At Security Council, UN Deputy Relief Chief warns of growing civilian suffering in Ukraine

Briefing to the Security Council on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine by Joyce Msuya, Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator, on behalf of Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator

New York, 26 March 2025

As delivered

Thank you, Madam President.

Madam President,

As we hope for a full cessation of hostilities, and, ultimately, peace, in Ukraine, the situation for civilians has continued to worsen since we last briefed the Council. This, and the severe global funding cuts for humanitarian operations, including for Ukraine, is further reducing our capacity to provide life-saving aid.

Since 1 March, not a day has passed without an attack harming civilians. We are particularly appalled by the strikes countrywide on 7 March that killed 21 civilians and injured many more, making it one of the deadliest days this year.  

Violence continued last week, claiming the lives of dozens of civilians and injuring hundreds more across northern, central, eastern and southern Ukraine. The regions of Sumy, Odesa, Dnipro, Donetsk and Kharkiv were hit especially hard, with widespread damage to homes, shops, warehouses and vehicles.

On 21 March, a family of three – a mother, father and daughter – were killed in a drone attack in Zaporizhzhia city.

On 24 March, local authorities report nearly 100 civilians, including more than 20 children, were injured during a massive attack in Sumy city.

We welcome the announcements of an energy infrastructure ceasefire, as well as negotiations to ensure safe navigation in the Black Sea. However, as the cold weather persists, the impact of past attacks on energy infrastructure continue to affect civilians’ access to electricity, gas, heating and water, threatening the lives and well-being of the most vulnerable, including children, the elderly and people with disabilities.

In front-line communities, civilians are confronted with relentless shelling and face impossible choices: flee under dangerous conditions, leaving behind everything they own, or stay and risk injury, death and limited access to essential services.

The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine has verified that, since 24 February 2022, at least 12,881 Ukrainian civilians, including 681 children, have been killed. Almost 30,500 have been injured. The actual numbers are likely much higher.

The World Health Organization has now verified over 2,300 attacks affecting healthcare facilities, personnel, transport, supplies and patients in Ukraine since February 2022.

Madam President,

We are deeply concerned by the human cost of continued fighting, not only across Ukraine – including in occupied areas – but also in parts of the Russian Federation.

Media reports indicate civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure in the Kursk, Belgorod and Bryansk regions of the Russian Federation.

I must remind all parties to take constant care to spare civilians and civilian objects, as international humanitarian law demands. Infrastructure indispensable for civilians’ survival, wherever they are, must be protected. Indiscriminate attacks are strictly prohibited.

Madam President,

Across Ukraine, almost 13 million people need humanitarian assistance.

More than 10 million Ukrainians have been forced to flee their homes, including 3.7 million who are internally displaced.  

This displacement is disproportionately affecting women and girls, heightening their exposure to gender-based violence and hindering their access to support services.

Funding cuts are expected to further impact an estimated 640,000 women and girls in Ukraine, as vital gender-based violence services, psychosocial support and safe spaces will no longer be continued, according to the UN Population Fund.

In many areas, response efforts are led by the Government of Ukraine, regional authorities and Ukrainian first responders.

The UN and its humanitarian partners continue to do their best focusing on front-line communities, people forced to evacuate their homes due to increased violence, those most immediately impacted by attacks and newly displaced people.

So far in 2025, we have reached 1.7 million people with water and sanitation services, healthcare, food assistance and shelter items. We have also delivered critical supplies to nearly 20,000 war-affected civilians in front-line communities through 14 inter-agency convoys.

Some 660 humanitarian organizations – led by local NGOs – work amidst tremendous insecurity to provide civilians with the services and supplies they need to sustain their lives.

Sadly, they have not been spared in this conflict.

Already this year, seven humanitarian workers have been injured in the line of duty. Attacks also damaged humanitarian assets and facilities in the Kharkiv, Odesa, Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv and Sloviansk regions, further hampering the response.

Humanitarians, their facilities and assets must be protected, and humanitarian relief operations facilitated.

We are grateful to the donors who have so far provided 17 per cent of the US$2.6 billion needed for the 2025 Ukraine Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan.

This has enabled us to address the most immediate impacts of the conflict and provide life-saving assistance. Recent funding cuts have led to a reprioritization of Ukraine response efforts that will be announced in the coming weeks. Continued financial support will be essential to maintain operations.

Madam President,

We are extremely concerned about the estimated 1.5 million civilians requiring assistance in parts of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia regions under occupation by the Russian Federation.

We remain unable to reach these people at any adequate scale.

As we have said before, international humanitarian law requires all parties to allow and facilitate the swift and unimpeded delivery of humanitarian relief to civilians in need and ensure that humanitarian personnel have the necessary freedom of movement to perform their duties.

We welcome further engagement with the parties to allow us to deliver aid safely to those in need, wherever they are.

Madam President,

Here is what we need from the international community.

One: insistence on compliance with international humanitarian law, to protect civilians and civilian objects, including humanitarians, and ensure unimpeded humanitarian access to people in need.

Two: funding to save as many lives as we can and sustain humanitarian operations in this complex and dangerous environment.

And three: an end to this war, and until then sustained efforts to ensure that humanitarian needs are a central part of discussions on a pause in fighting or longer-term agreement.

Thank you, Madam President.