“We are not sitting idly by”: the story of a family from a de-occupied village in Kherson region

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine left almost no houses intact in the village of Mala Oleksandrivka in Kherson region. The home of the Orlov family was no exception. A shell hit the family home in the middle of the night. 

Nina and Volodymyr Orlov, mother and son, pose for a photo in their sitting room.

Forty-three-year-old Volodymyr woke up immediately and ran to his parents to see if they were ok. Fortunately, no one was injured, but a piece of shrapnel was found lodged into the stove. The family decided to keep it. Sadly, it was only a first taste of what was to come. 

Another attack sparked a fire which the family only extinguished after great difficulty and scenes of horror. “During the shelling everything was burning – the animals too… pigs, chickens, the entire household. If the fire had reached the attic, the whole house would have burned down because the roof was made of reeds.” Volodymyr says. During that shelling, Volodymyr who already has a hearing problem suffered a concussion. A few days later he was wounded again – a fragment struck his leg. He removed the shrapnel himself, as no medical services were available in the village at that time. 

Today, the family lives only on the mother’s pension – around 80 euros.

“We somehow manage. Before the war we had everything: we kept a cow and sold milk. Now we still have some livestock – ducks and chickens. We are not sitting idly by. We have our own, and that is already something. We somehow get by. Before, I lived one day at a time, but now every second you think that something may happen,” says Nina Orlova. 

Nina stands in her yard, sharing how her family is adjusting to life after de-occupation.

The Orlovs always lacked the funds to repair the house on their own. When shelling finally ended, the home was left in a state of disrepair for over two years. The roof was covered with plastic sheeting to stop leakage. When SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL’s EU funded intervention reached Mala Oleksandrivka in 2025, the Orlovs reached out to ask for assistance. Their particularly vulnerable family was prioritized for receiving support. 

SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL came to the village, one man climbed onto the roof, inspected everything and said there were problems. We left our phone number. After some time, they called and informed us that the assistance had been approved.

After receiving the funds, Volodymyr immediately went to the bank to withdraw the money to start the repairs without delay. “The main thing is that we finished before the frost and the rains. Now the roof does not leak, and the wind does not blow into the house.” 

The Orlovs were just one of over 200 families which received assistance for repairing and insulating damaged homes. Vulnerable families across Ukraine remain deeply weakened and in need of the kind of assistance provided by SOLIDARITÉS INTERNATIONAL with the support of the European Union. 

Photos : © Stanislas Pantelei