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Red Cross and Ukrainians make status after three months of war: 'We become stronger than before the war' | Abroad | DR Three months of invasion also means three months of relief work. The Red Cross is preparing for two more years. For many of us, the three-month-old passer-by can feel like blinking his eyes. But for millions of Ukrainians, the last three months have been significant. From February 24 to May 24, there are three months. And today it is three months ago, Russia shocked most of the world and went into Ukraine. Three months of war also marks three months of humanitarian crisis in the country. And the relief work will last at least a few more years, assesses the Red Cross Denmark's general secretary, Anders Ladekarl. He and a number of Ukrainians take stock of the last 90 days in that country. It feels as if tomorrow may never come, and I have started to understand the idea of living now and here.Victoriia, Civil Ukrainians, KyivWhen the sirens sounded three months ago and the Russian forces crossed the border into Ukraine, the tasks of the Red Cross were some other than they are today, says Anders Ladekarl and emphasizes that it has been some hectic months to say the least. - We started with a total panicked exodus of millions of people who just fled away for fear that Russia would take over the country quickly, he says.- So first the focus was on those who fled. The millions who stood in line at the borders and who needed help there. Since then, the influx of refugees has changed to take place primarily internally in Ukraine, so that today there are eight million Ukrainians who have fled away from the areas where are still fighting, and to safer areas of Ukraine.It has now become easier in the sense that many of the civilians now staying in areas where there are fighting have been allowed to flee.Anders Ladekarl, Secretary General During the first weeks of the war, Anders Ladekarl and his colleagues experienced that the situation became more in line with the fact that many Russian soldiers were driven away from central parts of Ukraine and are now primarily in the southeastern regions. - Our relief work focus is right now to help them as much as possible to cope in host families and in a country affected by war.- That change has always meant that our aid workers have had to adapt to the different flows of refugees and the way , war Anders Ladekarl points out that the Red Cross' biggest challenges in the last three months have been a mixture of the huge number of refugees and that in several places it was impossible to get in and out of most cities. - It has now become easier in the sense that many of those who are now staying in areas where there are fighting have been allowed to flee, and therefore it is easier to help them. But there are still major humanitarian challenges, he says. © Ritzau ScanpixContinue emergency distribution of emergency aid.Increase psychosocial efforts.Distribution of cash to people on the run internally in Ukraine.Health among other things in connection with pregnancy, pregnancy, birth and children, and not contagious. diseases, such as diabetes. Help to rebuild the Ukrainian Red Cross. Source: Red Cross Denmark. If you ask the Ukrainians themselves about a kind of three-month status after the Russian invasion, there are hardly as many two-year plans. On the contrary, in fact. Their new reality has put everything in perspective. One of the many Ukrainian voices we have spoken to here over the spring is Victoriia from the capital, Kyiv. Although a bit of everyday life has gradually begun to return in Kyiv, she is constantly reminded that the war is still raging.- It feels as if tomorrow may never come, and I have begun to understand the idea of living now and here, she says to .- I was usually the type of person who could plan everything months ahead, but in these times I have not been able to plan just a week ahead.When 29-year-old Lesyk Yakumshuk rewinds time three months, then his life also looks markedly different. He was on a study stay in the US state of Ohio when the war broke out, but hurried home to defend his country. For him, the war has meant a realization that what he traveled for was actually already at home. It gives me hope , that we will be stronger than we were before the war.28-year-old Yana from Kyiv- I have changed my attitude - from trying to find something good outside the country to finding something good for myself within the country, he says.But the war is also complex in size for Lesyk because it both splits and brings together his new reality in Ukraine. Brand because he did not even believe in weapons and violence as the solution: - Now I want my own weapons and I want to learn to shoot to be able to protect myself.And gather because he and Ukraine the last three months have moved together to go a common way, he says: - The war has made us as a society stand together to move forward. "Strength" and "unity" go again when the Ukrainians, have spoken, try to describe the last months war.The 44-year-old photographer Nick from Kyiv thinks the fighting spirit of the Ukrainians shows "the strength of our country like never before". And 28-year-old Yana welcomes the fact that the war will make it clear to everyone what Ukraine's culture, values and history are. - It gives me hope that we will become stronger than we were before the war. I see how Ukrainian culture is being reborn, and I hope that the next generations do not forget who we are and what Ukraine is, she says. Ukrainian Olena has fled several hundred kilometers to Dnipro from Mariupol, and she thinks every day at his old, smashed home. She is slowly beginning to accept that the reality is different now than three months ago. Before Olena can return to Mariupol, the Russians must withdraw, the war must end and the city must be rebuilt. Among others, the Red Cross Denmark will help with this. Anders Ladekarl explains that right now there is a violent emergency relief operation in the war areas, a refugee operation for the internally displaced refugees and some reconstruction work where people have begun to return. first, it is our plan in the future to come forward with help to those who need it most. The relief work is not something that is over, neither today nor tomorrow. Anders Ladekarl, Secretary General, Red Cross Denmark.- And so is we gradually started on some rebuilding activities. We have re-established in some of the cities that the Russians have withdrawn from, and some are in the process of removing mines. Right now, those plans go two years into the future. For Ukraine faces enormous challenges, even when the war one day is over, assesses Anders Ladekarl. - We must help the internally displaced until they can return. Then there will be a huge reconstruction work, and it can take years before it is in place. - The relief work is not something that is over, neither today nor tomorrow, he says. Whether the two-year plans end up being sufficient depends of how the conflict develops, says Anders Ladekarl: - So far it has been really difficult to predict how the fighting and the war will develop, so therefore we always have emergency plans in the drawer, so we can act in almost any situation that may occur.