UN stands with Ukrainians for the long-term, insists UN aid chief

In a joint appeal from Kyiv, the UN’s emergency relief chief Tom Fletcher and Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, said that millions of civilians inside Ukraine and abroad depend on the international community’s support, amid ongoing Russian attacks.

“The Ukrainian people have shown incredible courage over these years and we have to respond by showing a real, genuine, sustained international engagement, we have to respond with heart,” said Mr. Fletcher. “We will be here with the Ukrainian people for as long as it takes to meet these needs and to support them…We must not forget those Ukrainians who are in the occupied territories whose needs are extreme. And we must continue to be creative and brave about getting our support to those who most need it.”

Millions in need

The appeals are designed to support critical assistance to some six million people inside Ukraine – where overall needs are more than twice that number – and abroad, where more than 6.8 million Ukrainian refugees live.

Some $2.62 billion is designated for response teams inside the country, while UNHCR has requested $690 million in 2025 and $1.2 billion for 2025-2026 to assist governments hosting refugees in 11 countries.

“The objective, of course, is not to make sure that these people are refugees forever,” said Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees. “The objective is for this to create the conditions for these people to return to Ukraine. This is what Ukraine needs and this is what the majority of the refugees want.”

Daily bombing

Speaking to journalists on his sixth visit to Ukraine, the refugee agency chief highlighted the unrelenting impact of bomb blasts on the frontline, day in, day out. Communities there continue to suffer destruction and deprivation in the cold of winter, he said.

“Here, Kyiv is a big city, but when you go out there in a small town, you see how people’s lives are completely devastated; almost everybody had to leave their houses.

“Very few people have access to heating in the bitter cold…This targeting by the Russian Federation of energy infrastructure, which is, of course, affecting civilian lives directly, is something that has to stop.”

Matthias Schmale, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine, emphasized that national NGO partners and the UN continue to deliver aid and evacuate the most vulnerable individuals, wherever access allows: “Inevitably, a big part of the needs are along the frontline,” he said.

“We are supporting in particular people who have chosen to stay near the frontline and amongst those, particularly people with disabilities and older people who find it difficult to move.”