Losing a home twice and starting over: the story of Olena Moskvichenko

Olena Moskvichenko was forced to leave her native Luhansk region twice because of the war. The first time was in 2014, when she lived for some time in Kremenchuk in the Poltava region, but later returned home.

At the beginning of 2022, on the eve of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Olena came to Kremenchuk again — this time to give birth to her child. Due to active hostilities in the Luhansk region, she was unable to return home.

Losing her home and family business forced her to look for new opportunities and start from scratch. In Kremenchuk, Olena and her husband launched a new business — producing natural extruded pet food and cereals for dogs, as well as groundbait for fishing.

Today, the couple continues to develop their business, successfully adapting to the host community. They have not only established their own enterprise but also supported others by employing two internally displaced women.

Participation in the NIZHNА project (Unbreakable Initiative of Women — Persistent and Active), implemented by the NGO “Light of Hope” with technical support from UN Women Ukraine and funding from the United Nations Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF), enabled Olena to grow her business and improve production processes. Learn more about Olena’s story and her business in the video. 

This video was produced by the NGO “Light of Hope” with technical support from UN Women Ukraine and funding from the United Nations Women’s Peace and Humanitarian Fund (WPHF), however, the views expressed and content included do not imply official endorsement or acceptance by the United Nations.