For Olga Scripovscaia, a field security coordination officer based in Odessa, every day begins with the same question: “what changed overnight?”
After nights frequently interrupted by air alerts and coordinated attacks, mornings are spent reviewing incident reports, checking updates from local authorities and monitoring conditions in Odessa, Mykolaiv and Kherson, areas where humanitarian access can change in a matter of hours.
“There’s always something going on here,” he said. “Things are never quiet.”
‘A road that is usable today may not exist tomorrow’
Ms Scripovscaia works with all UN agencies operating in southern Ukraine, helping to assess whether missions can be carried out safely and advising on movement plans, operational concepts and contingency measures.
Its team monitors security conditions 24 hours a day, produces rapid reports after incidents, and conducts headcounts whenever attacks occur.
“A road that is usable today may not exist tomorrow,” he explained.
Conditions on the ground continue to evolve. According to Ms. Scripovscaia, increasingly sophisticated threats, including mines and high-precision drones, require constant re-evaluation of routes and operational procedures.
If missions are planned in areas where conditions have recently deteriorated, teams may need to redirect or delay deployments entirely.
‘You see tears. You see emotions
Coming from a military background, he says structure remains essential to managing the volume of information and decisions that flow through security operations.
However, she believes her experience as a woman in the field shapes how she approaches the work.
“Being a woman, you might see more than just protocol,” she said. “You see tears. You see emotions. You see things beyond the procedures.” That perspective, he explained, becomes especially important before missions in difficult environments.
Field Security Coordination Officer Olga Scripovaisa (left) talks to colleagues while working in the field in southern Ukraine.
In addition to formal safety briefings, pay attention to how your colleagues are feeling, asking if they feel prepared, understand the risks, and if they need more information before deployment.
When humanitarian and security needs collide
Among the most difficult parts of the job, Scripovscaia says, is supporting humanitarian access to places where people urgently need assistance, but conditions remain dangerous.
He described a recurring dilemma: balancing professional responsibility with humanitarian need.
Humanitarian agencies sometimes seek access to places where risks remain extremely high and where local support networks may no longer exist.
For security teams, those decisions are rarely simple.
“The protocol gives me maybe 75 percent of the reasons to say no,” he said. “But I still keep 25 percent in my heart for those people.”
Find another way
When missions can’t continue, he says, the conversation doesn’t end there.
Instead, the focus is on finding another way, whether by changing routes, reassessing conditions or identifying a future window of access.
For her, that persistence reflects the purpose of security work in humanitarian settings. “If it is not possible today,” he stated, “we are already thinking about how to make it possible tomorrow.”