Ukraine - Humanitarian Response Plan - 13 January 2026
Description
STORY: OCHA / UKRAINE HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE
TRT: 05:49
SOURCE: OCHA
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT OCHA ON SCREEN
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 13 JANUARY 2026, KYIV, UKRAINE
Shotlist
RECENT - UKRAINE
1. Wide shot, Matthias Schmale in front of a damaged multiapartment building in Kherson Region
2. Wide shot, widespread destruction in residential areas of Kharkiv Region following the 2 January attack
3. Wide shot, rescue workers clear debris from damaged residential buildings and civilian infrastructure in Kharkiv Region
4. Wide shot, residential building apartments impacted by strikes on Kyiv on 9 January
5. Wide shot, humanitarian convoy heading to Kherson
6. Wide shot, residential building damaged by attack on Kyiv on 9 January, with an older woman walking by amid heavy snow
UKRAINE, 12 JANUARY, KHARKIV REGION
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Matthias Schmale, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine:
“We are launching today what we are calling HNRP in our jargon - the Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan for 2026. It is a continuation of what we have been doing through 2025, sadly, because the war is continuing. We have four priorities agreed among the UN and NGOs, with the Government support. The four priorities are, number one, continued support of vulnerable people that have stayed near the front line, particularly older people and people with limited mobility.”
UKRAINE, VARIOUS FRONT-LINE REGIONS [ DONETSK, KHARKIV, KHERSON, ZAPORIZZHIA, LUHANSK, SUMY, CHERNIHIV, DNIPRO AND MYKOLAIV]
5. Various shots, damaged homes in Kharkiv Region on 14 December 2025
6. Various shots, older woman in a damaged home in a Kamianka village in Kharkiv Region on 14 December 2025
7. Wide shot, humanitarian convoy heading to delivery vital aid supplies to war-affected communities in Kherson Region
8. Wide shot, humanitarian assistance delivered near front-line areas
UKRAINE, 12 JANUARY, KHARKIV REGION
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Matthias Schmale, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine:
“Second priority is supporting people in a journey of evacuation. There continue to be people who, of course, under the military strikes impact, continue to move away from danger to greater safety. So, we help NGOs who mostly do the evacuation work, do this, and then people transiting and ending up in collective sites or hopefully better places for a longer term.”
UKRAINE, VARIOUS FRONT-LINE REGIONS [ DONETSK, KHARKIV, KHERSON, ZAPORIZZHIA, LUHANSK, SUMY, CHERNIHIV, DNIPRO AND MYKOLAIV]
10. Wide shot, an older man being evacuated from a front-line region, boarding a humanitarian transport
11. Wide shot, evacuees at the Lozova transit centre in Lozova, eastern Ukraine. Located in southern Kharkiv Oblast, approximately 150 km south of Kharkiv city, Lozova serves as a key rail and road hub where people fleeing front-line towns and villages receive immediate humanitarian assistance, information and onward evacuation support.
12. Wide shot, people transiting through collective sites
UKRAINE, 12 JANUARY, KHARKIV REGION
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Matthias Schmale, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine:
“Third priority is supporting the NGOs that are doing the response after military strikes. That’s, of course, countrywide. And 90 per cent of this, if I remember correctly, happens near the front line within 50 kilometres or so. But strikes are countrywide, so that is not limited geographically to the front line.”
RECENT - UKRAINE, ACROSS UKRAINE
14. Wide shot, emergency response operations following military strikes on a residential building in Kyiv on 6 January
15. Medium shot, people impacted by the strikes receive hot meals as NGO responders and emergency services continue debris clearance and immediate life-saving support
16. Wide shot, humanitarian workers prepare repairs to windows damaged by the strikes, as emergency support is mobilized to help affected households restore basic safety and shelter
UKRAINE, 12 JANUARY, KHARKIV REGION
17. SOUNDBITE (English): Matthias Schmale, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine:
“And then fourth priority is there are vulnerable groups in year five of this, as we are about to begin year five sadly, who risk falling between the cracks. In year five, they don’t necessarily need humanitarian support, but the development support has not yet kicked in. I am speaking of internally displaced people who’ve been in collective sites for two or three years. I’m speaking of older people and people with limited mobility who are stuck in institutions. We are also envisioning what I sometimes refer to as preventive humanitarian aid for farmers near the front line. And then of course, primary health care systems have been disrupted, and there are people, as a third example, who don’t have access to medicine, cancer patients for example. So that’s a fourth priority, a group of particularly vulnerable people we want to continue supporting as best as we can.”
FILE - UKRAINE, ACROSS UKRAINE
18. Screenshot of infographics showing the four Strategic Priorities with people planned to be assisted
19. Various shots, older people and people with limited mobility in institutions, including collective sites
20. Various shots, health facilities and patients receiving care
UKRAINE, 12 JANUARY, KHARKIV REGION
21. SOUNDBITE (English) Matthias Schmale, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine:
“All of this needs funding. Of course, on the day of launching this Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan, we appeal in particular to the international community, to 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.”
RECENT – UKRAINE
22. Medium shot, a woman looking at damaged residential buildings in Kherson Region, reflecting the impact of continued hostilities on civilian areas close to the front line
UKRAINE, 12 JANUARY, KHARKIV REGION
23. SOUNDBITE (English) Matthias Schmale, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine:
“It reflects a collaborative effort. We have about 500 partners involved in the planning, but importantly in the implementation.
By far, the majority are national partners, including fantastic national NGOs that do heroic work near the front line in helping people evacuate and in helping people cope with the impact of military strikes. So, the plan has the purpose of holding us together as a humanitarian community that is supported with international funding. And our appeal is, as we enter sadly year five of this terrible war, please continue standing in solidarity with the most vulnerable people in Ukraine impacted by the war. And we know there are many challenging situations around the world. We hope that Ukraine is not forgotten and that the solidarity continues.”
Storyline
As Ukraine enters the fifth year of the full-scale war, the United Nations and humanitarian partners launched the 2026 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan, outlining four agreed strategic priorities to address the most urgent needs of civilians affected by continued hostilities. In 2026, an estimated 10.8 million people—including internally displaced people and war-affected non-displaced civilians—will require humanitarian assistance across Ukraine.
The Plan builds on humanitarian response efforts throughout 2025, recognizing that the war continues and that needs remain severe and increasingly complex, driven by repeated attacks, displacement, protection risks and deep psychological distress. Under the 2026 Plan, humanitarian partners aim to provide prioritized, multisectoral life-saving support to 4.12 million people facing the most severe needs, requiring US$2.31 billion in funding.
The response is framed around a more focused, issue-based approach under the Humanitarian Reset in Ukraine. This reflects prioritization driven by the severity of needs and operational realities, rather than an improvement in the humanitarian situation, and is designed to ensure efficiency, adaptability and impact amid evolving hostilities and seasonal challenges.
According to the Humanitarian Coordinator, the first priority focuses on supporting the most vulnerable people who remain near the front lines, particularly older people and people with limited mobility.
The second priority addresses evacuation and displacement, supporting vulnerable newly displaced people and those evacuated to safer hosting areas, including people transiting through transit centres and living in collective sites. Humanitarian organizations, primarily national and international NGOs, play a central role in delivering this assistance.
The third priority focuses on emergency response following military strikes. While most responses occur near the front line, strikes continue to affect communities nationwide, requiring countrywide readiness to address sudden, life-threatening needs.
The fourth priority focuses on severely vulnerable groups at risk of falling through the cracks in the fifth year of the war. These include internally displaced people facing protracted displacement, older people and people with limited mobility in institutions, farmers near the front line requiring preventive humanitarian support, and people whose access to primary health care and essential medicines has been disrupted.
The Plan reflects a collaborative effort involving around 500 humanitarian partners, the majority of them national organizations, whose leadership remains central to first-line response. Humanitarian actors are appealing to the international community to maintain solidarity with Ukraine through timely, flexible and predictable funding, to ensure assistance reaches those most at risk despite growing global humanitarian pressures.