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Childhood in war: Help children in Ukraine

Since February 2022, children in Ukraine have been living with bombings, destruction, suffering, death, and fear. After Russia expanded its war of aggression to large parts of the country, millions of people sought refuge in the west of Ukraine and in neighboring European countries. Together with our partner organizations, we provide emergency and trauma relief, establish schools and shelters, and support youth work and the integration of internally displaced persons.

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Key areas of our work

  • Psychosocial and therapeutic support for war-affected children and their families, particularly through art therapy, recreation, and relaxation. Therapists work with children who are severely frightened by the bombings, have lost close relatives, or are worried about family members at the front.
  • Direct humanitarian aid is needed, as food, medicine and other relief supplies are still urgently required: Ukraine is experiencing its harshest winter in years, while Russia is deliberately destroying electricity, heating and communication networks.
  • Assistance with the integration of displaced persons into local host communities and emergency shelters for women and children who have fled the conflict zones.
  • Protection, care and legal assistance for children and young adults abducted by Russia who have been freed or have managed to escape from the occupied territories.
  • Support for young people, strengthening of youth and democratic engagement; support for youth centers and organizations to offer spaces and perspectives to those growing up in war.

Reports

Abducted children


For more than four years, Russia has been waging its devastating war of aggression against the entirety of Ukraine. At least 744 children have been killed and 2,904 injured. At least 20,000 children have been abducted by Russia.* 

In addition to these obvious consequences of the war, hundreds of thousands more children are traumatized by horrific experiences. Many have lost mothers or fathers, have to readjust after fleeing, and are unable to attend school.
 
*As of September 2026; official figure from the Ukrainian government. Countless are the violations of children's rights within the Russian-occupied territories of eastern Ukraine and in Crimea, which was illegally annexed in 2014, for which there is hardly any reliable information.

The help in numbers

  • Together with over 40 partner organizations , 79 projects for children and young people have been created so far
  • Currently, 15 projects in Ukraine and three projects for Ukrainian refugees in Poland are being funded.
  • has Terre des Hommes 26.26 million euros in projects in Ukraine and for refugees from Ukraine.
  • More than 22.97 million euros were used for projects in Ukraine and over 1.66 million for Ukrainian refugees in Germany; the remainder went to Ukraine's neighboring countries that have taken in refugees.

As of December 31, 2025,

all of this is possible thanks to the assistance and contributions of the German Federal Foreign Office, the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, and numerous private donors who have supported our work in Ukraine from the very beginning. Thank you so much for your help!

Falter: Aid for children in Ukraine

Information leaflet about the Terre des Hommes project work, as of December 2025

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Information for accompanying persons of refugee children

What rights do refugee children and young people have in Germany? The following brochure is available in German, English, Ukrainian, and Russian and provides information for parents and accompanying persons:

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Your contact person

Malgorzata Biczyk

Programs and policies