Russia Now has Two Million Homeless and Their Ranks are Growing because of War in Ukraine, ‘Shelter’ Group Says

Paul Goble
    Staunton, Nov. 15 – Although the Russian government does not release any statistics on homelessness, the Shelter (Nochlezhka) organization, the oldest group in Russia devoted to helping the homeless, says there are now approximately two million homeless in Russia and that their numbers are growing because of the war in Ukraine.
    According to Nochlezhka, the three primary causes of homelessness are low incomes, family problems and the search for work in new places (tochno.st/materials/iz-za-krizisov-v-rossii-vyroslo-cislo-bezdomnyx-no-oficialnoi-statistiki-o-nix-net-my-proanalizirovali-dannye-noclezki-o-tom-kto-i-pocemu-cashhe-vsego-popadaet-na-ulicu).
    Their numbers rose during the pandemic and have risen even more since the start of Putin’s expanded war in Ukraine which has left many Russians without sufficient money to pay rent, increased problems within some families, and led others to move from one place to another in hopes of finding better jobs.
    Approximately four out of five are men, some are second generation homeless, and one in ten grew up in an orphanage. But despite public views, fewer homeless are alcoholics or drug abusers than are members of the Russian population as a whole, according to the data collected by Nochlezhka.
    Most of Russia’s homeless survive on the basis of temporary work or help from families rather than from social services provided by the government. Indeed, the group says, the only government service such people, who now form one in every 70 Russians, can rely is the government’s ambulance service.