukraine is that much of the practical work is performed by local Ukrainian organisations and volunteers. Is that consistent with your experience?
Marina Perederii: To a considerable extent, yes, particularly when we are talking about direct work with people and maintaining a presence in frontline communities.
Local organisations understand the context, know what people need, enjoy the trust of communities and can respond quickly to changing circumstances. They are often the organisations that continue working where other humanitarian actors face restrictions.
However, I would not set local and international organisations against one another. We need partnerships in which international institutions provide resources and expertise, while local organisations exercise genuine influence over planning, decision-making and the delivery of assistance.
Matthew Parish: Do Ukrainian organisations receive a fair proportion of international humanitarian funding, or does too much remain within large international institutions?
Marina Perederii: In my opinion, they do not receive a fair proportion. Despite constant discussions about the localisation of humanitarian assistance, there remains a considerable distance between declarations and actual practice.
Research into localisation in Ukraine for 2024 indicated that less than one per cent of tracked humanitarian funding went directly to local and national organisations. This means that organisations frequently responsible for actually delivering assistance do not enjoy proportionate access to resources or decision-making processes.
At the same time, I see positive developments. International partners are increasingly including indirect operating costs and duty of care expenses — measures protecting the safety and wellbeing of humanitarian teams — within their budgets.
But localisation is not simply about transferring part of the work to local partners. It means fair access to financing, authority, responsibility and opportunities to influence decisions.
Matthew Parish: What do international humanitarian organisations do well in Ukraine, and what could they improve?
Marina Perederii: International organisations have brought substantial financial resources, expertise, humanitarian standards and coordination capabilities to Ukraine. This is an important contribution, without which many programmes would have been impossible.
At the same time, they should place greater trust in Ukrainian partners, simplify administrative procedures, provide multi-year and institutional funding and involve local organisations in decision-making from the very beginning.
I also see considerable potential in exchanging experience. International organisations can share expertise in management, administration, financial controls, human resources and operational procedures. But this should not be a one-way transfer of knowledge. It should strengthen the capacities of both sides.
Matthew Parish: When humanitarian needs exceed available resources, how does Pomogaem decide whom to help?
Marina Perederii: We base our decisions upon assessments of need, security conditions, people's vulnerability, the availability of other assistance and our own resources.
We pay particular attention to children, people with disabilities, elderly people, low-income families and those living in isolation or with restricted access to services.
It is important not simply to respond to the most visible crisis but also to identify people who may otherwise remain overlooked by the humanitarian system. We coordinate with humanitarian clusters and other organisations to reduce duplication and direct resources towards those who need them most.
Matthew Parish: Transparency is an important issue in charitable work. How can donors and journalists verify how Pomogaem spends the money entrusted to it?
Marina Perederii: We regard transparency not as a formal requirement imposed by donors but as the foundation of trust between a charitable organisation and society.
Information about the foundation's income and expenditure is published on our website. We undergo annual audits, maintain financial and programme records and document procurement, the distribution of assistance and project results.
We report to donors in accordance with funding conditions and are prepared to answer specific questions from journalists and benefactors. At the same time, we must respect confidentiality and protect the personal data of those receiving assistance.
Matthew Parish: Is it becoming more difficult to obtain funding? Are you encountering what is sometimes called international fatigue with Ukraine?
Marina Perederii: Yes, attracting funding is becoming more difficult. International donors have limited resources, competing global crises and increasing requirements concerning programme effectiveness.
Cooperation through consortium arrangements is becoming increasingly important. This creates opportunities for more comprehensive programmes but requires time to find partners, agree upon a shared vision and establish trust.
I would not describe this simply as fatigue with Ukraine. It is more a question of changing priorities and declining available funding against the background of a prolonged war. But people's needs are not declining in proportion to donors' budgets.
It is particularly important to reduce the gaps between individual projects, when organisations are forced to move from one short-term grant to another. We need more stable and predictable financing that allows us to maintain continuity of assistance and develop the institutional capacity of local organisations.
Children, displacement and personal experience
Matthew Parish: Pomogaem has historically worked extensively with children and people with disabilities. How has the war affected children with disabilities and their families?
Marina Perederii: For these families, the war often represents a double or even triple crisis. They face not only danger and displacement but also interruptions to rehabilitation, education, medical supervision and other services that are critically important for children with disabilities.
Evacuation is particularly complicated because suitable transport, accommodation, specialists and an environment capable of meeting the child's individual needs must all be found. Frequently one parent cannot work because they are entirely occupied with providing care.
We must also recognise the deterioration in the psychological and emotional wellbeing of children and their families. Constant stress, disruption of familiar routines and loss of access to specialists can lead to children losing skills they have already acquired.
Sometimes families spend years helping a child develop, only to find that the war forces them to begin part of that process all over again.
We believe that inclusion must form part of every humanitarian response, rather than being treated as a separate additional programme.
Matthew Parish: You were yourself forced to leave Donetsk in 2014. How has that experience influenced your approach to people being evacuated today?
Marina Perederii: That experience allows me to understand people from within, without judging their decisions or losing sight of the individual person at the centre of humanitarian assistance.
I was forced to leave Donetsk in 2014 with a newborn child. I experienced the search for accommodation, including being refused because of my registered address, because I had a small child and because I had a cat.
For some time, I also lived with the illusion that everything would soon end and that we would return to our normal lives. My relatives remain in occupied territory, and this separation of family relationships continues to be painful.
Perhaps the most important lesson I took from that experience is that someone who leaves their home should not also lose their sense of personal dignity or their right to make independent decisions.
I want us to see evacuees not merely as recipients of humanitarian assistance but as people with their own histories, experiences, needs and plans for the future.
More than half our team have also experienced displacement, some since 2014 and others since 2022. Some colleagues have lived through occupation. This undoubtedly influences our organisational culture and our ability to understand the people with whom we work.
The responsibilities of the Ukrainian state
Matthew Parish: What are the principal systemic problems that no individual charitable foundation can resolve?
Marina Perederii: Above all, affordable housing for displaced people, long-term integration, social protection for people with disabilities, access to medical and rehabilitation services and the restoration of infrastructure in frontline communities.
Another problem is the absence of a comprehensive pathway of support after evacuation, from initial reception to permanent accommodation, employment and social integration.
Participating in humanitarian coordination allows me to see how important it is for state institutions, local communities, international organisations and Ukrainian organisations to function as a single system.
I always urge our humanitarian partners not to confuse responsibilities or substitute themselves for the state. We must stand alongside the state, not replace it. No charitable foundation can substitute for government policy or municipal responsibility.
Matthew Parish: How has the role of the Ukrainian state changed since 2022? Should some of the functions currently performed by charities eventually become responsibilities of government?
Marina Perederii: Since 2022, the state's role has changed substantially. It simultaneously provides basic social services, organises evacuations, coordinates the humanitarian response and cooperates with international partners.
Nevertheless, there is a problem with institutional memory. Changes in senior officials frequently mean that certain processes must begin again, while previous experience, agreements and decisions are not always preserved. In humanitarian work, where continuity and speed are critically important, this is a serious challenge.
I believe basic guarantees — housing, social protection, access to healthcare and education — must remain the responsibility of the state.
At the same time, I do not believe the functions of the charitable sector should simply be transferred to government. Civil society, businesses, the media and the state should act in coordination, complementing one another without duplicating activities or displacing one another's responsibilities.
Matthew Parish: If the war continues for several more years, what will be the greatest humanitarian challenge facing Dnipro and eastern Ukraine?
Marina Perederii: The greatest challenge will not simply be the scale of physical destruction but the accumulation of the consequences of prolonged war: loss of housing and livelihoods, exhausted families, deteriorating mental health and growing needs for rehabilitation, social support, education and social integration.
The situation will be particularly difficult for children spending a substantial part of their childhood during wartime, people with disabilities and those without the resources to rebuild their lives independently.
We risk creating a generation whose opportunities for development and personal fulfilment are substantially restricted by the war.
That is why we must begin moving now from short-term emergency responses towards long-term solutions combining humanitarian assistance, reconstruction and social integration.
Living under the missiles
Matthew Parish: Finally, what would you most like international readers of the Lviv Herald to understand about the humanitarian situation in Dnipro that they do not normally see in international news coverage?
Marina Perederii: Today, my family and I could have been killed in a missile attack. My own life was threatened, as were the lives of my son, who has autism, my husband and his parents, whom we evacuated from Donetsk region.
Every day, we residents of Dnipro and Ukrainians demonstrate that even in a state of chronic crisis, it is possible to find meaning, support one another, work, teach, help and coordinate humanitarian assistance. There is a kind of stubborn leadership and determination to act.
I would like foreign readers to understand that Dnipro is not simply a rear-area city where displaced people arrive. It is a city where danger can find you anywhere: in a café, at the hairdresser's, at a petrol station or while eating breakfast at home. We live every day with an awareness of that reality.
Dnipro itself remains under the threat of missile and drone attacks. It receives people from the most dangerous territories while simultaneously continuing to support frontline communities.
There are people here who have lost their homes twice, families who have lived for years in uncertainty and children whose childhoods are passing to the sound of air raid sirens.
But there is also tremendous strength in local communities, volunteers, medical professionals, social workers and civil society organisations.
It is important to see not only destruction and need but also the people who, despite everything, continue to live, work, help one another and build a future.
A city that refuses to surrender its humanity
Marina Perederii's account of humanitarian work in Dnipro reveals a reality more complicated than the familiar international narrative of charitable donations flowing into Ukraine and humanitarian assistance being distributed to grateful recipients. The system she describes is a dense and sometimes imperfect network of local organisations, international institutions, government departments, municipal authorities and individual volunteers, all attempting to respond to a humanitarian catastrophe whose dimensions continue to expand.
There is an important distinction between providing emergency relief and rebuilding a life. Ukraine has developed substantial expertise in removing civilians from danger, establishing transit facilities and providing immediate humanitarian assistance. The much more difficult question is what happens afterwards, when an elderly person with limited mobility, a family with a disabled child or an individual without savings or relatives must find somewhere permanent to live. A temporary bed and a package of food may save somebody from immediate destitution, but they cannot restore the social relationships, economic independence and personal dignity that displacement has destroyed.
Perederii's observations about international humanitarian funding are equally significant. Ukrainian organisations often possess the local knowledge, personal relationships and willingness to operate in dangerous conditions that make humanitarian assistance possible. Yet, as she points out, the distribution of international funding and decision-making authority has not necessarily reflected these realities. The localisation of humanitarian assistance cannot simply mean employing Ukrainian organisations to implement programmes designed elsewhere. It must involve allowing those organisations to participate meaningfully in determining what assistance is needed and how it should be delivered.
Perhaps the most striking feature of the interview, however, is the absence of any clear division between the people providing assistance and those receiving it. More than half of Pomogaem's team have themselves experienced displacement. Perederii's own family remains divided by Russian occupation, while she and her immediate relatives continue to live under the threat of missile attacks. These are not humanitarian professionals observing a catastrophe from a safe distance. They are participants in the same national tragedy as the people they seek to assist.
Dnipro's humanitarian institutions consequently represent something more profound than an emergency response. They are an expression of Ukrainian civil society's determination to preserve the foundations of ordinary human life under circumstances designed to destroy them. They demonstrate that dignity, independence, solidarity and personal responsibility are not luxuries to be restored after the war but values that must be defended throughout it.
The final message of Marina Perederii's interview is therefore not simply that Dnipro needs more international assistance, although it undoubtedly does. It is that the people of Dnipro have already developed extraordinary capacities to sustain one another through years of danger, displacement and loss. What they require from the outside world is not merely sympathy but the resources, institutional trust and long-term commitment necessary to ensure that their efforts can continue.
For a city where a family may be killed by a missile while eating breakfast, the decision to continue helping others is itself an extraordinary assertion of humanity.
The interview was conducted in Ukrainian by Matthew Parish for the Lviv Herald and translated for publication. Further information about Pomogaem and its humanitarian activities is available at www.pomogaem.com.ua
