In what used to be the concert hall in this town in eastern Ukraine, cots are arranged on stage. Instead of music, the room is filled with the muffled sobs of local people driven from their homes by fighting in the country’s almost three-year war with Russia.
The Russian army’s recent advances have engulfed towns and villages in the area. The Pavlohrad concert hall was requisitioned as a temporary center for local civilians fleeing the relentless Russian bombardment.
“It’s good here. There’s food, warmth, and a place to wash,” said 83-year-old Kateryna Odraha, who lived through the Nazi German occupation of her village during World War II.
That refuge may now be in peril.
The shelter costs the equivalent of $7,000 a month to run, and 60% of that was being covered by U.S. funds sent to help Ukraine.
President Donald Trump’s decision last week to freeze for 90 days the humanitarian aid that the United States provides to countries overseas was felt in places far from Washington, including here, a few kilometers (miles) from the front line in eastern Ukraine.