Support Ukraine

In response to the Russia-Ukraine war, Impuls is sending humanitarian aid to a small city in the Sumy region of Ukraine called Romny. The Russian invasion is pushing locals in this remote agricultural area into poverty.

Headlines are dominated by the areas of Ukraine suffering Russian missile strikes and tank attacks. However, people in Ukrainian territories beyond the direct line of fire are experiencing immense hardship from the knock-on effects on the invasion too.

In Romny, the small town where our co-founder, Mariia, grew up, many are suffering from the deprivations of war. Here’s how Impuls is working to support them.

Romny (population c.40,000) is a sleepy agricultural city in the region of Sumy, about 100km from the Russian border. When Russia invaded Ukraine, the biggest city of Sumy province was badly hit. However, Romny, along with other remote towns in the region, was left unharmed.

This is not as strange as it sounds. Romny has no strategic importance since there are no military bases. What’s more, as a border town, its culture is heavily influenced by Russia already. If the tanks were to roll in, this city would fall quickly.

As a safer area, Romny is attracting refugees from dangerous parts of Sumy province. More than 580 families (1343 people) have made the town a temporary home. Our contact on the ground, Mariia’s mum’s name*, reports that, as of April 2022, up to 60-70 people are applying for refugee status here every day. Once that status is granted, refugees can claim around 2 000 hryvnia (63 euro) per month of financial support from the government.

Impuls is working with a social worker and a monastery in Ronmy to ensure that our aid gets to those who most need it.

Responding to needs, Impuls’ first focus is the local people of Romny, especially those with large families. Surprisingly, as a consequence of the war, some locals now have even less income than government-recognised refugees. Most businesses in the area have pulled out of Romny and relocated to Western areas of Ukraine. Being further from the Russian border, these areas are logistically easier to operate in, and more likely to remain unoccupied in the medium term. Huge swathes of the population are therefore being made unemployed. Unable to claim refugee status, many unemployed Romny locals have no source of income – and have been plunged into unforeseen financial hardship, virtually overnight.

Impuls also supports refugees settled in Romny, to supplement their government grant.

Every two weeks, Impuls volunteers put together packs with essential supplies, and distribute them to the people we support. These packs include basic food and toiletries such as oil, toilet paper, rice, shampoo, toothpaste – and perhaps a small luxury item for children, such as a chocolate. We have paired with local social workers and a monastery to ensure that these supplies reach the people who need them the most.

Our work in Romny is truly grassroots. We have direct contact with a social worker who has been embedded in the community for some time. This means our aid can be flexible as needs change – and get to the root of problems faster.

What’s more, remote cities such as Romny do not make headlines, which puts them in danger of falling through the net of large-scale relief efforts. With fewer large NGOs able to penetrate the area, its residents – new and adopted – urgently need our help. Your continued support of Implus will make an enormous difference to a small community.