How Humanitarian Logistics Works in Ukraine

According to UN estimates, 12.7 million people in Ukraine will need humanitarian aid in 2025. This is driving unprecedented demand for transport logistics, freight forwarding, supply chain coordination, and collaboration across governments, international agencies, and local organizations. In this challenging environment, efficient logistics is the backbone of humanitarian operations: delivery speed, precision, and transparency define outcomes. This article explores the core challenges of humanitarian logistics in Ukraine, outlines the principles for building resilient supply chains, and presents practical solutions for ensuring safe, timely, and transparent aid delivery. It is designed for NGOs, foundations, and organizations seeking a trusted logistics partner with proven expertise.

Table of Contents:

•   The Critical Role of Humanitarian Logistics for Aid Organizations and Foundations
•   Key Challenges for Humanitarian Organizations in Ukraine
•   Building Effective Humanitarian Logistics
•   How SYNEX Logistics Delivers Humanitarian Logistics for International Organizations
•   SYNEX Logistics: A Reliable Logistics Partner in Times of Crisis
•   Conclusions

The Critical Role of Humanitarian Logistics for Aid Organizations and Foundations

Timeliness is paramount in humanitarian aid. Medicines delayed by even a few days may no longer save lives, and food held up at borders quickly loses its value for communities in need. For charitable foundations and international organizations, logistics is not a secondary process—it is the backbone of the mission. The effectiveness of relief depends on how seamlessly deliveries are organized and executed. Effective humanitarian logistics ensures:

• Rapid response: Aid reaches recipients precisely when it is needed most;
• Transparency and accountability: Every shipment follows a clear route and is fully documented;
• Optimized resources: Strategic route planning and warehousing minimize costs while maximizing aid volumes;
• Resilience in crisis: Flexible logistics adapts swiftly to disrupted infrastructure and conflict conditions.

Key Challenges for Humanitarian Organizations in Ukraine

Delivering humanitarian aid in conflict-affected Ukraine involves far more than securing transport and loading boxes. Every stage of the supply chain—from border crossings to the final mile into frontline communities—presents operational and security challenges. These conditions demand flexibility, rapid response, and precise planning from foundations and aid organisations. To provide deeper insight, we spoke with Oleg Vydrin, an expert at SYNEX Logistics, who specialises in humanitarian logistics. His field experience highlights the daily obstacles faced by humanitarian missions and the solutions that ensure continuity and safety of supply.

Lack of Safe and Reliable Routes

Delivering humanitarian aid often takes place near conflict-affected areas, where every kilometre requires careful planning and risk assessment. Damaged infrastructure, the risk of shelling, and multiple checkpoints require meticulous route planning, the use of safe detours, and rapid adjustments to changing conditions. A road that was passable yesterday may be blocked or unsafe today. In such an environment, engaging local drivers is critical—their regional knowledge and ability to operate even without communication or navigation systems, often disrupted by conflict, ensure that aid reaches those who need it most.

Limited Transport Resources

Delivering humanitarian aid requires a diverse fleet with different capabilities. In remote or hard-to-reach areas, light vehicles are essential for navigating damaged roads and narrow routes, while large trucks (10–20 tonnes) increase both visibility and risk for convoys. Shipments often involve non-standard formats or sensitive out-of-gauge (OOG) cargo, and loading or unloading points may lack ramps or handling equipment. A reliable logistics partner must therefore provide vehicles across all categories, equipped with tail lifts, hydraulic pallet jacks, truck-mounted cranes, and protective packaging, and be able to mobilise them rapidly to support simultaneous deliveries across multiple regions.

Customs and Border Clearance Challenges

Ukraine operates an electronic registration system for humanitarian cargo. Declarations are submitted digitally, and each shipment is assigned a unique humanitarian code. The rules set strict timeframes between registration and clearance and require prompt reporting. While the system enhances transparency and control, it also demands technical and administrative readiness from organisations: any error or delay in documentation can postpone a border crossing or result in a shipment being returned. A capable logistics partner maintains close coordination with customs and border authorities and manages compliant customs-clearance procedures to help ensure the safe and timely movement of aid.

The Need for Coordination with Government and Security Bodies

Delivering aid to high-risk areas requires approvals from military, civil, and security authorities. To avoid delays and protect operations, organisations need established communication channels and clear stage-by-stage planning. Working groups and coordination mechanisms—most notably the Logistics Cluster —play a central role: they consolidate requests, align inter-agency actions, and allocate shared resources, including warehouses, convoys, and routes. For foundations and aid organisations, this coordinated approach reduces risk and accelerates delivery to people in critical need.

Building Effective Humanitarian Logistics

Building logistics for humanitarian missions is a multi-stage process in which every phase requires well-considered decisions, flexibility, and coordinated interaction among all parties. It is best examined through a set of key components that determine the stability and the uninterrupted flow of aid deliveries.

Route Planning and Demand Forecasting

Successful aid deliveries start with meticulous route planning that accounts for security risks and local infrastructure. Forecasting needs based on regional data, demographics, and current aid distribution helps prevent downtime. Loading dates, routes, and delivery windows are often finalised at the last minute, depending on the evolving conflict situation and communities’ readiness to receive aid—requiring a highly flexible logistics provider. Equally important are rapid transfers from central warehouses to regional NGO locations, minimising warehouse dwell time and quickly mobilising vehicles to sustain an uninterrupted flow of aid deliveries.

Collaboration with International Donors and Local Partners

Close coordination with international donors (e.g., UN agencies) and local organisations enables effective pooling of resources, prevents duplication of effort, and expands access to communities in need. A logistics provider working with international NGOs must comply with donor and regulatory compliance requirements, maintain sufficient administrative capacity for communications and shipment coordination, and ensure a stable, reliable operating model. This approach helps ensure timely aid deliveries and robust oversight at every stage of the logistics process.

Using Multimodal Transport to Optimize Costs

Due to damaged infrastructure and limited access to certain regions, multimodal transport enables aid to reach remote and hard-to-reach areas. Combining transport modes reduces costs and enhances supply chain resilience, enabling rapid adjustments to road closures, restrictions, or force majeure situations.

Warehousing, Sorting, and Quality Control

Strategically located warehouses keep aid stocks close to areas of need, while sorting by category and priority enables efficient allocation. Quality control ensures that shipments reach recipients safely and in proper condition. Non-standard cargo formats—such as oversized boxes, a lack of specialised packaging, or limited equipment at loading points—make it essential for the logistics provider to deploy vehicles equipped with tail lifts, hydraulic pallet jacks, truck-mounted cranes, and protective packaging to enable swift, safe transport.

Implementing Transparent Tracking and Record-Keeping Systems

Digital technologies such as RFID, GPS trackers, and specialised software platforms enable real-time tracking of cargo and allow prompt adjustments to deliveries in the event of delays at checkpoints or changes in the security situation. This improves process efficiency, strengthens trust among donors and beneficiaries, and ensures a rapid response to unforeseen circumstances.

How SYNEX Logistics Delivers Humanitarian Logistics for International Organizations

For several years, SYNEX Logistics has been providing comprehensive logistics for international NGOs, including the International Rescue Committee, ACTED, the International Committee of the Red Cross in Ukraine, the Danish Refugee Council, Handicap International, and Malteser Hilfsdienst.

A notable example is the delivery of nearly 5 tonnes of controlled pharmaceutical products from India to Ukraine, involving multimodal transport and enhanced security measures. The operation required strict adherence to standards and rapid coordination with customs.

For NGOs, the value of SYNEX Logistics goes beyond transport: the company ensures process transparency, compliance, warehousing, cargo sorting, and assigns on-site labour when required to accompany shipments, guaranteeing safe and efficient delivery of aid even in challenging conditions.

SYNEX Logistics: A Reliable Logistics Partner in Times of Crisis

Amid war and logistics constraints, SYNEX Logistics has proven its ability to keep supply chains stable for both businesses and humanitarian organizations. The company develops tailored solutions even where traditional routes are unavailable and maintains delivery continuity to critical regions. Key advantages include expertise in multimodal transport through European ports, rapid adaptation of routing strategies, and the ability to respond effectively to restrictions arising from the armed conflict in Ukraine or infrastructure challenges.

Beyond commercial clients, SYNEX Logistics works with international humanitarian organizations, leveraging contract logistics to provide end-to-end cargo handling while ensuring standards compliance, transparency, and control at every stage of the supply chain. This approach positions the company as a strategic partner, accountable for both safety and outcomes.

Entrust the delivery of humanitarian aid to SYNEX Logistics to ensure reliable and uninterrupted logistics for your cargo.

Conclusions

Humanitarian logistics in Ukraine demonstrates the critical importance of rapid response and the ability to operate amid challenging infrastructure conditions. A comprehensive approach, including coordination with government authorities and donors as well as oversight of every stage of the supply chain, ensures the timely and secure delivery of aid. In this context, efficient logistics is not merely a process; it is a critical tool for supporting essential needs and ensuring aid continuity for saving lives.