An NGO founded by a Co Tyrone man has helped more than 4,000 Ukrainian civilians back to their homes in the war-torn country, thanks to bespoke polyethylene windows.
Insulate Ukraine, which is registered in Ukraine, was established in December 2022 by PhD student Harry Blakiston Houston.
Recognising that residents faced long delays waiting for glass windows to be replaced in their bombed-out homes, he spent six months developing a cheaper and quicker solution,T
The windows are not ballistic-proof but are safer than glass.
"They are a bridge for a chronic situation," he explained. "For most people, it could take seven months to get OSB board or any help at all. We've seen buildings with windows shattered from the beginning of the war, they still haven't been touched. There are still millions of windows left to do.
"And when the cold comes, and there's no heating to be had because the energy systems are gone, you can't live in a flat like that."
More than 28 months since Russia's full-scale invasion, fighting has destroyed about ten million windows in Ukraine, according to Insulate Ukraine.
Pensioner Tetiana Beibyko lives some 50 km from the front line in the village of Mykolaivka in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine.
The facade of her building is a mosaic of boards, gaping holes, polyethylene and plastic flapping in the wind.
Tapping approvingly at the new polyethylene window installed in her home, she said:
"There's no draught, no blast of air. Before it was all shattered. There was a hole here."
The Kyiv School of Economics estimates over 222,000 private homes have been damaged since Russia's invasion in February 2022.
While full compensation for those buildings requires time and funding from institutional donors, smaller non-profits like Insulate Ukraine are trying to keep the areas liveable for those who remain.
"The frontline is dependent on these civilian areas for their postal services, their doctors' surgeries, their shops," Mr Blakiston Houston said.
"It's really important to keep these towns going and give them a future. And I think that's what we can help with."
