Over a year has passed since Ukraine took back a large part of its eastern Kharkiv region.
But while the first steps of recovery have been made, today communities in the area face new realities alongside Russian shelling: villages and cities in the middle of reconstruction, closed public institutions, a lack of jobs, and increasing numbers of women over men.
“Talking to women, we understood that they are with their children 24/7: kindergartens are closed, schools are closed, many have also lost their jobs,” says Inna Avramenko, a founder of the organisation Greenland, which supports women in Kharkiv and the region. “They are trapped: they have to teach the kids, to raise them, to clean their house; there is nowhere [for them] to go except the playground.”
