The Dobro na Amuri shelter for displaced persons has been operating in Dnipro since 2022. It was set up in a former scientific institute building that had been abandoned for over 10 years. A group of volunteers renovated the building themselves: they cleaned the rooms and corridors, repaired the floors, installed furniture, and built a bathroom and kitchen. Currently, 270 people from frontline areas who were forced to leave their homes due to the war live in the shelter. Constant attacks by the Russian military on energy infrastructure lead to regular power and heat outages. The shelter's residents are forced to adapt to the cold and darkness, but despite everything, they support each other and create their own community here, in their new temporary home.

MSF’s increased presence in shelters like this one through mobile medical clinics, reflects the growing needs for displaced people as fighting continues to empty towns and villages. Consultations provided through mobile medical clinics more than doubled in 2025 compared to 2024 — increasing from 4,327 to 9,500.

For many people living near the front line, the decision to leave home takes a long time, and is extremely difficult – despite the extreme danger posed by the encroaching front line. With limited financial means and few alternatives, elderly people and those with chronic illnesses often remain in their homes until sustained bombardment and the collapse of infrastructure and essential services, including medical services, leave them no choice but to flee.

The scale of destruction in Ukraine is enormous and has only grown since Russian forces invaded in 2022. The nature of front-line warfare encompassing artillery, drones and missiles, means that nothing and no-one is spared as it shifts. MSF teams have also been forced to adapt – leaving seven hospitals and over 40 locations where they were running mobile clinics – when the situation becomes too dangerous.