“I started to live and breathe again,” the story of Viktoriia Tsiupka, a psychologist from Ukraine

Viktoriia Tsiupka, psychologist at the “NGO Girls” in Sumy, is working on the emergency response project. August 2025. Photo: UN Women / Denys Kryvopyshyn

Viktoriia Tsiupka, 52, a psychologist from Sumy city in northern Ukraine, lives just 20 km from the Russian border. Today, Sumy city hosts over 35,000 internally displaced people (IDPs), while over 100,000 people across Sumy Oblast are in need of support. For service providers like Viktoriia Tsiupka, this reality shapes her everyday work.

She now helps women and girls cope with the trauma of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, a mission tied closely to her own experience of displacement and loss.

Born in Melitopol, Zaporizhzhia region, Viktoriia Tsiupka has lived in a village in Sumy region for the past 30 years, making it her home. Before the war, she worked in education. “I was confused, anxious, and afraid. I didn’t know what to do next,” she recalls of those first days of the invasion.

In February 2022, the war broke into her home literally through the window. “We opened the window, and everything was burning, the sounds of shelling and explosions were everywhere. That’s when we realized this was war,” she says.

By May that year, she and her family had no choice but to leave their village near the border and relocate to Sumy. “We gathered our belongings, got in the car, and left,” Tsiupka recalls.

The hardest part, she says, was seeing life continue in Sumy. “People were smiling, eating ice cream, children were running around - and I couldn’t understand how that was possible, because we had just lost our world.”  

From confusion and fear to supporting other women

Viktoriia Tsiupka. Photo: UN Women / Denys Kryvopyshyn

One day, while walking through the city, Viktoriia Tsiupka came across the office of the “NGO Girls.” This became a turning point in her life. She joined their art therapy support groups and slowly began to heal. “I came here to hide from the war, but I was also recovering at the same time. It felt like someone was holding you up and supporting you. And you were not alone,” she says.

The support Viktoriia Tsiupka received helped her life so much that she later joined the organization herself. Since spring 2025, she has been working as a psychologist in the project “Enhancing the safety, security, and mental health of women and girls, as well as advancing their human rights,” implemented by UN Women Ukraine in partnership with “NGO Girls.” The project is supported by the Governments of Sweden, Denmark, and Latvia, the UN Women National Committees, and UN Women’s Emergency Funding Mechanism – a flexible fund that allows resources to be rapidly allocated in times of crisis.

Her work focuses on providing psychological support to women and girls who have experienced war, loss of home, and other traumatic events. So far, more than 500 women and girls have taken part in group activities under this project.

“We create an atmosphere of safety, care, and trust. Women can speak openly and get tools to cope with anxiety and stress. Often, they arrive without any inner anchors - their homes are gone, everything is lost. The group becomes a source of strength for them,” Viktoriia Tsiupka explains.

She recalls the story of a displaced woman in particular, who had lost her home and support. “She came feeling lost, but here she found friends and a sense that she was not left alone with her grief. This became her anchor,” says the psychologist.

“People continue to lose their homes and loved ones”

The demand for psychological support is only growing, she notes. “At the beginning of the invasion, it felt different. But the flow of displaced people hasn’t stopped. People continue to lose their homes and loved ones. We all live under shelling and constant stress. That’s why it’s important to have tools to help yourself – so you can reduce anxiety and keep going.”

Despite the war being just 20 kilometers away, Tsiupka has no plans to leave. “I am rooted here both psychologically and physically. My family is here, my land is here. And here I have found myself as a psychologist.”  

Viktoriia Tsiupka also stresses the importance of supporting women’s civil society organizations. “Funding women’s organizations means concrete services for women: psychological support, legal aid, and dignity kits. Many women cannot afford these on their own. When international funding is cut, we take away their chance at a decent life and essential help.”

Her own story is proof of this. From a woman who once entered “NGO Girls” by chance in a moment of confusion and fear to a psychologist who now helps hundreds of women and girls find hope and strength.  

The project “Enhancing the safety, security, and mental health of women and girls, as well as advancing their human rights” is implemented by UN Women Ukraine in partnership with NGO Girls. It is financially supported by the Governments of Sweden, Denmark, and Latvia, the UN Women National Committees.

The project also receives support from UN Women through the Emergency Funding Mechanism (EFM) – a flexible, replenishable, revolving fund that allows resources to be rapidly allocated in the immediate aftermath of sudden-onset crises or peaks in protracted crises.

The views and opinions expressed in the video are those of the individuals featured and do not necessarily reflect the official positions of UN Women, the supporting organizations, or the donors involved in the project.