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The Russian invasion of Ukraine has displaced millions of people, shattering families at home and abroad. For many, heavy fighting in the east means crowded shelters, borrowed beds and fading hope.
However, there is a privately built settlement about 400 miles west of the front line Kyiv Offers a rare respite: stable housing, personal space and the dignity of a closed door.
This is Hansen Village. Its rows of modular houses provide housing for 2,000 people, mostly displaced from the occupied areas. Children Bike on paved streets, pass amenities like swimming pools, basketball courts, health clinics and schools.
The village is the creation of Utah real estate developer Dale Loy Hansen, who has spent more than $140 million building and renovating homes across Ukraine through 2022.
At 72, he is eager to do more.
a new mission
Hansen’s arrival in Ukraine followed a public reckoning. In 2020, he sold his Major League Soccer team, real salt lakeFollowing reports that he made racist comments. In an interview with The Associated Press he denied the allegations but said the experience ultimately gave him a new mission.
“I went through some painful times, but it gave me humility,” he said. “That humility took me to Ukraine.”
Seeing people losing everything, Hansen said he felt compelled to take action. “This is not a charity for me, it is a responsibility,” he said. “If you can build, build. Don’t just watch.”
Hansen now oversees more than a dozen projects in Ukraine: expanding Hansen Village, providing cash and other assistance to elderly people and families, and supporting a prosthetics clinic.
He is planning a cemetery to honor those displaced and a non-profit affordable housing program designed to scale up nationally.
Ukraine’s housing crisis is staggering. Nearly one in three citizens has fled their homes, with 4.5 million registered as internally displaced.
Around the eastern city of Dnipro, volunteers convert old buildings into shelters as daily evacuations from the war-torn Donbass region take place. One site – a crumbling Soviet-era hostel – is now home to 149 elderly residents, most of whom are in their seventies and eighties.
Funding comes from a pool of donations: foreign aid, local donations and cash, volunteer labor or individual contributions including old equipment and boxes of food, all put together to meet immediate needs.
“I call it begging: knocking on every door and explaining why every little thing is important,” said Veronica Chumak, who runs the center. “But we keep going. Our mission is to restore people’s sense of life.”
Valentina Khusak, 86, was evacuated by charity volunteers from the coal-mining town of Myrnohrad after water and electricity were cut off following Russian shelling. She lost her husband and son before the war.
“Maybe we will return home, maybe not,” he said. “The important thing is that places like this exist – where old and lonely people are treated with warmth and respect.”
a nation in tension
Ukraine’s government is struggling to raise money for shelters and repairs as its relief budget is strained by frequent missile and drone attacks on infrastructure.
According to a UN-led assessment, by the end of 2024, 13% of Ukraine’s homes were damaged or destroyed. The cost of national reconstruction is estimated to be $524 billion, almost three times the country’s annual economic output.
Since June, Ukraine has evacuated more than 100,000 people from the east, expanding shelters and transit centers. Newly laid off people are given an emergency government subsidy payment of $260.
Yevhen Tuzov, who helped thousands of people find shelter during the siege of Mariupol in 2022, said many feel forgotten.
“Sometimes six strangers have to live together in a small room,” Tuzov said. “For older people, it’s insulting.”
“What Hansen is doing is great – building villages – but why can’t we do the same?”
,People No need for miracles here’
Hansen began his work in early 2022 after visiting Ukraine. He started by providing cash assistance to families, then used his decades of experience to build modular housing.
Mykita Bogomol, 16, lives in a foster care apartment in Hansen Village with seven other children and two dogs. He fled the southern Kherson region after the Russian occupation and floods.
“Life is good here,” he said. “During the occupation, it was terrible. Soldiers forced children to go to Russian schools. Here, I finally feel safe.”
Hansen visits Ukraine several times a year. From Salt Lake City, he spends hours a day on video calls, tracking war updates, coordinating aid and lobbying US lawmakers.
“I’ve built houses all my life, but nothing means more to me than this,” he said. “The people here don’t need miracles – just a roof, security and someone who won’t give up on them.”
a fraction of what is needed
Last year, Hansen sold part of his business for $14 million — all of which went to Ukraine, he said.
Still, their contribution is a fraction of what is needed. With the entire city deserted, private aid is vital but inadequate.
Hansen met with President Volodymyr Zelensky, who thanked him for supporting vulnerable communities. Later this year, Hansen will receive one of Ukraine’s highest civilian honors – an award he says is not for him.
“I don’t need recognition,” he said. “If this award makes the elderly and the displaced more visible, it means something. Otherwise, it’s just a medal.”
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Associated Press journalists Vasilisa Stepanenko and Dmytro Zihinas in Pavlohrad, Ukraine, contributed to this report.
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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine