A meeting to underline our support for Ukraine

Emmaus Europe held a virtual meeting on 24 February 2025 between the representatives of Emmaus Oselya (Lviv, Ukraine) and Emmaus Movement stakeholders who wanted to hear news of the group, and gain a better understanding of the reality of daily life in Ukraine.

How do people keep going mentally and physically, when there are nightly air raid warnings? How do people keep living their lives when they have a loved one on the frontline? How do people remain hopeful, when those negotiating peace do not view Ukraine as a major player? 

And turning our attention to Oselya, how are they managing to properly accommodate and support companions? How are they meeting the needs of vulnerable people, who are bearing the brunt of the war? Where do they find the strength and resources needed to improve things? 

All of these questions were discussed during the meeting, which attracted around 60 people from around 10 European countries. Natalia and Konstantyn, who are companions at Emmaus Oselya, shared their story of exile, of being torn from their land and family connections, just like for six million Ukrainians since 2022, while acknowledging that they have received mutual support and solidarity at Oselya.

Natalia Sanotska, the director of Oselya and a tireless project lead when the intention is to secure the long-term future of the community’s activities, reminded us that Ukraine has always been a peaceful country, from the 2004 Orange Revolution to the 2014 Maidan Revolution, and that Ukrainian society believed in peace until the eve of the conflict. Nowadays “Putin is killing us, and the only solution we can see is to take up arms and resist.”

Resisting is exactly what the community has been doing for many years.

• The number of people living in the community more than doubled over the 2020-2023 period, rising from 15 to 36 residents, because of the war and the COVID pandemic.
• Emmaus Oselya has been handing out food to 400 people a month since 2020.
• From September 2022 to January 2023 during the most intense bombing of the Lviv area, the group built and opened a shelter “For people who have lost their homes” (using funding from the Emmaus Ukraine Fund). The shelter supports over 100 homeless people every day; they are homeless notably because they have had to flee the war zones.
• Since the start of the conflict, the group has run therapy workshops for children and adults traumatised by the war.
• In 2024, funding provided by Emmaus Europe and the Fondation pour le Logement des Défavorisés (formerly known as the Fondation Abbé Pierre) enabled them to increase the number of accommodation places in their community and provide better living conditions for the companions.
• The group has refurbished its shops and its furniture workshop over 2024-5 in order to better showcase the companions’ know-how, and increase the group’s financial independence.
• In 2025, the group has refurbished a social housing flat that accommodates 11 people in order to improve its accommodation service.

The group does all this on a daily basis because of the strength of its motivated members and their hope of a better future, and thanks to the support of the European Emmaus groups. A big “thank-you” to all those who joined the meeting and listened to the stories of exile, and those who bring to life human solidarity in the movement.

The following video provides a great summary of the initiatives run by the group over the past few years.

If you wish to find out more, you can read the detailed notes taken by Emmanuelle Larcher during the meeting (French) and Grigory’s introductory speech (English) in his role as the Emmaus representative in Ukraine.