Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo told ambassadors the start of 2026 had brought “no peace or even respite to Ukraine, but renewed fighting and devastation.”

“As temperatures plummet far below freezing, the Russian Federation has intensified its systematic attacks targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure,” she said, noting that the strikes had killed and injured scores of civilians and deprived millions of electricity, heating and water for prolonged periods.

The impact, she added, is felt most acutely by older people, children and those with limited mobility.

Drone and missile onslaught

Ms. DiCarlo cited a major overnight barrage between 8 and 9 January in which Russia reportedly launched 242 drones and 36 missiles.

In Kyiv, at least four people were reportedly killed and 25 injured, including a paramedic who died while responding to an earlier strike, reportedly hit by a so-called “double-tap” attack.

Nearly half of the capital was left without heating, and hundreds of thousands of residents were affected.

Energy and residential facilities were also damaged in western Lviv region, near the Polish border, where an intermediate-range ballistic missile known as “Oreshnik” was reportedly used for the second time since 2024.

The weapon is believed capable of carrying nuclear payloads, heightening international concern.

Ports and shipping have also come under attack. On 8 January, two foreign-flagged civilian vessels were struck by Russian drones in the Odesa region.

Two people were reportedly killed and eight injured in subsequent port attacks that damaged storage facilities and containers. Odesa was hit again on Sunday, in what Ms. DiCarlo described as a “concerning escalation” targeting Ukraine’s port infrastructure and commercial shipping.

Humanitarian consequences

The humanitarian impacts were outlined by Ramesh Rajasingham, Director of the Humanitarian Sector at the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

He said large-scale strikes were pushing “the very means of winter survival to the brink,” as temperatures dropped to nearly minus 10 degrees Celsius.

“What makes these attacks especially devastating is that they cripple the systems that keep civilians alive during winter,” he said.

In Kryvyi Rih, families have been melting snow for washing and heating water over candles during prolonged power cuts.

In Kyiv, more than 1,200 heated safe spaces are operating, alongside 68 additional heating points set up by emergency services and humanitarian partners.

A wide view of the Security Council meeting.

Displacement continues

Civilians continue to flee frontline areas under dangerous conditions, particularly from the Donetsk region, with many arriving in safer areas needing shelter, medical care and winter assistance. Humanitarian access remains constrained.

According to UN estimates, 10.8 million people in Ukraine need humanitarian assistance.

On Tuesday, the UN and partners are set to launch a $2.31 billion humanitarian appeal for 2026 to support 4.12 million people facing the most severe needs.

Both officials reiterated that attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure violate international humanitarian law. “They are unacceptable, unjustifiable, and must stop immediately,” Ms. DiCarlo said.

“Civilians who are enduring these attacks need more than statements of concern from this council. They need concrete action to reduce civilian harm and ensure that humanitarian support continues to reach people when they need it most,” Mr. Rajasingham added.

Since Russia launched a full-scale invasion of its neighbour in February 2022, the UN and its partners have supported people in need in complement to the Government’s assistance, from city residents who continue to face repeated drone and missile strikes, to communities close to the frontline and other evacuated away from danger. 

“I am speaking of internally displaced people who’ve been in collective sites for two, three years; I’m speaking of older people and people with limited mobility,” said Matthias Schmale, the UN’s top aid official in Ukraine, outlining some of the priorities of Tuesday’s appeal. 

According to media reports and official information from the Ukrainian authorities, over the past week alone, Russian forces launched nearly 1,100 attack drones against Ukraine, more than 890 guided aerial bombs and at least 50 missiles of various types — including ballistic and cruise missiles, as well as an Oreshnik intermediate-range ballistic missile targeting Lviv in western Ukraine, close to the Polish border.

In addition to providing core aid relief including food, health care, shelter, protection and cash assistance, other key aims of Tuesday’s funding appeal include supporting the evacuation of people in imminent danger – “heroic work near the front line”, Mr. Schmale said, of the hundreds of UN-supported partners who carry out this lifesaving work.

Frontline needs

He explained that funding is needed to assist civil society partners who respond to military strikes countrywide – but mainly within 50 kilometres of the front line –helping farmers trying to survive in a war zone, along with cancer patients whose access to medicines has been disrupted by attacks impacting healthcare.

“We want to continue supporting as best as we can [but] all of this needs funding,” Mr. Schmale said. He highlighted the “enormous civilian suffering” across Ukraine, particularly as communities endure temperatures plummeting to minus 15°C in Kyiv – “an emergency within an emergency” that will likely require further funding from the international community in addition to Tuesday’s appeal, the UN Humanitarian Coordinator noted. 

“We appeal in particular to the international community, to UN Member States, to other donors, to maintain their solidarity with Ukraine and to express that in the form of financial support for the work we plan to continue,” he said.

Speaking in Kyiv at the launch of the appeal, Mr. Schmale highlighted an update from the UN human rights monitoring team indicating that 2025 was the deadliest year for civilians since 2022, with more than 2,500 civilians killed and more than 12,000 injured.

“That’s roughly a girl or a boy killed here every day during a ceasefire,” UNICEF spokesperson James Elder told reporters in Geneva.

“These children are killed from airstrikes, drone strikes, including suicide drones,” he said, speaking from Gaza City. “They’re killed from tank shelling, they’re killed from live ammunition, they’re killed from [remote-controlled] quadcopters.”

Mr. Elder pointed out that more children have also died of hypothermia in the last few days, as harsh winter conditions expose the most vulnerable Gazans. 

Sheer cold kills six children

“We’ve now gone to six children who died of hypothermia just this winter,” he said. “I wish I could take a camera and show you 30, 40-kilometre [per hour] winds ripping through tents on the beach. It’s bitterly cold, it’s bitterly wet.”

The UNICEF spokesperson stressed that the ceasefire has allowed “genuine progress” in primary healthcare, with UNICEF and partners setting up the first health clinics in the north of the Strip and expanding immunization services. 

But desperately needed medical evacuations of children remain at a standstill.

Mr. Elder noted “no noticeable improvement” both on approvals to get children with life-threatening injuries out of Gaza and in convincing more host countries take in the young patients.

He said that in his latest mission to the enclave, he spoke to many children and families denied evacuation despite completing an arduous, formal process.

These included a nine-year-old with shrapnel lodged in his eye who “will lose sight in an eye, maybe both”, a girl in Al Shifa hospital in Gaza City who “may well die” and another child whose leg needs amputating. “All three of those are absolute candidates for medical evacuation; all three of those have so far been denied,” Mr. Elder explained.

Before war erupted in Gaza following Hamas-led attacks in Israel on 7 October 2023, between 50 and 100 patients were evacuated from the enclave every day, according to the UN World Health Organization (WHO).

In an alert on Tuesday, the agency warned that extensive clearance procedures by the Israeli authorities continue to cause delays to deliveries of medicine and food. 

“Some essential medical items are classified as ‘dual-use’ and denied entry,” WHO said in a post on X, in reference to goods that are primarily intended for civilian use but which the Israeli authorities believe could be diverted by Hamas or other militant groups for military purposes.

International NGO ban looms

The UNICEF spokesperson also highlighted the dangers of a recent Israeli ban on international NGOs, which will come into effect in the coming month and mean “blocking life-saving assistance”, he alleged. Mr. Elder also stressed the importance of allowing international media into the enclave, which has not been granted despite the ceasefire.

“There needs to be a lot more pressure on allowing international journalists to come in,” he said. “This is my seventh mission [to Gaza] and every time I see the 360-degree devastation, flattening of homes, my jaw drops.”

“It is absolutely as staggering yesterday as it was the first time I saw it more than two years ago,” he insisted.

Mr. Elder warned that two years of war have “left life for Gaza’s children unimaginably hard,” explaining that “the psychological damage remains untreated, and it’s becoming deeper and harder to heal, the longer this goes on”.

“A ceasefire that slows the bombs is progress, but one that still buries children is not enough,” he concluded.

In an alert, Cindy McCain – who heads the World Food Programme (WFP) – attributed a “dangerous and deepening global hunger crisis” to violent conflicts, extreme weather and economic downturns.  

The development comes as WFP faces massive shortfalls in funding; it has received less than half of the $13 billion it needs to reach 110 million of the world’s most vulnerable people.

This means that millions may be cut off from vital assistance, threatening lives and the stability of regions, the agency warned.

“WFP has proven time and again that early, strategic and innovative solutions can halt famine, stabilize communities, deter migration and enable families to recover,” Ms. McCain insisted.

Her comments come in a context of increasing hunger crises now affecting 318 million people around the world. In addition, “hundreds of thousands” are already suffering from “famine-like” conditions, WFP says.

Kenya plan showcases bold vision for refugee self-reliance

Barham Salih has made his first official visit as UN High Commissioner for Refugees, in charge of UNCHR, calling in the Kenyan capital for stronger global support to develop the solutions refugees need to rebuild their lives.

Over 800,000 refugees and asylum seekers live in the East African nation. Some 300,000 refugees, mostly from South Sudan, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo, have found safety in the Kakuma region over many years – a place of “transformation and innovation,” said the UNHCR chief.

He warned that the consequences of a growing lack of humanitarian funding were “stark” in Kakuma.  

“Despite scarce resources, Kenya continues to show remarkable solidarity for people in need, through smart policies that foster self-reliance and economic growth,” said Mr. Salih.  

Lack of funding  

Last year, less than a quarter of UNHCR’s budget for Kenya was funded – severely constricting access to healthcare, water, education and protection services for both refugees and host communities.  

In light of this, Kenya’s Shirika Plan seeks to transition from humanitarian aid to refugee self-reliance and harmony with host communities, providing refugees with legal IDs, financial services, education, and health care.

“These inclusive policies hold great promise for transforming the futures of both refugees and the communities hosting them.” said M Salih.  

Ukraine: 2025 was deadliest for civilians since full-scale conflict erupted

More than 2,500 civilians were killed in Ukraine in 2025, and nearly 12,250 injured – marking a 31 per cent increase compared to 2024, according to UN human rights monitors.  

The figures refer to those verified, with the actual total likely to be considerably higher.  

In December alone, more than 150 were killed and 888 injured. During that month, long-range attacks by Russian forces using missiles and drones caused 33 percent of all civilian casualties (34 killed and 308 injured), hitting cities and towns far from the frontline.

Some 67 per cent of civilian casualties occurred near the frontline (122 killed and 571 injured).  

Attacks on energy infrastructure

Since the conflict began in 2014, nearly 18,500 civilians have been killed.  

According to the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission (UNHRMM), the number of civilian casualties is likely to be significantly undercounted in cities such as Mariupol (Donetsk region), Lysychansk, Popasna, and Sievierodonetsk (Luhansk region), where there was protracted intensive fighting at the start of the full-scale Russian invasion which began in February 2022.

On top of civilian casualties, the Russian Federation also conducted large-scale, region-specific attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.  

In December, the Odesa region was among the most affected areas, experiencing repeated strikes that resulted in prolonged outages in several cities.