Identity of Relocated Communities: Challenges and Ways of Preservation. Discussion Highlights (Part 1)

Publication date: February 24, 2025

Author: Yuliia Bilyk, Communications Manager at the Legal Development Network

One of the most pressing challenges faced by relocated communities is preserving their uniqueness. The future of these communities directly depends on how successfully they address this challenge. To collectively explore ways of support to displaced communities during times of resilience testing, on January 28, 2025, the Legal Development Network (LDN), in cooperation with the Zaporizhzhia-based NGO “STEP,” organized an open discussion. The event gathered 40 participants from 24 communities of Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, as well as from Kyiv, Ivano-Frankivsk, and Zakarpattia regions. The discussion focused on the life challenges of relocated and host communities and their interactions.

“In 2024, our work with relocated communities began, recognizing their current urgent need for additional attention. While we see various programs helping communities develop recovery and development strategies, unfortunately, very little attention is paid to those communities currently outside their home territories, yet, they continue uniting their people, maintaining connections, and thinking about how to remain who they are — preserving identity and cultural distinctiveness,” stated Iryna Chaika, Organizational Development Director at the Legal Development Network, opening the discussion.  

Oleksii Ahientaiev. The Chair of the NGO “STEP” Board, welcomed participants with an opening statement:  

“Although we cannot yet return to our native territories, Ukraine is vast. There are host communities and people ready to support those temporarily away from home. By overcoming challenges together, we will find the strength to move forward and grow,” emphasized Oleksii Ahientaiev.  

Relocated Communities: The Struggle for Existence

Representatives of the Molochansk and Terpinnia communities from Zaporizhzhia region shared their experiences of operating in relocation.  

Iryna Lypka, Head of the Molochansk Military Administration (Zaporizhzhia region), shared that their community has been under occupation since February 26, 2022. From June of the same year, the community’s administrative center has been located in Zaporizhzhia, 100 kilometers from Molochansk.

“At times we return there in our thoughts, but physically, we cannot,” noted Iryna Lypka.

In Zaporizhzhia, the Molochansk Military Administration began operations on June 01, 2022, without equipment or office space. Initially, they had to share a single room with the administration of another displaced community — Preobrazhenska.

“Now we have premises and, thanks to international partners, the necessary equipment. But that is not the main issue. The real challenge is preserving the identity of the Molochansk Community — whether individuals are on temporarily occupied territory waiting for Ukraine’s return, in Zaporizhzhia, elsewhere in Ukraine, or abroad — they must know that their community exists, is active, and is ready to help every resident, wherever they are,” emphasized Iryna Lypka. 

The community created a “Unity Space” to engage residents currently in Zaporizhzhia through various activities, such as “Coffee with the Head of the Community” meetings and psychological support events.

“We want our people to feel that the community exists, that we have a goal — to return home. People need communication and diverse support, both psychological and humanitarian,” highlighted Iryna Lypka.

According to her, now, being on the third year of full-scale war, it became drastically more difficult to provide residents with nessessary humanitarian aid. But at the same time, the Community does everything possible to keep the aid coming. And now, the same way it was during first months of war, Molochansk Community sends humanitarian aid to its residents across Ukraine. Every month, which is approximately 200 aid packages.

Additionally, the Molochansk community runs several social support programs for vulnerable groups, including financial assistance for medical treatment. To fund these initiatives, the Community Administration submits grant applications for international support and builds partnerships with foreign communities and organizations. However, there is a significant obstacle: international partners often refuse to cooperate with communities under temporary occupation. In order to overcome such obstacle, relocated communities propose forming trilateral partnerships: occupied community – host community located at safer zone (in central or western Ukraine) – international partner.

“It is crucial for rebuilding efforts after de-occupation, allowing us to establishing partnerships with international partners, including to preparation of joint grant applications which is a lengthy process. It has already been established that many of our facilities — schools, cultural centers, the city council building, and road infrastructure — are destroyed. It being a difficult task, require us to act quickly in order to attract funds for reconstruction,” explained Iryna Lypka.

In Zaporizhzhia, the community has established Centers for Administrative Services (CAS) offering various administrative services, additionally, they have developed a cultural program, a children’s service office, an inclusive resource center for children with special educational needs, and a youth sports school with a remote Kyokushin karate division participating in competitions within Ukraine and abroad. The Molochansk Community also prioritizes truthful and timely communication with residents.

“Together with the NGO «Yes» we participated in a strategic communication program. We wrote articles aimed at uniting residents who remained in the occupied territory with those on Ukrainian-controlled territory. After three years of occupation, differences in opinions on many issues have emerged. It is vital to counter Russian propaganda,” said Iryna Lypka.

While in relocation, the Molochansk Community began developing its logo, centered around a drop of water — a tribute to Molochansk water, which was the community’s signature brand. Before the occupation Molochansk had several bottled water production plants.The community has also prepared presentations, including one on the Cities4Cities platform, to increase global awareness about their community and attract international support.

With regard to the Terpinnia Community, also from Zaporizhzhia region, it also has own distinctive brand — the Melitopol blackcherry, accounting for up to 30% of the blackcherry harvest in the Melitopol district. Additionally, Terpinnia is known for its healing springs and a rapidly developing agricultural sector, especially crop farming.

“About two thousand, or 80%, of our people left the occupation back in 2022. They fled with nothing — no belongings, no food — via a humanitarian convoy between Vasylivka, Tokmak, and Zaporizhzhia. Zaporizhzhia was the first host location. It was a humanitarian collapse,” recalls Olha Voropai, the Deputy Head of the Terpinnia Community (Zaporizhzhia Region).

Initially, humanitarian aid centers, national and international civil society organizations, and charitable foundations assisted the displaced residents of the community. Over time, many families began to migrate further—to various regions of Ukraine and abroad. There were also cases where individuals chose to return home to the occupied territory.

“Preserving our human resources is a top priority for us. We conducted a small study on where our displaced residents currently live. The largest numbers are in Khmelnytskyi, Odesa, Kyiv, and Zhytomyr regions,” says Olha Voropai.

The Terpinnia Community places a strong focus on education. It was one of the first communities in the Melitopol district to launch an educational program that involved children from different parts of Ukraine — both in government-controlled and non-controlled areas—as well as those abroad.

“Education is a bridge connecting individuals living in controlled areas, occupied territories, and abroad. Losing this bridge would be a severe blow for us,” emphasizes Olha Voropai, referring to the alarming rumors about potential cuts to educational funding for relocated communities, similar to what happened with healthcare funding.

According to her, the community’s mood is increasingly pessimistic — people are losing hope.

“Simply saying, ‘Everything will be fine, we will return,’ no longer works. We have long taken off the rose-colored glasses. There must be a supportive state policy. We want to understand what lies ahead. Living without hope and faith is incredibly difficult,” says Olha Voropai.

The tools for preserving the identity of her community, in addition to expanding access to education, as stated by Olha Voropai, include: facilitating the employment of displaced individuals, providing access to social and medical services, delivering humanitarian aid to various localities upon residents’ requests, as practiced by the Molochansk and other communities, maintaining informational communication through social networks, and disseminating information via media and community resources.

Host Communities: Support and Integration

In the early months of the full-scale invasion, approximately 14,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) arrived in the city of Kalush (Ivano-Frankivsk Region). Most of them stayed briefly before continuing their journey to Western European countries. As of January 2025, around 5,000 IDPs from various regions — Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, and others — remain in the city. These are people who have nowhere to return. Shared Andrii Naida, Kalush City Mayor (Ivano-Frankivsk Region).

According to him, a year after the invasion, a Council for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) was established in the city, headed by a displaced individual from Bakhmut. The mayor meets with Council representatives almost weekly to discuss the challenges faced by IDPs in Kalush and to find solutions together. The City Administration engages IDPs in cultural, educational, and sports activities while also supporting IDP’s initiatives. Notably, the “IAmMariupol” center operates in Kalush, organizing cultural events for displaced individuals.

“Novohrodivka in Donetsk region is our sister city. In Kalush, there is a community of displaced individuals from that city. Earlier this year, we held online poetry readings together, and a few weeks ago, we performed Christmas nativity plays: the residents of Novohrodivka presented their version, and we presented ours. Although we did the same thing, there were differences,” shares Andrii Naida.

The mayor emphasizes that strong connections with cities and communities from the East facilitated the relocation of many businesses from occupied and frontline regions to Kalush.

“Our community in Prykarpattia is a leader in this regard: more than 40 businesses, both small and large, have relocated here. Many enterprises are already building factories from scratch — over 10,000 square meters of production space. We work with them in a spirit of ‘economic patriotism,’ as I call it,” says Andrii Naida. “For example, when a business from Kharkiv arrives, we fully understand their deep love for their city. So, we tell them: do not rush to pay taxes to us — pay them to the community you feel is right. This gesture resonated with them, and as a result, the Mayor of Kharkiv expressed a desire to establish a sister-city relationship with Kalush. For us, this is a major event.”

Nataliia Zakharova, Chair of the Prykarpattia Industrial Cluster (Ivano-Frankivsk region), affirmed the mayor’s statements, adding that local residents strive to avoid labeling either people as IDPs or businesses as “relocated.”

“We say there are old and new Kalush residents. Right now, there are simply more new Kalush residents,” explains Natalia Zakharova.

In the context of the discussion on preserving uniqueness and identity, Natalia Zakharova emphasized: In order to create cultural or community initiatives, financial resources are needed. Since business generates money, the city of Kalush focused on supporting it after February 24, 2022.

“On February 27, 2022, we were ready and began welcoming businesses. Along with businesses, employees and their families came. Consequently, these people needed housing, wherever there were opportunities. People lived in kindergartens, clubs, and village councils — anywhere they could. Now we are in a different stage, known as ‘rooting.’ We say we want all those who relocated to us to return to their territories because we all want Ukraine’s liberation. At the same time, we want all businesses that return home to leave their branches, their trade houses, in Kalush to better communicate with the European Union. From Kalush to a European store shelf — it’s 48 hours. We checked,” says Natalia Zakharova.

In addition to large businesses, Kalush also welcomes individual entrepreneurs. People who come to the city trying to start their own businesses often need consultations and retraining. The Prykarpattia Industrial Cluster provides individual consultations for beginner entrepreneurs, offers assistance in obtaining grants for business development, and occasionally organizes training courses.

According to Natalia Zakharova, the labor market has significantly changed in recent years. Therefore, Kalush plans to open a retraining center. Currently, negotiations are underway with the local Employment Center.

The second part of the discussion focused on the available ways for relocated communities to attract resources. Read more by following this link.

Materials on the topic:

• LDN and STEP: Exploring Opportunities for Developing the Potential of Relocated Communities in Zaporizhzhia
• Finding One’s Place in the Sun: Life Challenges of Relocated Communities — Summary of the Closed Discussion
• Occupied, Host, and Liberated Communities: Current Challenges and Experiences

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