In eastern Ukraine people are fleeing intense shelling on a daily basis. Most of the time these people, who do not yet have a precise plan for their future, make a first stop in Zaporizhzhia or Dnipro. They are housed and sheltered by a network of very active volunteers who help them with their basic needs.

"When we arrived in Zaporizhzhia, I was surprised by the courage and willpower of these people. Despite the tragedies they had just experienced, they found the strength to organise their escape. However, once they are in the shelter, the emotions come back and that is when some people collapse and realise what they have just been through," explains Marc Forget, head of MSF activities in Dnipro.

MSF teams in the region are providing psychosocial support in Zaporizhzhia to people from Mariupol and the surrounding area who had managed to leave the area on their own or with the help of volunteers. In Dnipro there are some sixty reception structures where displaced people are temporarily housed. Depending on the site, some can accommodate hundreds of people or a dozen if it is a private house. According to the first assessments carried out by MSF in these places, mental health needs are currently the most important for these people who need to be able to confide in each other about their daily lives before they fled and about what they have just experienced.