The situation in Ukraine is now extremely uncertain, due to the escalation of tension caused in the past few days by renewed Russian attacks on a number of Ukrainian cities. This could provoke a new exodus of refugees who may start to flee from the west of the country, many of whom had only just recently returned to their homes. This was announced on 11 October 2022 by Brother Łukasz Dmowski at the last meeting of the Commission of the Hospitaller Order of St John of God for Emergency Relief Coordination in Ukraine.

In Drobhobich, a town located in the east of Ukraine, the Brothers of St John of God are running their 'Social Care Station', founded 20 years ago to attend to vulnerable people, and which since the war began has been stepping up its work exponentially to attend to an average of 150 refugees every day. The Brothers also continue providing home care services for the elderly and people who cannot look after themselves. All this social and emergency work includes medical care, and providing medicines, food and warm clothing, as well as counselling to help individuals and families trying to cope with their difficulties.

This is an enormous task which is being carried out in coordination with the Drohobich parish priest and other religious and social organisations, such as Caritas and several orphanages and schools in the area, with the aim of reaching the greatest number of people in a state of need, regardless of age, gender or place of origin. The Brothers and the volunteers supporting them consider the support they are providing to be essential, with food being one of the main needs to be covered, since many food items are now becoming scarce and hard to procure.

For all these reasons, the Hospitaller Order launched an international fundraising campaign, which is beingf coordinated by Juan Ciudad ONGD in Spain. This initiative raised more than half a million euros, thanks to the dedication of many individuals and organisations which have given proof of their solidarity. The aid is being distributed mainly in Ukraine, and to a lesser extent also in Poland, where several St John of God centres are currently sheltering 59 refugees, of whom 31 are children travelling with their mothers or unaccompanied.

As the emergency situation is expected to continue for several more months, the Commission of the Hospitaller Order of St John of God for the Coordination of Emergency Relief in Ukraine will be meeting regularly, to continue to monitor the needs on the ground and to allocate funding as directly and efficiently as possible.