Ukraine: Humanitarian Situation Snapshot (March - May 2025) [EN/UK]

HUMANITARIAN SITUATION SNAPSHOT: MARCH – MAY 2025

From March to May, civilians in Ukraine faced heightened risks as hostilities intensified and attacks on urban areas became more frequent. The Human Rights Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (HRMMU) verified that 581 civilians were killed and 2,926 were injured between March and May 2025. The number of people killed and injured surged by nearly 50 per cent in the first five months of 2025 compared to the same period in 2024. Much of the increase, according to the verified number, stemmed from the use of long-range weapons—particularly missiles and armed drones—in urban areas. Large urban centres, including Dnipro, Kharkiv, Kryvyi Rih, Kyiv, Odesa, Sumy and Zaporizhzhia, suffered repeated strikes, resulting in significant civilian casualties and widespread damage to homes, schools and hospitals. At the same time, the HRMMU noted an increase in civilian casualties in front-line areas from short-range drones, in particular in Khersonska Oblast, with older people disproportionately affected.

Intensified attacks also triggered a new wave of displacement, notably in Sumska, Donetska, Kharkivska and Dnipropetrovska oblasts during the same period. According to IOM, 3.8 million people remain internally displaced across the country, more than three years into the war in Ukraine. Between March and May, IOM assessed that more than 42,000 people were displaced from front-line oblasts, including 9,250 people displaced in the second half of May alone.

Children continued to be severely affected by the ongoing violence, which caused deaths and injuries and disrupted access to early childhood development and education. April recorded the highest number of verified child casualties in a single month since June 2022, with at least 19 children killed and 78 injured. The deadliest single strike harming children since the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022 occurred in Kryvyi Rih on 4 April. Damage to educational infrastructure also increased. Some 60 schools were damaged or destroyed in March alone, compared to 43 verified incidents in January and February. Furthermore, IOM reported that 21 per cent of Ukraine's children under five are not attending any pre-school programmes due to war-related reasons, primarily insecurity, displacement and proximity to the front line.

Access to health care deteriorated due to the impact of repeated attacks on health facilities, limited capacity and rising cost of health-care services. From March to May, WHO recorded more than 130 attacks on health care personnel and facilities. The strikes resulted in one verified death and 31 injuries among health workers and patients. Beyond attacks, access to health care is also strained by shortages of medical professionals, essential medicines and safe transport routes—especially in front-line areas, according to IOM.

Food needs remain a significant concern in front-line oblasts and northern border areas. Nearly one-third of the households in front-line and border oblasts have identified food insecurity as a primary concern, according to a joint food security assessment by WFP, FAO and the Kyiv School of Economics issued in May 2025. Households within 30 km of the front line are particularly vulnerable due to a shortage of functioning markets. Across the country, the war has led to significant decreases in income, unusable farmland, soaring food prices and a quadrupling of the poverty rate. The most vulnerable people, including internally displaced people, are the most impacted.

The ongoing war continues to drive sustained humanitarian needs, but humanitarian funding to Ukraine has not kept pace. Owing to a sharp and sudden contraction in humanitarian funding, aid organizations are being forced to scale back operations. In response, humanitarian partners are prioritizing life-saving interventions, focusing on assistance in front-line areas, evacuation support, after-strike emergency assistance and support of internally displaced people.