Image shows a damaged building in Ukraine

Table of contents

Approximate read time: 10 minutes

The House of Lords is scheduled to consider the following question for short debate on 12 December 2024:

Baroness Tyler of Enfield (Liberal Democrat) to ask His Majesty’s Government what plans they have for enhanced humanitarian assistance for the people of Ukraine this winter, and in particular for mental health, energy and housing provision.

1. What is the current humanitarian situation in Ukraine?

The humanitarian crisis accompanying Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine is continuing into its third winter, with recent escalations in hostilities driving an increase in its severity. According to UN agencies, since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022:[1]

  • 5 million refugees from Ukraine have been recorded globally, 6.2 million of whom are in other countries across Europe
  • more than 3.5 million people are estimated to be displaced inside Ukraine
  • over 14.6 million people inside Ukraine are in need of urgent humanitarian assistance

In its most recent situation report, issued on 30 October 2024, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) observed:[2]

The humanitarian situation in Ukraine worsened in August and September [2024], due to intensified attacks in the northeast, east and south. According to the Human Rights Monitoring Mission [in] Ukraine (HRMMU) in September [2024], over 1,400 deaths and injuries were verified, the highest number since the start of the full-scale invasion. Homes, hospitals and schools have been damaged, in addition to the disruption of other essential services, including water and electricity. Humanitarian organisations had to adapt to the rapidly changing environment to meet the growing needs for assistance and protection services.

The escalation of hostilities has significantly increased humanitarian needs near the front line. Civilians remaining in front-line communities in Donetska, Kharkivska, Khersonska, Dnipropetrovska and Zaporizka oblasts face dire living conditions, which is expected to worsen as winter approaches. WHO [World Health Organization] verified 66 attacks on health-care facilities in Ukraine, more than a third of such attacks globally. In Donestka oblast, the relocation of health facilities to other parts of the country has posed challenges to access health care in the region. Students, required to use online learning, struggle to connect due to frequent and unpredictable electricity cuts and limited safe learning spaces. Under constant shelling and with limited access to critical services, limited shops, pharmacies and banks, people remaining close to the front line need shelter repairs, family items, hygiene products, clean water and food. Kharkiv and Kherson cities have been facing these conditions for some time, while Zaporizhzhia has more recently been under frequent attacks, affecting civilians and civilian infrastructure.

Damage to energy infrastructure is expected to worsen the challenges civilians will face in the coming winter, which is forecasted to be the toughest for Ukrainians since February 2022. The impact of the attacks on [the] power supply may disrupt essential services such as water, gas and heating in Ukraine, particularly in front-line communities. Under these circumstances, humanitarians adapted their response to meet the needs of people ahead of below-zero temperatures.

In a winter response plan published in September 2024, UNHCR, also known as the UN Refugee Agency, noted that Russia continued to target Ukrainian energy infrastructure through large-scale aerial attacks. It added:[3]

According to estimates, Ukraine has lost more than 60% of its energy generation capacity, with potentially dire consequences on the quality of everyday life in Ukraine as winter approaches. Rolling power outages are now a common occurrence across the country and will likely worsen in the coming months. People will struggle to remain safe and warm in their homes as energy prices, including for solid fuel, are expected to soar, along with household expenditures. The situation is expected to be particularly severe in the north, east and south of Ukraine, where shelling and targeted attacks on civilian and critical infrastructure are daily occurrences. Local authorities in the nine frontline oblasts have provided preliminary estimates of more than 862,000 at-risk vulnerable people who will need additional support in winter.

Russian attacks on energy infrastructure have continued, including a large-scale attack using over 200 missiles and drones which left parts of Ukraine without power in November 2024.[4]

The UN World Food Programme estimates that over 2 million people in Ukraine are suffering from insufficient food consumption, including 20–30% of people in the Kherson oblast.[5]

In addition, in December 2024 the Financial Times reported that Russia was using drones to attack Ukrainian civilian targets in Kherson, including ambulances, police cars, fire engines and humanitarian convoys.[6] Russian drone operatives were also reported to be targeting Ukrainian civilians at markets, petrol stations, cafes, post offices and humanitarian aid centres, as well as dropping explosives in streets, courtyards, playgrounds and public squares in non-occupied areas of the city. Over 500 civilians in Kherson are reported to have been killed or injured, including losing limbs, by drone-related attacks since the beginning of August 2024.

The Council of Europe Development Bank noted earlier this year that housing continued to be one of the sectors most impacted by the war in Ukraine, with over 10% of the total housing stock in the country either damaged or destroyed.[7] It estimated close to 2 million households were affected.

The conflict continues to have profound effects on the mental health of those affected, including refugees, internally displaced persons, non-displaced persons and those on the front lines.[8] According to the Ukrainian Health Ministry, the number of patients reporting mental health problems in 2024 had doubled since a year earlier.[9] In addition, a study published in the Lancet earlier this year suggested that 50.8% of surveyed non-displaced persons, 55.4% of internally displaced persons, and 62.2% of refugees met the diagnosis criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).[10]

For further information, see:

2. What is the UK government’s policy?

At the G7 summit held in June 2024, the previous prime minister, Rishi Sunak, said the UK would provide £242mn in bilateral aid to Ukraine to support immediate humanitarian, energy, and stabilisation needs, in addition to earlier funding.[11]

In September 2024 the foreign secretary, David Lammy, confirmed the new Labour government would meet this commitment for immediate support.[12] He said bilateral funding for 2024/25 would include:

  • £100mn in humanitarian funding
  • a further £20mn to support essential repairs to Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and improve its resilience
  • £40mn for stabilisation, targeted at territories recovered by Ukraine and including funding for investigations into war crimes

The government has noted this support will bring overall humanitarian funding to £457mn for Ukraine and the region since the start of the full-scale invasion in February 2022.[13]

In October 2024 the government said in response to a written question on damage to Ukraine’s energy infrastructure:

Since March 2024 alone, Ukraine has lost over 50 percent of its power generation due to a string of Russian attacks on energy generation facilities. Over the upcoming heating season, Russian attacks and low temperatures risk making access to power, water and heating intermittent, aggravating the humanitarian situation on the ground.

The UK has been working closely with Ukrainian officials and international donors to fund repairs and provide back-up power generation during the colder months, while also supporting humanitarian efforts to ensure that civilians have access to warming points and collective centres are equipped with generators.[14]

For further information, see:

3. Read more

3.1 Parliamentary questions, statements and debates

3.2 Briefing material

Cover image by President of Ukraine on Flickr.

References

  1. UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, ‘Ukraine: Situation report’, updated 30 October 2024; and UN Refugee Agency, ‘Ukraine situation’, accessed 6 December 2024. Return to text
  2. UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, ‘Ukraine: Situation report’, updated 30 October 2024, bold in original. See also: ‘Ukraine winter response plan, October 2024–March 2025’, 26 July 2024. Return to text
  3. UN Refugee Agency, ‘Ukraine winter response plan 2024–25’, updated September 2024. Return to text
  4. Christopher Miller, ‘Russia targets Ukraine energy sites in ‘massive’ missile and drone attack’, Financial Times (£), 17 November 2024. Return to text
  5. UN World Food Programme, ‘Hunger map: Ukraine’, accessed 6 December 2024. Return to text
  6. Christopher Miller et al, ‘Russia uses civilians as ‘target practice’ for killer drones’, Financial Times (£), 4 December 2024. Return to text
  7. Council of Europe Development Bank, ‘CEB and Ukraine sign a loan agreement to address urgent housing needs’, 11 June 2024. Return to text
  8. For the content of a previous debate on this subject, see: Debate on ‘Ukraine: Refugees’, HL Hansard, 6 April 2022, cols 295–326GC. For further background information, see: House of Commons Library, ‘Refugee mental health and the response to the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine’, 7 July 2022. Return to text
  9. Vitaly Shevchenko, ‘‘Our husbands didn’t go to war for Ukraine so we can sit around crying’’, BBC News, 20 September 2024. Return to text
  10. Oleh Lushchak et al, ‘Prevalence of stress, anxiety, and symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder among Ukrainians after the first year of Russian invasion: A nationwide cross-sectional study’, Lancet, January 2024, vol 36. Return to text
  11. Prime Minister’s Office, ‘UK shows enduring commitment to Ukraine at G7 summit’, 12 June 2024. Return to text
  12. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, ‘UK foreign secretary and US secretary of state in Kyiv in first ever joint visit, as David Lammy announces over £600mn worth of support for Ukraine’, 11 September 2024. Return to text
  13. Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office et al, ‘UK support to Ukraine: Factsheet’, 29 November 2024. Return to text
  14. House of Lords, ‘Written question: Ukraine: Energy (HL1293)’, 11 October 2024. The “heating season” refers to the period over winter when local authorities in different regions operate district heating systems. Return to text