Emergency Support for Ukrainian Refugees

Peace Winds Japan has set up and manages five “Smart Classes” where children from Ukraine continue their education online while they live in Moldova. Since late last year, more than 90 pupils have been attending such classes equipped with computers.

Many Ukrainian schools provide online classes so that children can continue their education even in a time of war. Therefore, pupils can attend the schools they used to belong to as long as they have computers and a communication environment even when they are away from their homes.

A mother of a pupil who comes to one of the “Smart Classes,” Ms. Yaroslava shared her story.

“I would never forget the invasion on February 24th, 2022. Without knowing what’s going on, we escaped to a subway station at around 3:30 a.m. I could never forget the fear in my children’s eyes. The bombing stopped after one hit a park where my younger child always wants to go to play. My life came to a halt on that day. I panicked but somehow managed to cross the border to Moldova. All I could think was to take my children to a safe place. It’s been more than half a year since we settled in Moldova. Those of us who escaped from Ukraine have various backgrounds and want to reach different places, but we all share the common wish of going home.”

Until that day, we wish the “Smart Classes” provide safe and comfortable place for children to continue their education.

Short Visit Home for the Easter

The Orthodox Church of Ukraine celebrated Easter on April 16th. Because it is a time for Ukrainian families to come together, many Ukrainians living in asylum wished to go home especially around Easter. There are many Ukrainians escaped from Odessa, a southern port city which is only 4-hours-drive from the border, living in Moldova and many of their families and relatives still live in Odessa. While some pupils took a few days off for Easter, their laughter is coming back to the “Smart Classes” after the holidays.

We need to provide flexible support to meet the changing needs of the displaced people as the war prolongs. Peace Winds Japan continues to do our best to provide necessary support to the people of Ukraine.

This project has been supported by funds provided by the Japan Platform and with contributions from individual and corporate donors.

Feb. 24 marked the first anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and Peace Winds Japan (PWJ) commenced its aid operations in the region soon after.

Since then, in addition to humanitarian aid activities in the devastated country, not to mention medical and other support for refugees in neighboring nations, PWJ has been making efforts to care for the thousands of animals that also have been affected by the conflict.

More than 8 million people have fled Ukraine over the past 12 months, and while some have returned, the United Nations has called it the biggest humanitarian disaster since World War II.

Among the most heart-wrenching decisions being faced by the already traumatized people who fled their homes is what to do with their companion animals, who many consider to be a part of the family. After all, the devastating impact of missiles and bombs is not only hazardous to humans.

And while staying behind to care for animals is clearly not a safe, or even practical option, regulations regarding non-commercial movement of pets into EU countries, which require vaccinations and microchipping, often has made relocating pets problematic.

Thankfully, some EU countries such as Poland and Romania have relaxed those rules to accommodate families with pets, but nonetheless, many animals have been left behind. Furthermore, there are many people who have not been able to evacuate due to a variety of reasons, including not being able to leave their beloved pets behind, not having a place to leave them, or due to the practical difficulty of evacuating with their companion animals.

Amid this complex landscape, PWJ has made efforts not only to help get people and animals out safely – including those belonging to families who have evacuated to Japan – but also to provide care for those that have been left behind in Ukraine.

Indeed, we have implemented a program in Ukraine to save and support animals, giving a variety of assistance to more than 3,000 animals to date.

The program’s aim is first and foremost to save animals that have been abandoned, delivering them to shelters and, where possible, finding new families to care for them. So far we have secured new homes for 105 dogs, 75 cats and 1 parrot.

We have also administered more than 8,500 veterinary treatments, including some 850 vaccinations, mostly to prevent rabies, which can cause severe illness in dogs, but is also transmissible to humans.

PWJ has also provided almost 30,000 kg of pet food, which it has delivered to owners and carers at various locations in Chernihiv Oblast and elsewhere. Hundreds of residents who have chosen to stay behind, and others who initially evacuated but then returned, line up to receive the pet food to give to animals, many of which are strays. In June 2022, one elderly lady told a PWJ staffer handing out the food that she was caring for around 20 stray cats.
The sheer volume of people lining up to receive the food is a clear indicator of the level of concern among the Ukrainian people with regards to securing food for pets and other animals, and PWJ continues efforts to ease those concerns.

For families who have evacuated with their animal companions to Japan we have also provided financial support for quarantine fees and other costs. Pets coming into Japan are required to be quarantined for up to 180 days under the Rabies Prevention Law, but the government has announced that special rules will apply to companion animals of Ukrainian evacuees upon their entry into the country.

According to news reports, pets entering Japan without a rabies vaccination certificate are able to remain with their carers without the stipulated 180-day quarantine if they have been vaccinated against rabies and their antibody levels are above the set standard. This means that, even if evacuees do not have the necessary quarantine documents that would normally be issued by the Ukrainian government, measures to shorten, or possibly eliminate the time usually spent at the animal quarantine station will be applied under certain conditions.

Even where such conditions apply, animals will be required to undergo health observation twice a day and to report to an animal inspection station once a week, the media reports say. Animals are also required to be microchipped.

Owners are required to bear all associated costs, including the cost of feeding and maintaining the animal should it be quarantined. PWJ has been helping to shoulder some of that potentially costly financial burden.

Your donations help Ukrainian refugees and their pets to cope with other problems they may face in their daily lives, such as veterinary visits.

Peace Winds Japan, which has dispatched a total of 11 staff from Japan to Ukraine's neighboring countries of Poland and Moldova since February 26, will begin providing emergency support for companion animals and families with companion animals in Ukraine.

Please help save the lives of companion animals and their carers in Ukraine and Japan by making a donation. Thank you.