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Insulate Ukraine

@insulate_ukraine

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Designing emergency home-built solutions to replace windows blown out by the war in Ukraine.

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Nadiia is a mother to ten children in a family-type children’s home in Vysokyi, Kharkiv Oblast. ⁠
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The children came into her family after being left without parental care. Nadiia and most of the family were displaced from the Kupiansk district by the war; two of the girls came from the Lyptsi area, close to the Russian border. ⁠
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“When a child comes into a family, they come specifically to be loved, and to feel that they are truly children here, a daughter, a son,” Nadiia told me. “It is an ordinary family, just a large one.” ⁠
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I met Nadiia and the children while visiting their home with Insulate Ukraine, which had recently repaired windows damaged by the war.⁠
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Read Full Story: https://zacharytarrant.substack.com/p/nadiias-family⁠
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Vysokyi, Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine. May 2026. ⁠

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Got to spend some of my birthday with @avalaina_ua today, the @nobelprize winner from Ukraine, who has done so much to ensure the world doesn’t forget what is happening to the people of her country, as Ukrainians prepare to face another bitter winter of war.
With thanks to @harry_hopalot and @insulate_ukraine for bringing us all together again in SW1.

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Kharkiv, Ukraine | October 2, 2026⁠
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Education Workers’ Day is celebrated on the first Sunday of October each year. Because it falls on a Sunday, the Friday before the holiday is often when students show their appreciation for their teachers. Small gifts, words of gratitude, songs. School, held underground or online, lets out early.⁠
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At the school in these photographs, students were dismissed at 1:15 p.m.⁠
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Almost exactly two hours later, Russian guided aerial bombs struck several areas of Kharkiv. One struck a residential property in another part of the city, devastating the home and damaging a nearby school.⁠
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Emergency workers arrived quickly, treated the injured, and began working through the wreckage. A family sifted through what remained of their home, carrying a family photograph out and placing it among other belongings in a van. Salvaging what they could.⁠
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At the school, city workers were already installing OSB boards over the school’s shattered windows.⁠
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Inside, we spoke with a school employee who had been sitting at her desk when the blast rocked the building.⁠
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When the explosion struck, “life feels as though it has stopped. It’s simply terrible,” she recounted. When she ran out of her office, she found her secretary sheltering beneath a desk.⁠
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She described how the teaching staff had worked for years to continue educating their students throughout the war, bringing children together and holding classes underground or in sheltered areas of the school.⁠
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With reserved pride, she told us about the academic achievements of the school’s students.⁠
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“But,” she said, “they won’t let us study or live, unfortunately.”⁠
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Across the table, twisted pieces of metal lay scattered, fragments from the explosion gathered from the school grounds.⁠
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“We’ve collected all of this. These were the ‘guests’ that came flying toward us. We collected them from around the school. This will go into the museum. We’ll write about it.”⁠
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As we left, she looked at the shattered and boarded-up windows. If they weren’t repaired before winter, she feared, “the heating system will freeze, and the school won’t be restored.”⁠
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#Ukraine #ukrainewar

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Larisa has lived through two wars.⁠
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Larisa was one and a half years old when Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union. Her father went to war and returned home disabled. He died a little more than five years later.⁠
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More than eighty years later, war came to her home in Kharkiv.⁠
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An explosion near Larisa’s apartment block shattered her windows. Unable to afford replacements on her pension, she improvised her own covering from part of a discarded bed, cutting the wood herself with a hacksaw.⁠
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Then another explosion struck nearby.⁠
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“I was actually standing on the balcony when it happened. There was this enormous blast. Everything lit up, and I was thrown back into the room.”⁠
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During winter, with electricity, gas, water and heat cut, she said her apartment became “like a refrigerator.”⁠
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“We slept wearing all of our clothes, even hats.”⁠
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When I met Larisa with @Insulate_Ukraine in May, the team was replacing the destroyed balcony windows. As the coverings came down, sunlight returned to the room.⁠
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“Oh, how good it is now. Now I can see how much sunlight is coming in.”⁠
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Before we left, the team went to throw away the old wooden panel she had used to cover the window. Larisa stopped them.⁠
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“Let this old material stay here just in case.”⁠
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Kharkiv, Ukraine. May 2026.⁠
#Ukraine #Kharkiv #Photojournalism #DocumentaryPhotography

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🏡 У прифронтових громадах Херсонщини залишається значною потреба у швидкому реагуванні на пошкодження житла, спричинені бойовими діями.

Наша команда здійснює аварійні ремонтні роботи, допомагаючи мешканцям оперативно закрити пошкоджені вікна, двері та дахи, а також надає будівельні матеріали для першочергових робіт. Так ми допомагаємо тимчасово захистити будинки від зовнішніх впливів до проведення повноцінного ремонту.

Фахівці YES уже мають перші результати роботи: виконують необхідні роботи та встановлюють будівельні матеріали у пошкоджених будинках. Це тимчасове рішення, яке допомагає захистити житло від опадів, вітру та подальшого руйнування, а мешканцям — безпечніше користуватися своїми будинками.

Завдяки співпраці з Insulate Ukraine для тимчасового закриття пошкоджених віконних отворів встановлюємо спеціальні прозорі теплоізоляційні конструкції. Вони стійкі до ударів, пропускають денне світло, допомагають зберігати тепло та захищають приміщення від зовнішніх впливів до встановлення нових вікон.

👥 Мешканці Нововоронцовської територіальної громади, житло яких постраждало внаслідок бойових дій, можуть звернутися по безоплатну допомогу. Вона надається відповідно до критеріїв проєкту, результатів оцінки потреб, безпекового доступу та доступного обсягу допомоги.

📲 Щоб отримати допомогу зателефонуйте за номерами:
+38 (050) 326 6770
+38 (050) 326 6772
Представники ГО YES нададуть необхідну інформацію.

Допомогу надає ГО YES у партнерстві з Данською Радою у справах біженців (DRC) у межах Херсонського консорціуму з територіального розподілу ресурсів (ABA), який DRC реалізує разом з Acted та Nonviolent Peaceforce (NP) за підтримки Гуманітарного фонду для України (UHF).
@insulate_ukraine

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At every The Big Meet, we try to shine a light on people doing meaningful work in Ukraine.

This time, it’s @insulate_ukraine

They’re helping families stay warm, safe, and at home by installing rapid-deployed emergency replacement shatterproof windows.

🪟❤️ This Friday, a percentage of every ticket sold at The Big Meet will go to Insulate Ukraine. One more reason to bring a friend. 🫂❤️

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We can barely believe we’re writing this but the Material Matters with Grant Gibson podcast is now 150 episodes old. And to celebrate we have a very special guest.

Harry Blakiston Houston is the founder of Insulate Ukraine. It goes without saying that, since Russia’s invasion, the nation has been literally shattered. To help combat some of the devastating effects of the war, @insulate_ukraine has developed a $21 double-layer window made from PET, manufactured 100 per cent locally, and installed free of charge for those who need them.

The windows keep families warm and create employment. They are helping Ukraine’s population get through a deeply traumatic situation and are an important illustration of exactly why materials matter.

In this episode we talk about: prototyping with cardboard; the organisation’s values of trust, innovation and empathy; living in a war-torn nation on a day-to-day basis; the importance of identifying a problem; how the Queen’s death helped create Insulate Ukraine; initially working with materials that people had to hand; how the windows have changed over time; creating an installation system; growing up in Northern Ireland; how Catholicism and boarding school shaped his thinking and decisions; and why he wants to rethink the development sector.

To listen search for Material Matters with Grant Gibson on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and the MM website (see link in bio).

#materialmatters #materialmatterswith #insulateukraine

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I can barely believe I’m writing this but the Material Matters with Grant Gibson podcast is now 150 episodes old. And to celebrate we have a very special guest.

Harry Blakiston Houston is the founder of Insulate Ukraine. It goes without saying that, since Russia’s invasion, the nation has been literally shattered. To help combat some of the devastating effects of the war, @insulate_ukraine has developed a $21 double-layer window made from PET, manufactured 100 per cent locally, and installed free of charge for those who need them.

The windows keep families warm and create employment. They are helping Ukraine’s population get through a deeply traumatic situation and are an important illustration of exactly why materials matter.

In this episode we talk about: prototyping with cardboard; the organisation’s values of trust, innovation and empathy; living in a war-torn nation on a day-to-day basis; the importance of identifying a problem; how the Queen’s death helped create Insulate Ukraine; initially working with materials that people had to hand; how the windows have changed over time; creating an installation system; growing up in Northern Ireland; how Catholicism and boarding school shaped his thinking and decisions; and why he wants to rethink the development sector.

To listen search for Material Matters with Grant Gibson on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube and the MM website (see link in bio).

#materialmatters #materialmatterswith #insulateukraine

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A(bout) a year in review: growing hair, cricket and music. So pretty much as you were x

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I’ll be speaking at the @frontlineclub on 20 May 🇺🇦

How does a country keep going under constant attack? What does “normal life” even look like in those conditions?
We’ll be discussing what aid delivery looks like on the ground.

With:
@tolokonnikov_oleksandr (Kherson Regional Military Administration)
Harry Blakiston Houston (@insulate_ukraine)
Moderated by @lukeharding1968

See bio for link to event

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🇺🇦 Цього тижня Посол Ніл Кромптон поспілкувався з Гаррі та Іллею з @insulate_ukraine — громадської організації, яка працює над вирішенням нагальної проблеми пошкоджених і вибитих вікон у наслідок російських атак.

Посол подякував команді за їхню підтримку, відданість Україні та допомогу українцям, які цього потребують 🇬🇧🤝🇺🇦

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🇬🇧 This week, Ambassador Neil Crompton spoke with Harry and Ilya from Insulate Ukraine, an NGO tackling the urgent challenge of shattered windows caused by the war.

The Ambassador thanked the team for their practical support, strong commitment to Ukraine, and dedication to helping Ukrainians in need 🇬🇧🤝🇺🇦

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Fantastic PR for @insulate_ukraine by the excellent @christinalambauthor in today’s @thetimes I learned about @insulate_ukraine when I heard Harry Blakiston Houston speak @rsahouse and am proud to have supported this brilliant charity punching well above its weight ever since. Bravo @christinalambauthor for your coverage. #slavaukraini 🇺🇦🇺🇦

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