A chance for safety: how evacuations are carried out in Ukraine’s Sumy region

Evacuation efforts continue in Ukraine’s Sumy region, where communities near the frontline remain under constant threat of shelling. Volunteers from the “Road of Hope” project are helping residents leave high-risk areas and relocate to safer parts of the country.

In March, the team evacuated 20 people — including 13 children and 7 caregivers — from a children’s home in Sumy to Lutsk. In April, three families were evacuated from Hlukhiv: two were relocated to Velyka Dymerka and one to Dnipro.

According to Nataliia Prykhodko, Evacuation Manager at Eleos-Ukraine, families often decide to leave only after facing immediate threats to their lives.

“One mother had previously evacuated with her children in 2023 but later returned home to reunite with her husband. This spring, she applied for evacuation again after a drone strike landed just behind their yard. After that, staying was no longer safe,” Prykhodko said.

Evacuation missions are carried out under extremely challenging conditions — during air raid alerts, on heavily damaged roads, and under the constant threat of FPV drones.

“Losing your home is devastating. Losing it twice is even worse. The family had been living in a private house that was completely destroyed in April 2025. They found temporary shelter, but ongoing drone attacks pushed them to seek safety elsewhere. Eventually, relatives helped them secure housing in Dnipro, where we evacuated them,” Prykhodko added.

“Our main motivation is simple — to give people a chance for a safer, more stable life.”

In the Sumy region, the “Road of Hope” project works in cooperation with the police evacuation unit “White Angels,” as well as humanitarian organizations Proliska and Pluriton.

The project is implemented by Eleos-Ukraine in partnership with Johanniter International Assistance, with financial support from Aktion Deutschland Hilft.