Nearly four years after Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion of the country, people are facing another dark, bitterly cold winter with frequent power outages that leave them without heat, light, cooking or washing facilities, reports Anastasia Hryniuk, CNEWA\u2019s Ukraine program officer in Ottawa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPeople are doing their best to maintain their normal lives, but the war is having a huge impact,\u201d she told The Catholic Register. \u201cLately there have been a lot of [Russian] strikes and attacks, and the total unpredictability of the next one leaves them in fear and uncertainty.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hryniuk, who oversees CNEWA\u2019s Ukraine program from its Ottawa office, is in frequent contact with family, friends and beneficiaries on the ground, and hears heartbreaking stories of hardship and loss. But she also hears of resilience and hope as the war drags on. Intensified Russian attacks on critical infrastructure cause more hardship in the winter months, she pointed out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cElectricity cuts are frequent in Mykolaiv, the city in southern Ukraine where my mother lives,\u201d she said. \u201cAll the residents in her apartment building go for days without power \u2014 so no heat and no cooking. All the water in the building is not potable, and it\u2019s not even fit for washing, so people have to go out and buy water.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
To Hryniuk\u2019s mother and others who live in frontline communities, these numbers are more than statistics or news headlines as they live with the pain of losing loved ones to the war. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe recently lost my dad\u2019s cousin, an army medic who was killed in combat in Zaporizhzhia (a city in southeastern Ukraine on the banks of the Dnieper River),\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hryniuk is quick to point out that all Ukrainian families are caught in the grip of a humanitarian crisis. The UN has reported that so far, there have been 53,006 civilian casualties, including 14,534 deaths, since the full-scale invasion began. According to UNHCR statistics for November 2025, over 5.3 million Ukrainians have been displaced by the war. Approximately 3.75 million Ukrainians are also internally displaced throughout the country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hryniuk is one of those who fled Ukraine and found refuge in Canada. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A graduate student in international relations at the time, she fled, carrying one suitcase and a backpack. She crossed the border to Poland and then came to Canada at the invitation of friends. She was fortunate enough to secure employment shortly after her arrival and has been working for CNEWA since then. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite unstable internet connections, she communicates frequently with priests, religious sisters and others who actively implement CNEWA\u2019s humanitarian programs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe take care of immediate emergency needs as well as long-term ones\u201d she said. \u201cFor example, there was a massive attack on Nov. 19 on the city of Ternopil in Western Ukraine in which 38 people died. We provided blankets, food, medicine and other needs for the survivors who had to move with almost nothing. We also run long-term recovery programs such as aid for the elderly and for orphans.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hryniuk added that donors and supporters are not only bringing material aid to a war-ravaged country but are lighting candles of hope and solidarity for the most vulnerable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Development and Peace-Caritas Canada, another Catholic charity, is also addressing the human cost of war in Ukraine. <\/p>\n\n\n\n