Security Council briefing on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine by Joyce Msuya, ASG for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator on behalf of Tom Fletcher, USG for Humanitarian Affairs and ERC

New York, 9 December 2025

As delivered

Madam President, Members of the Council,

Thank you for the opportunity to brief the Council again on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine.

In the two-and-a-half weeks since our last update, intense missile and drone attacks across Ukraine have continued to exact a worrying toll on civilians. These strikes, many conducted at night, during freezing temperatures, continue to kill and injure civilians, sever essential services, and undermine the lifelines that civilians rely on.

Madam President,

Allow me to share what this means on the ground in humanitarian terms.

In recent days, strikes have hit critical energy infrastructure in Kharkiv, Odesa and the Dnipro region. Repair teams cannot keep pace with the damage. In several oblasts, rolling blackouts of 12 to 18 hours are cutting heat and water to entire apartment blocks.

In Odesa, a missile strike last week destroyed a sub-station supplying power to several neighbourhoods, including a displacement centre.

Attacks last week also hit residential buildings in Kharkiv, Sumy and Zaporizhzhia, killing and injuring civilians, including children, continuing the patterns documented in our previous briefings.

Across Donetsk and Kharkiv oblasts, authorities and humanitarian partners have accelerated voluntary evacuations from communities where repeated shelling has made it impossible to guarantee even minimal services.

In areas around Pokrovsk – already highlighted in our November briefing – winter has compounded needs. Older people, people with disabilities, and families with young children are increasingly seeking evacuation after days without heat, clean water or stable power. Some communities are facing sub-zero temperatures in damp shelters, many of which [were] damaged from previous strikes.

In Lyman, where roughly 3,000 civilians were already out of reach of regular assistance, attacks have further restricted movement. Local volunteers told us last week that families are rationing humanitarian supplies.

Madam President,

Energy infrastructure has been targeted in Ukraine and the Russian Federation, and winter sharply raises the stakes. Each damaged sub-station, heating pipeline or pumping station risks cascading failures with grave repercussions for the well-being of civilians.

In Kherson, a strike last week damaged a heating plant serving thousands of residents. A doctor from the nearby clinic shared with our team: “People can survive without electricity for a time, but not without heat. Without heat, our elderly patients decline within hours.”

WHO [World Health Organization] has verified hundreds of attacks on healthcare this year – attacks which kill, injure and cripple health services when illnesses, hypothermia risks and trauma cases surge.

International humanitarian law is unequivocal: civilians and civilian objects, wherever they are, must be protected and constant care must be taken to spare them. Indiscriminate attacks, including attacks that cause disproportionate incidental death or injury to civilians or damage to civilian objects, are strictly prohibited.

As the 22nd meeting of States Parties to the Anti-Personnel Mine Ban Convention concluded last week, it is timely to renew the UN’s grave concern over States’ intention to withdraw from this treaty and the concerning retreat from international humanitarian law this represents. Anti-personnel landmines protect no one.

Madam President,

Humanitarian partners continue to deliver assistance whenever and wherever access allows. Over recent weeks:

Winter clothing, blankets and thermal supplies have been pre-positioned in front-line oblasts, and community points have been established to provide civilians with access to heat, electricity and basic services during outages.

Collective centres have been expanded for families arriving through evacuation corridors.

Mobile health teams are travelling to areas experiencing prolonged outages.

Inter-agency convoys continue to deliver food, water purification tablets, medical supplies and shelter materials. So far this year, 44 convoys have reached 50,000 civilians in the hardest-to-reach communities along the front line.

But access to some front-line areas remains extremely challenging. Active hostilities, damaged roads and security restrictions regularly delay or suspend humanitarian operations.

Humanitarian personnel face rising dangers. In December so far, one aid worker was injured in Kherson region, with eight cases of damage to humanitarian offices, assets and aid distribution sites, according to OCHA's Access Monitoring and Reporting Framework.

As noted in our last briefing, a clearly marked UN convoy in Kherson was struck in October while attempting to deliver aid – underscoring growing dangers to aid workers.

International humanitarian law also demands that humanitarian personnel and assets be protected. Engaging in dialogue with the relevant parties is essential to ensure they do not recur.

Beyond these challenges, significant portions of the country remain out of humanitarian reach.

While the UN does not have humanitarian operations in parts of Ukraine under occupation by the Russian Federation, our position is clear: we stand ready to deliver assistance to all civilians in need wherever they are, prioritizing solely on the basis of humanitarian need.

Madam President,

As winter deepens and access tightens, our ability to respond hinges on timely and sufficient funding.

Yet funding shortfalls continue to constrain winter operations. Only 65 per cent of the US$278 million required for the Winter Response Plan has been received, forcing cuts to the very services – cash assistance, heating support, mental health care, and protection for women and girls – that are most critical in winter.

The Global Humanitarian Overview released yesterday underscores the scale of these needs: 10.8 million people need assistance in 2026, and $2.3 billion is needed to target 4.1 million of them. The regional refugee response also remains substantial. Given this magnitude, even a modest shortfall leaves tens of thousands without the support they need for survival.

Underfunding has a human cost. Families face freezing temperatures without heating support; women and girls lose access to safe spaces; and older people in front-line communities are left without the means to evacuate.

Madam President,

Today, the humanitarian consequences are clear: attacks harming energy systems are pushing cities toward blackout; strikes in residential areas are uprooting families mid-winter; and humanitarian access constraints are depriving the most vulnerable where suffering is highest.

I urge you, Members of the Council, to use the tools at your disposal: your voice, your influence, your unity where possible, to ensure three things:

First, that the rules of war are upheld in practice, not only in principle, to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure. Your collective influence on the protection of civilians carries weight.

Second, and equally a matter of compliance with the rules of war, that safe, unimpeded humanitarian access to civilians in need be facilitated. When assistance is endangered, blocked or delayed, the consequences are immediate and severe.

Third, that humanitarian action is funded in line with the scale of need.

Member State decisions will determine whether families face this winter with or without heat, medical care and shelter.

Madam President,

The people of Ukraine do not have the privilege of waiting for better conditions. They are enduring a fourth winter since the escalation of this war, under fire and in the dark. What they need from this Council is not only sympathy but concrete action to reduce harm and safeguard the humanitarian action that stands between survival and catastrophe.

Your actions in the coming weeks will influence whether this winter becomes another chapter of avoidable suffering, or a moment when the Council helped prevent it.

Thank you.