Ukraine: Rapid Protection Assessment — Access to Compensation Mechanisms for Damaged and Destroyed Housing

Executive summary

According to aggregated estimates, around 13% of Ukraine’s housing stock has been damaged or destroyed, amounting to at least 60 million m². The largest scale of destruction has been recorded in Donetsk Oblast (over 81,800 housing objects), as well as in Kharkiv (42,600) and Kherson (19,200) oblasts. In Sumy Oblast, as of January 2026, 4,700 residential buildings have been damaged.

The war continues to have a devastating impact on civilians through regular shelling and active hostilities in frontline and border areas. In the communities of Kharkiv, Donetsk, Sumy and Kherson oblasts covered by this analysis, this results in ongoing damage and destruction of housing and an increasing need for compensation for affected populations. At the same time, compensation commissions operate under heavy workloads, security-related restrictions on access to certain areas, and a high number of complex cases related to ownership documentation, which complicates timely housing assessments and people’s access to the eVidnovlennia mechanism.