\n
<\/p>\n
The heavy humanitarian and psychological toll of these strikes is compounded by the expectation that this year\u2019s winter will be much colder than last year\u2019s \u2013 with the level of destruction of power facilities outpacing the ability to recover.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are very worried about people living in high-rise buildings in cities near the frontline \u2013 that could turn into a major crisis<\/strong>,\u201d Matthias Schmale, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine, told reporters in Geneva.<\/p>\n Mr. Schmale\u2019s comments came a day after a massive Russian attack across Ukraine reportedly targeted critical energy infrastructure in civilian areas.<\/p>\n With 705 munitions reportedly deployed, the barrage was among the largest since Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion began in 2022.<\/p>\n If people in frontline cities like Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv or Dnipro in high rise apartment buildings are \u201cstuck without electricity or safe water for days on end\u201d during a harsh winter, Mr. Schmale explained, then \u201cthere is no way that with the available resources we would be able to respond to a major crisis within a crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDestroying energy production and distribution capacity as winter starts clearly impacts the civilian population and is a form of terror,\u201d Mr. Schmale insisted. \u201cThe continued strikes throughout the country also give a sense of nowhere is safe\u2026 in my almost one and a half years there, [I] feel and sense that the mental health impact of this war is increasing,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is increasingly a technological war, a drone war<\/strong>,\u201d the UN official said, highlighting that drones were responsible\u00a0for one third of all recorded civilian casualties in 2025.<\/p>\n This year has seen a 30 per cent overall increase in civilian deaths compared with 2024.<\/p>\n Civilian casualties of Thursday\u2019s attack included a seven-year-old girl who died in the hospital following a strike in the central region of Vinnytsia.<\/p>\n Earlier this week an attack severely damaged a children\u2019s hospital in Kherson City, injuring a child and health workers.<\/p>\n The World Health Organization (WHO) has recorded 364 attacks impacting healthcare facilities in Ukraine between January and October 2025.<\/p>\n Mr. Schmale recounted his own recent experience, which he described as a \u201cpoignant moment,\u201d\u00a0visiting a kindergarten in Kharkiv right after it had been struck by three missiles.<\/p>\n \u201cI just imagined as a parent, you drop your children in the morning at a kindergarten, you then get called back two and a half hours later\u2026 to pick up your traumatised children who’ve just experienced three missiles hitting their kindergarten,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis notion of safety for vulnerable people and children is really being violated all the time.\u201d<\/p>\n Turning to the situation in the Ukrainian territories occupied by the Russian Federation, the UN humanitarian coordinator said that the longer the war goes on for, \u201cthe more we are at risk of forgetting the vulnerable people\u201d in those areas.<\/p>\n According to estimates \u201cabout a million people are vulnerable in the so-called temporarily occupied territories,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Mr. Schmale also warned of the \u201cattacks on fundamental rights\u201d which are ongoing there, \u201cincluding attacks on citizenship.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMy understanding is that the occupying forces are insisting that Ukrainians are now registering for Russian documents in the occupied territories, and if they don’t do so, they will be considered illegal and are subject to either deportation or arrest,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The UN official expressed further concern over dwindling funds for the Ukraine humanitarian response, describing a \u201cdownward trend.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIn 2022, we had over $4 billion for humanitarian work in Ukraine. [In] 2023, it was still $2.6 [billion]. Last year, remarkably, 2024, with everything else going on in the world, still $2.2 [billion],\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThis year we stand at $1.1 [billion], so far half of what we got last year and with two months to go\u201d till the end of 2025, he added.<\/p>\n<\/div>\nHigh rise target<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Drone wars<\/strong><\/h2>\n
School horror<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Attack on citizenship<\/strong><\/h2>\n