After Russia's full-scale invasion began in 2022, people displaced within Ukraine turned to administrative service centres in the places where they had found safety. An OSCE photograph taken in Chernivtsi on 15 April explicitly identifies internally displaced people standing in line to obtain documentation.
Displacement does not end when someone reaches a safer city. Access to housing, benefits, health care and education may require a new administrative record of their circumstances. Even when a family carries little luggage, a place in the documents line can become an entry point to rebuilding everyday life.