In late 2014, instability spread to Eastern Ukraine when the Russian Federation annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula and armed separatists took control of the Donbas region following the evacuation of the then president, Viktor Yanukovych, who had fled after 4 months of protests in the capital of Kyiv. Fighting between the Ukrainian government and separatist forces along the 400km frontline was largely defined by the regular use of shells up to 120 mm caliber and other heavy weaponry which inflicted significant damage to infrastructure and residences in villages and towns in the buffer zone, extending approximately 20 km on each side of the contact line.Over a period of one and a half years, CRS and partner Caritas Ukraine provided cash grants and technical assistance to 908 families to repair their homes that had been damaged during conflict. Minor repairs allowed families to have at least one warm, dry room in line with Sphere standards.