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IDPs who have found shelter in Zaporizhia receive free warm clothes and footwear from the Saving Lives project implemented by Metinvest in concert with the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation.

Since the start of the full-scale war in Ukraine, Zaporizhia has become a shelter for IDPs from southern and eastern parts of Ukraine. People are evacuated daily from the temporarily occupied territories where active hostilities continue. To date, Zaporizhia has been home to 237,000 IDPs, including 64,000 children.
Big business does not stay on the sidelines either, although it is currently going through difficult times. Employees of Metinvest companies in Zaporizhia volunteer to help IDPs find shelter, access daily hot meals, food packages, clothes, medical and psychological assistance, as well as find jobs.

Launched by the Metinvest Group in concert with the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation, the Saving Lives project supports the displaced in Zaporizhia and other regions. As part of this initiative, people receive food and hygiene kits. All humanitarian aid provided to IDPs is purchased in Europe or provided by the initiative’s partner companies engaged by SCM’s Ukrainian businesses.

The distribution of warm clothes and shoes among those in need is another area of focus, particularly relevant in autumn. The other day, almost 1,500 tonnes of clothes and footwear, mostly for autumn and winter, were delivered to one of Metinvest’s volunteer hubs.

“We have received a large batch of clothes for IDPs. Now our volunteers are packing it so that people who come for clothes can quickly choose everything they need. Indeed, our hub has distributed clothes before, but now we got a lot of warm clothes for autumn and winter. The offers here are very diverse, so everyone can find something to meet their needs. I hope that our aid will help the displaced people go through the upcoming winter in warmth,” said Viacheslav Vlasov, a supervisor of the humanitarian centre of Zaporizhstal’s Youth Organisation.

Residents of Metinvest’s shelters and other displaced persons living in Zaporizhia can take clothes for free, presenting their IDP certificates only. People are free to choose what they want and how many they need. With a truly broad mix of clothes and footwear, people can choose anything for themselves and their children. There are clothes for teenagers, preschoolers, toddlers, and infants.

Nina, an IDP from Dniprorudne, has visited the Metinvest hub today to pick up autumn clothes for her daughter Liza. She is happy with the quality of the clothes, saying that this aid is vital for families with kids, as it costs a lot to buy clothes now.

“I fled Dniprorudne with my three children. It is not the first time that I visit the hub. I took summer stuff for my daughter here, t-shirts, dresses, etc. All the clothes I took were of good quality, clean, I had no complaints. Today I have come here to get some kind of warm jacket for my daughter and also picked two pairs of shoes. Now it is getting colder, and we left our warm clothes at home in the occupied area. It is expensive for us to buy the clothes, it is simply unrealistic to dress three children from scratch, so we only hope for the help of volunteers. But for the support we receive in this hub, I don’t know how we would live,” said IDP Nina.

At least fifty people are helped with clothes daily at the hub. Some IDPs stay as volunteers here to give their thank you. For example, Serhiy from Berdiansk.

“I have moved from Berdiansk to Zaporizhia. After the evacuation, I have benefited greatly from the help provided by the Metinvest hub. Having seen how much help local volunteers provide to people, I decided to join them. In my free time, I come here and help sort out clothes. I would like to stress that the clothes distributed here are really of high quality and comfortable. Personally, I picked up a warm jacket and tracksuit bottoms for myself here. I thank Metinvest’s volunteers for their work daily. Their contribution is invaluable. As long as such people are there, all those in need will have the necessary support and can rely on them in a difficult moment,” IDP Serhiy said.

We remind that the Saving Lives project was launched in the first days of war by Metinvest and the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation to support Ukrainians in these direst times and prevent a humanitarian disaster. Today, it is one of the biggest humanitarian relief initiatives in Ukraine. More than 220,000 Ukrainians have already benefited from the aid thanks to donations to the Do it Together Foundation and the company’s funding. The Saving Lives successfully operates in Zaporizhia, among other localities. In total, the geography of aid covers 37 communities in five regions of Ukraine.