American schoolkids help launch temporary housing project for Ukrainians who lost their homes due to war

Serhiy Prytula’s Charity Foundation introduced the Nest project focused on helping families who lost their houses due to Russia’s ongoing war. The initiative relies on international donors to cover the costs, with the first house being covered with the money raised by American schoolchildren.

According to Ukraine’s Ministry of Communities and Territories Development, over 116,000 private houses and residential buildings were damaged or destroyed since Feb. 24, affecting the living conditions of up to 3.5 million people.

The first Nest house was delivered to the family of Halyna Kyrylenko, whose home in Makariv, in the northern part of the Kyiv Oblast, was destroyed by Russian shelling during the first weeks of the all-out war.

Kyrylenko says her family of six is lucky to receive the first house, consisting of a kitchen, a bathroom, and three bedrooms. She adds that only near her village Russian troops destroyed 584 houses.

While the government is eyeing the idea of creating modular towns in western Ukraine to host internally displaced people, the charity led by Serhiy Prytula, a former comedian turned politician, is set to deliver modular homes to people not willing to relocate.

The houses are created from pre-made modules, cutting down the time of on-site installation to five hours.

Depending on the people’s needs, the houses can have different yardage and planning. The most basic configuration has a total of 27 square meters and includes a bedroom, a bathroom, and a kitchen with a resting area. One module costs $5,000, meaning that the smallest house option has a price tag of $15,000.

The Nest houses are meant to be temporary and are equipped to last five years, allowing families to live on their own land while they rebuild their houses damaged or destroyed by Russia's ongoing all-out war.

According to the project’s website, the houses are eco-friendly and can be installed yearlong. Additionally, the Nest project claims to be able to produce up to 500 houses per month.