Publication date: August 11, 2026

The LINK platform database, administered by the Legal Development Network in cooperation with the Czech humanitarian organization “People in Need” with financial support from the UK Government, accumulated over four thousand records on the needs of residents in de-occupied communities of Mykolaiv Oblast between 2023 and 2026. This reflects the dynamics of how life itself changed in the liberated territories: from the first months after the occupiers’ retreat to today.

In this material, we show how the structure of needs across eleven de-occupied communities in Mykolaiv Oblast transformed over three and a half years—and why this transformation cannot be described by a simple formula of “from basic humanitarian aid to reconstruction”.

Picture of Needs Over Three Years

In 2023, immediately after de-occupation, the LINK database in Mykolaiv Oblast recorded 422 entries, almost fully reflecting the most acute, basic shortages: food, hygiene products, heating fuel, and repair of damaged housing. The structure that year was dominated by firewood and other heating supplies (82 entries), clothing and basic non-food items (202 entries), and food products (23 entries), whereas healthcare-related needs accounted for only 10 entries.

In 2024, the number of recorded needs grew more than threefold to 1,515 entries. This was the year of the most active deployment of the LINK mechanism in newly joined communities, and it was then that the structure of needs began to change significantly: requests for water, sanitation, and hygiene rose sharply (from 101 to 549 entries), and the healthcare cluster grew nearly thirtyfold—from 10 to 286 entries.

In 2025, the total number of needs slightly decreased (1,172 entries), yet the structure continued to shift: healthcare reached first place for the first time (543 entries), surpassing both water and sanitation (305) and housing/NFI (209). Data for the first months of 2026 (942 entries as of mid-July) confirm this trend: medical needs (528 entries) remain the most numerous, while fuel and heating needs dropped to a minimum—just 9 entries compared to 82 in 2023. 

*Дані за 2026 рік неповні (станом на середину липня).

Thus, the trajectory of Mykolaiv Oblast’s needs is not a straight line “from humanitarian crisis to reconstruction,” but a gradual complication of the structure: basic needs have not vanished (water and hygiene remain the second-largest cluster), but a powerful layer of needs related to long-term community operations has been added—medical services, autonomous power supply, and equipment for municipal services.

New Needs That Did Not Exist in 2023

The most telling example of how the needs structure transformed is the “charging station” sub-cluster. In 2023 and 2024, no requests for charging stations were recorded in the LINK database for Mykolaiv Oblast. In 2025, 44 such requests appeared at once—against the backdrop of traditional sources of autonomous heating and lighting (firewood, coal, candles) practically disappearing from active needs: firewood, requested 103 times in 2024, appeared in only 8 entries in 2025, and coal has not been mentioned since 2023.

This is a telling replacement: communities increasingly require fewer “consumable” resources for surviving power outages (firewood, coal, candles) and more technical solutions that enable institutions and households to operate autonomously despite electricity disruptions. A similar logic is seen in generator dynamics: although the absolute number of requests for generators remains small (3 to 10 entries per year), they have been consistently present in the database across all four years—unlike firewood or coal, which are gradually disappearing. 

Replacement of traditional autonomous heating and power supplies with technical solutions, Mykolaiv Oblast (number of entries per year)

Sub-cluster	2023	2024	2025	2026*
Firewood	45	103	8	0
Coal	7	0	0	0
Generator	3	10	1	2
Charging station	0	0	44	1

*Data for 2026 is incomplete.

Another group of needs that gained weight specifically in 2024–2026 is equipment for community institutions and services: laptops and printers for administrative needs, facility fit-out equipment, and specialized machinery. These categories almost never appeared in 2023 entries when the priority was providing residents with essentials rather than equipping institutions. 

How Security Risks Impact the Structure of Needs

In Mykolaiv Oblast, the cluster marked as “Security” in the LINK database remains small: only one entry in 2025 and two in 2026. However, this does not mean the security situation does not affect community needs—it simply manifests through growth in adjacent areas.

This is most visible in healthcare: the healthcare cluster grew from 10 entries in 2023 to 543 in 2025 and 525 for incomplete 2026. Part of this growth is linked to restoring access to routine medicine after de-occupation, but part comes from shelling injuries and the need for rehabilitation and recovery equipment for medical facilities operating under security risks.

A second clear signal is the persistent presence of generators, charging stations, and autonomous power solutions despite centralized electricity supply being regularly restored in frontline communities. This indicates that communities prepare contingency scenarios for repeated strikes on infrastructure rather than merely reacting to existing outages.

A comparison between 2023 and 2026 shows: while early de-occupation focused on supplying essential goods to the population, by 2026 a significant portion of new needs involves supporting uninterrupted operations of medical facilities, municipal services, and local government bodies under constant security threats. Data does not indicate “developmental” needs being completely displaced by “crisis” needs—rather, crisis needs have become more specialized and adapted to the prolonged nature of the war.

Recurring Needs

Analysis of the LINK database records over one hundred cases where a need that had lost relevance in a community re-emerged after some time—mostly involving the same categories: hygiene kits, diapers, medications, certain construction materials, and fuel. In most cases, re-appearance occurred roughly nine months after the previous entry, and the volume remained roughly the same, slightly increased, or decreased depending on the active number of recipients at that time.

For Mykolaiv Oblast, this means that even with a reduced share of fuel and hygiene needs in the overall 2025–2026 structure, these categories do not disappear entirely: they tend to return cyclically when recipient demographics change, previous supplies run out, or new vulnerable groups appear (e.g., families returning to the community).

Needs Remaining Relevant for Years

Despite overall structural complication, the LINK database for Mykolaiv Oblast contains a significant number of entries created in 2023–2024 that still hold “Relevant” status. Most often, these are construction materials for home repairs, water supply system equipment, medical facility equipment, generators and other power supplies, as well as vehicles and special machinery for municipal utilities.

Such needs are typically tied to high cost or complex logistics—which is why they can remain open for years despite communities regularly reconfirming their relevance. This is an important signal for donors and partners: some of the most “expensive” and systemic needs are not one-off humanitarian requests, but long-term investment needs requiring a different funding framework than targeted humanitarian aid.

Early Recovery: Growth or Decline?

The dynamics of the “Early Recovery” cluster (OCHA classification) deserve special attention as the segment most directly linked to communities transitioning from survival to reconstruction.

In Mykolaiv Oblast, the share of Early Recovery needs in the overall structure evolved as follows:

*Data for 2026 is incomplete.

Thus, Mykolaiv Oblast shows steady growth in the Early Recovery share from 2023 to 2025—from less than 1% to over 5%. This growth occurred alongside the overall complication of needs (such as rapid healthcare cluster growth), meaning early recovery was not displaced but developed in parallel.

The 2026 drop should not yet be interpreted as a trend reversal: the year is not over, and key early recovery needs (like charging stations, 44 of 45 historic requests being in 2025) were fulfilled previously. The largest share of early recovery in Mykolaiv Oblast consists of charging stations, cash aid for recovery needs, laptops/printers for institutions, and solar panels—focusing primarily on technical autonomy rather than capital construction.

In total, 100 early recovery needs were recorded in Mykolaiv Oblast between 2023 and 2026. Three-quarters remain unfulfilled—one of the highest open rates across all sectors in the Oblast

Status of Early Recovery needs as of mid-July 2026, Mykolaiv Oblast

Need Status	Number of Entries	Share
Relevant	74	74%
Lost relevance	14	14%
Closed	12	12%
Total	100	100%

Note on Clusters

In the LINK database, needs are categorized according to the Legal Development Network’s internal cluster system, which does not always match OCHA humanitarian clusters. This should be considered when comparing figures with other humanitarian statistics.

Direct alignments: 

• LINK “Healthcare” — OCHA Health (over 78% of entries match Health).
• LINK “Water, Sanitation and Hygiene” — OCHA WASH (over 92% of entries).

Noticeable differences:

• LINK “Housing and Non-Food Items (NFI)” — the broadest cluster; splits across at least 5 OCHA clusters: Shelter, Education, Early Recovery, Health, and Protection. School supplies, institutional generators, protective gear, and household NFIs are grouped together in LINK.
• LINK “Heating, Gas, and Electricity Supply” — no direct single OCHA equivalent; categorized under Shelter, Early Recovery, Education, or Health depending on context.
• LINK “Food” — split in OCHA into Nutrition (infant/therapeutic food) and Food Security (household food parcels).
• LINK “Animal Care and Livestock” — no separate OCHA cluster; usually counted under Food Security.
• LINK “Security” — narrower than OCHA Protection, which includes psychosocial support and legal aid.

OCHA labeling was applied consistently in LINK starting in 2024–2025.

Alignment of LINK clusters to OCHA clusters

LINK Cluster	Primary OCHA Equivalent(s)	Comment
Healthcare	Health (~78% of entries)	Almost direct match
Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene	WASH (~92% of entries)	Almost direct match
Shelter and Non-Food Items	Shelter, Education, Early Recovery, Health, Protection	Splits into at least 5 OCHA areas
Heating, Gas, and Power Supply	Shelter / Early Recovery / Education / Health	No standalone cluster in OCHA
Food	Nutrition + Food Security	Two separate clusters in OCHA
Animal Care and Livestock	Food Security	No direct equivalent in OCHA
Security	Narrower than Protection	Direct identification is incorrect

Communities of Mykolaiv Oblast covered on link.ldn.org.ua:

• Halytsynove community
• Bereznehuvate community
• Snihurivka community
• Shyroke community
• Shevchenkove community
• Zavodske community (formerly Pervomaiske)
• Bashtanka community
• Inhulka community
• Horokhivske community
• Voskresenske community
• Mishkovo-Pohorilove community

Prepared by the Legal Development Network in partnership with Czech humanitarian organization “People in Need” and with financial support from the UK Government. 

Conclusions and interpretations are exclusively the position of the authors.

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