Ukraine’s Shelters Fail People with Disabilities

Nine out of ten bomb shelters across Ukraine cannot accommodate a wheelchair. As air raid sirens wail through Kyiv, Kharkiv, and Dnipro, people with disabilities face an impossible choice: risk staying above ground or attempt to navigate basement stairs they cannot manage.

Digital Maps Replace Accessible Infrastructure

Andriy, a wheelchair user from Mariupol, survived the siege by using his Nokia’s GPS to locate the few accessible underground stations in the city. ‘I mapped every ramp, every wide entrance,’ he told researchers. His phone battery died three times during the worst bombardments. Without mobile connectivity, navigation apps that show accessible routes become useless screens. Government emergency broadcasts, family coordination, and real-time shelter updates all depend on staying connected.

Phone Credit Determines Who Reaches Safety

The data is stark and foreboding if you have a disability. Ukraine’s State Emergency Service reports 25,000 official shelters nationwide. Fewer than 2,500 meet basic accessibility standards. For the estimated 2.7 million Ukrainians with disabilities, mobile navigation represents the difference between finding safety and being trapped in active conflict zones. Calling For Help provides emergency phone credit specifically for situations like these – when connectivity determines survival, not convenience.

When a person with a disability decides to stay in their home instead of a shelter they are obviously at higher risk of injury or death, an unfortunate reality is that their carer will often stay with them too and also become injured compacting the problem of accessing support.

We provide disabled people with phone credit to prevent these situations, so they can call for help and connect with evacuation services able to get them to shelter.

Read how we send free phone credit to refugees with a disability.