Winter has always been difficult in Ukraine, but this year, it is one of the coldest in decades.   As temperatures drop, millions of people are facing daily life without drinking water, reliable electricity or heating, following repeated attacks on energy infrastructure that have disrupted power supplies across the country. For many households, keeping warm has become a daily challenge.Since the start of the full-scale invasion, Ukraine’s energy system has been under continuous attacks. Power plants, substations, and transmission lines have been damaged or destroyed, leading to widespread outages and rolling blackouts. While repairs continue, insecurity and access constraints mean that many communities, across the country, remain vulnerable to prolonged disruptions.With an estimated 10.8 million people in need, humanitarians aim to reach 4.1 million of the most vulnerable, prioritizing those experiencing the most severe conditions.  In response, United Nations agencies, working closely with the Government of Ukraine and humanitarian partners, are supporting communities to meet immediate needs while also laying the groundwork for greater resilience.  Beyond Darkness: The Human Impact When the energy infrastructure is under attack, the consequences are immediate; heating systems stop, water pumps fall silent, and communication becomes unreliable. For older people, peoplewith disabilities, and those living alone, extended outages can quickly turn dangerous. Healthcare facilities face even bigger risks. Since early 2022, the WHO has verified at least 2841 attacks on health care causing a number of facilities to close. Remaining ones depend on uninterrupted power to operate surgical equipment, preserve medicines, and provide emergency care. Schools, already disrupted by the war, struggle to keep classrooms functioning when heating and electricity cannot be guaranteed. The impact is not only physical. The uncertainty of never knowing when the next blackout will come or whether heating will last through the night, adds to the psychological strain carried by communities affected by years of  war. As Matthias Schmale, the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine, has warned, “Attacks on energy infrastructure risk leaving hospitals and homes without electricity and heating during these coldest months of the year.” He also highlighted the situation regarding basic needs, “Parents cannot prepare hot meals for their children, and many older people have been left isolated in cold homes yet again.”  Emergency Support When It Matters Most To address urgent needs, the United Nations, through its agencies, has mobilized emergency assistance to stabilize essential services. Generators, fuel, transformers, and spare parts have been delivered to hospitals, heating and water utilities, shelters, and collective sites, helping them continue operating during power outages. UNICEF is maintaining access to heating and safe drinking water, as both systems are often the first to shut down when electricity fails. By providing generators and backup equipment, the organization helps prevent shortages, reduce health risks, and enable the continuity of essential services in communities. In parallel, WHO and UNICEF have supported hospitals and primary healthcare centers with alternative power sources, ensuring continuity of care, particularly in areas close to the front line. Reflecting on the broader impact of these attacks, Matthias Schmale emphasized that “this systematic cycle of attacks on energy infrastructure violates international humanitarian law and must stop.”  Keeping Homes WarmAs winter sets in, heating becomes one of the most urgent priorities. UNHCR and partners have distributed winter insultation kits, heaters, and cash support to help families buy firewood or other winter necessities and cover heating costs. In addition, winter repairs and insulation work is carried out on private homes as well as in collective centers, hosting the most vulnerable internally displaced people. For displaced people or war-affected families living in war-damaged housing, this support can be decisive.The IOM has worked at the community level, helping rehabilitate heating systems in collective centers and providing energy‑efficient equipment. These interventions not only address immediate needs but also help reduce energy consumption over time.Across the country, the “Invincibility points,” heated public spaces equipped with electricity, water, and internet have become critical during extended outages. UN agencies have supported those spaces with equipment and supplies so they can serve as safe havens when homes lose power.Matthias Schmale has stressed that “the whole neighborhoods of the cities end up without heating, power or water supply after each attack for many hours, days or even months. We are particularly worried about vulnerable people – children, the elderly and people with disabilities.”    Building Resilience While emergency aid remains vital, the United Nations is also supporting longer-term energy resilience in Ukraine. UNDP leads efforts on decentralized, rapidly deployable systems—like distributed generators, modular heating, renewable energy, and battery storage—to reduce reliance on vulnerable, centralized infrastructure.UNOPS strengthened Ukraine’s energy resilience by delivering over $45 million in heating equipment to Kharkiv, including modular boiler houses to reduce reliance on centralized systems. In Mykolaiv, 10 emergency repair vehicles were provided to local heating companies - two were recently deployed to Kyiv after major attacks. UNOPS also supplied 100 generators to the State Emergency Service, some of which powered homes in Kyiv during January outages.In partnership with local authorities, UNDP is installing solar panels and batteries for critical facilities such as hospitals, schools, and water systems, alongside energy-efficiency measures like improved insulation and upgraded heating.  At the same time, UNIDO is helping Ukraine’s industrial sector improve energy efficiency, implement international management standards, and access financing, protecting production, jobs, and energy security amid ongoing disruptions. UNICEF is helping schools improve their heating and energy resilience through grants that enable them to repair and upgrade their systems. 
These initiatives help communities endure the current crisis while building a more sustainable, resilient recovery.  Coordination at the CoreThe scale of the energy crisis requires close coordination. Across Ukraine, UN agencies work together to align humanitarian and early recovery efforts, ensuring support reaches those most in need.  Coordination with national and local authorities is equally important. Ukrainian energy workers continue repairing damaged infrastructure under extremely challenging conditions. UN support complements these efforts by addressing urgent pressing needs while strengthening local capacity.Matthias Schmale has warned that ongoing attacks on energy infrastructure, combined with freezing winter temperatures, could create “a nightmare scenario” for civilians. He added that if the destruction continues, “our biggest nightmare is thousands of people stuck in high-rise buildings without electricity, heating or water.” Looking Ahead: Energy, Dignity, and RecoveryThe energy crisis in Ukraine is a reminder that the impact of war extends far beyond visible destruction. It reaches homes, hospitals, and schools, shaping daily life in ways that are often unseen. Yet, amid these challenges, communities continue to endure.By combining emergency support with longer‑term initiatives, UN agencies are helping Ukrainians cope with immediate hardship while preserving dignity and safety.  As Matthias Schmale has emphasized, “access to energy is about far more than light and heat, it is about dignity, stability, and the ability to live with a sense of normalcy, even in the midst of war.”As Ukraine faces an uncertain winter and ongoing challenges, sustained global support and investment in resilient energy solutions remain essential, not only to power homes and hospitals, but to support recovery and hope for the future.  

On the International Day of Women and Girls in Science, we are sharing the stories of Ukrainian women who are revolutionizing their fields with their dedication, innovations and zero tolerance for gender inequality and stereotypes.  Women take a wheel in the male-dominated industry   Vira, who spent years of her life working as the village head, is now navigating male-dominated industry of logistics and freight transportation. Truck driving in Ukraine has traditionally been a male-dominated profession. But labor shortages and growing demand for equal access to jobs are opening the door to new opportunities."After driving a car, a truck seemed like a challenge, but thanks to a good driving school and instructors, the training went quite smoothly," she recalls. Breaking stereotypes, Vira underwent training to obtain a Category CE license and later joined a She Drives project that supports women who have decided to pursue a career in freight transport, to make her dream come true and obtain Code 95, which opened access to international transportation. "What inspires me is the road, the wheel, and the sense of responsibility. When you deliver the cargo on time, and the vehicle is in good condition, it gives a feeling of satisfaction," she adds. A journey into robotics and creativity to support women in STEM What began as a playful experiment with 3D printing during the pandemic evolved into a company with a clear vision: to merge creativity and engineering in ways that resonate with people. “That experiment became ‘KULYA’ - and people’s reactions showed it was something bigger,” explains Olha, Ukrainian innovator, CEO and co-founder of UkraineRobotics. “When we filed our first patent and strangers started asking on social media, ‘Can I order one too?’, I realized it was no longer a hobby. It was the beginning of a company and a vision to create an ecosystem where robotics and imagination meet.” Olha speaks candidly about her path into technology. She says she struggled with self-doubt and never saw women in leadership roles in her field growing up, which made it harder to see herself as a CEO. Her message for young women and girls is simple: choose what you love, start exploring and do not listen to anyone. She believes that bringing more women into science and engineering isn’t just about fairness, it’s crucial for fostering innovation and helping Ukraine’s future development and reconstruction.  Clearing lands for safety of communities Driven by the call to help people, Karyna worked as a firefighter before joining a team of humanitarian deminers within the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in the Dnipro region.  “Every day brings something new. I am constantly learning, getting new information, and gaining experience. In this job, it couldn't be any other way –  every trip, every task brings new knowledge,” she explains.  Karyna describes her daily work as both demanding and meaningful. Her team works across agricultural, forested, and residential areas affected by the war, making them safe again so people can live, work, and children can play without fear. Though sometimes confronted with the stereotype that demining isn’t “women’s work,” she says respect and collaboration in her unit have always enabled her to focus on what is important.  “What inspires us most is when, after our work in the communities, people can live peacefully, children can play, and living conditions become safe again. That is what gives us the strength to do our work,” she says.Karyna encourages women and girls to explore this field if they feel drawn to it and not to be limited by traditional expectations about gender roles.New technologies to open the doors for women in farming industry   The Ukrainian pig industry is confronting labour shortages and operational challenges amid the ongoing war, with many farms struggling to fill key technical and managerial roles. Oksana Yurchenko, the President of the Association of Ukrainian Pig Breeders, is sure that the future of the industry is with women at leadership positions. “Involving women in Ukraine’s pig industry is a matter of inclusivity, resilience and innovation. Women bring valuable skills and perspectives that can strengthen farms and the sector as a whole,” she explains.  Eco-Pork, a Japanese company, is working with Ukrainian partners to bring new digital tools to pig farming. These tools make the work easier to learn and help more women enter skilled jobs, while also improving farm efficiency and reducing environmental impact. The initiative is part of UNIDO’s Green Industrial Recovery project and includes training for women, supporting a more modern, sustainable, and inclusive pig farming sector.The International Day of Women and Girls in Science, observed every year on 11 February, was established by the United Nations to promote full and equal access for women and girls in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, and to highlight the vital role they play in driving innovation and sustainable development worldwide. In 2026 the theme is “Synergizing AI, Social Science, STEM and Finance: Building Inclusive Futures for Women and Girls,” highlighting the need to combine these areas to close the gender gap and create a more inclusive future. 

TRACES, a documentary film by Ukrainian director Alisa Kovalenko, co-directed by Marysia Nikitiuk, has been selected for Panorama Dokumente at the Berlin International Film Festival (Berlinale), which will take place from 12 to 22 February 2026. The world premiere on such a prominent international platform aims to draw global attention to the issue of conflict-related sexual violence during Russia’s war against Ukraine.The film is created and directed by Alisa Kovalenko (We Will Not Fade Away, Home Games, My Dear Théo) and co-directed by Marysia Nikitiuk (When the Trees Fall, I Am Nina), who noted that their collaboration became an expression of genuine sisterhood and mutual creative support.Alisa Kovalenko also serves as the film’s director, screenwriter, director of photography, and one of the editors. The film was edited by Nikon Romanchenko, an award-winning Ukrainian director and film editor (Timestamp, Stop-Zemlia), and Milenia Fiedler, a renowned Polish editor and Rector of the Łódź Film School. The editing process was further advised by leading European editors Niels Pagh Andersen, Audrey Maurion, and Kasia Boniecka, as well as by American documentary filmmaker and editor Kirsten Johnson.The film’s score was composed by acclaimed Polish composer Wojciech Frycz, who has previously collaborated with Alisa Kovalenko on her earlier films. Sound design was created by a Ukrainian–Polish team of professionals, Mariia Nesterenko and Maciej Amilkiewicz.TRACES is produced by award-winning Ukrainian producers Olha Bregman and Natalia Libet, founders of the independent production company 2BRAVE PRODUCTIONS. In 2025, they also premiered Timestamp, a documentary directed by Kateryna Gornostai, at Berlinale — the first feature by a Ukrainian director to be selected for the festival’s main competition in over 30 years.FILM AND PROTAGONISTSThe documentary film TRACES tells the stories of Ukrainian women — from Donbas to the Kherson region and the Kyiv area — who survived conflict-related sexual violence (CRSV) and torture during Russia’s aggression and refuse to remain silent. Through the story of Iryna Dovhan — a former captive, head of SEMA Ukraine, and activist who documents testimonies of survivors in de-occupied territories of Ukraine — the film creates a collective portrait of trauma while simultaneously opening a space for hope.Iryna’s personal experience made her one of the key figures in Ukraine’s fight against crimes of conflict-related sexual violence. After surviving captivity in eastern Ukraine in 2014, she initiated the first gathering of women survivors in Kyiv and soon thereafter founded Ukraine’s first survivor-led organization. Today, she advocates for both women and men affected by CRSV during Russia’s war against Ukraine.The protagonists of the film come from diverse personal and professional backgrounds. Iryna Dovhan is a former economist and beauty salon owner; Olha Cherniak is a civil servant at a district administration; Tetiana Vasylenko and Galyna Tyshchenko are entrepreneurs; Nina is a farmer; and Liudmyla Mefodivna Mymrykova is a former Ukrainian language and literature teacher whose school was bombed.“For me, this film is more than just a film. It is a continuation of my purpose — to ensure that the perpetrators will ultimately be held accountable. It does not simply break the global “silence”; it breaks it so loudly that I hope it will leave a clear and lasting echo around the world. After everything I went through, the most painful realization for me was understanding that Russia will never extradite the criminals, that they will never be punished. Over time, even those closest to me began to forget my traumatic experience. Only this film gave me hope that memory will not disappear, that our testimonies are now permanently recorded”, comments the CRSV-survivor Iryna Dovhan.“Filming this documentary was extremely difficult, because each time you immerse yourself again in that horror. But together with the women of SEMA Ukraine, we were able to overcome our pain — for the sake of truth, and out of solidarity with those Ukrainian women who were brutally tortured and who will never be able to share their stories. For me, Traces is a document of Russian crimes against the Ukrainian people — against our existence, against our identity — and we must resist them. This film is our act of resistance”, says another protagonist of the film Galyna Tyshchenko.Bringing women together in a circle of courage and mutual care, TRACES shows how personal pain can be transformed into the power of truth, justice, and solidarity. The film is both a document of war crimes and of the systematic use of sexual violence by Russia as a weapon of war in Ukraine, as well as a testament to the resistance and resilience of women who stand shoulder to shoulder.Director Alisa Kovalenko is familiar with this difficult subject, as she herself is a survivor of conflict-related sexual violence experienced during her captivity in Donbas at the very beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war. She became one of the first women in Ukraine to speak publicly about this experience and later joined the survivor community of SEMA Ukraine.“After what I went through in 2014, I remained silent for more than a year and could not share my experience with anyone close to me — my friends or my family. In 2019, Iryna Dovhan invited me to the first meeting of women who had survived sexual violence and torture in captivity, and soon we became the first civil society organization in Ukraine to unite survivors of conflict-related sexual violence — SEMA Ukraine.We spoke a lot about different forms of advocacy, and the idea of making a documentary film was constantly present in our discussions. Despite my understanding of how important this film was, it was not easy for me to take that step. After the full-scale invasion began, the de-occupation of our territories, and the countless horrific stories of violence we heard, the awareness of how necessary this film was ultimately outweighed my inner fears,” says Alisa Kovalenko.FILM SUPPORT IN UKRAINE AND ABROADThe producers established strong cooperation with partners in Ukraine and abroad, engaging not only financial support but also advocacy efforts and social solidarity around the film.TRACES is a Ukrainian–Polish co-production. The Polish producers Violetta Kamińska, Izabela Wójcik, and Dariusz Jabłoński of the production company Message Film secured funding for the film from the Polish Film Institute.During production, the documentary TRACES was acquired by ARTE France. The film will later be broadcast on ARTE’s platforms under the title SURVIVANTES DE L’INVASION.“This is not only support for a Ukrainian team working under the conditions of war, but also an opportunity to be heard far beyond Ukraine and to address a wide European audience with a story that demands attention, empathy, and justice. For us, this collaboration means more than funding or distribution. It is a sign that the world is ready to listen, and that Ukrainian women are not left alone with their experiences. Their stories are becoming part of a shared European memory.ARTE France has been our long-standing partner, supporting our most challenging and responsible initiatives over many years. At the same time, the film’s international premiere in the Panorama section at Berlinale feels like a great “home” for our film! We are deeply grateful to our international partners and to the festival for this trust and support,” note producers Olha Bregman and Natalia Libet.In Ukraine, TRACES received several industry awards while still in production at the Docudays UA International Human Rights Documentary Film Festival in June 2025. Among them were an award from Kino42 cinema for a test screening of the film, an award for the directors from Suspilne Broadcasting of Ukraine, and an editing consultancy award from Rough Cut Service.The production of the film was supported by SEMA Ukraine together with the Dr Denis Mukwege Foundation, the Polish producers Violetta Kamińska, Izabela Wójcik, and Dariusz Jabłoński of Message Film, as well as the Polish Film Institute, International Media Support, HIAS, and the Ukrainian Film Academy in cooperation with the NETFLIX FUND for CREATIVE EQUITY. Additional promotional support was provided by the Ukrainian Institute in cooperation with EURIMAGES.“TRACES powerfully embodies the principle of ‘nothing about us without us.’ This is a rare and deeply survivor-led film — created with and from within the survivor community. The film shows the profound consequences of conflict-related sexual violence on survivors’ lives, while also revealing their resilience and the strength they draw from supporting one another. The Mukwege Foundation is proud to support Traces and the women of SEMA Ukraine, and to stand with them as they transform pain into solidarity. Together, we will continue to work to change how the world responds to conflict-related sexual violence”, says Apolline Pierson, Dr Denis Mukwege Foundation.In Ukraine, the film’s impact partners are UN Women Ukraine and the Masha Foundation, who have joined in supporting the film and its social mission to address conflict-related sexual violence and to amplify the voices of survivors.

For nine days, three-year-old Dasha has lived in a flat with no heating. Each night, her mother Iryna places two five-litre plastic bottles filled with hot water into Dasha’s cot — makeshift hot-water bottles to help her daughter sleep.To heat the water, Iryna uses a small camping gas canister. She cooks porridge on it too. The family lives in Kyiv’s Dnipro district, an area hit during a large-scale attack on critical infrastructure.Across Kyiv and the country, millions of families are enduring prolonged disruptions to heating, electricity and water, at a time when temperatures in some places have dropped as low as –18°C. Cold with nowhere to hide“Today, for the first time in days, we had electricity for an hour,” Iryna says. “We barely managed to charge our phones. Water comes and goes. But the hardest part is the lack of heat.”She points to damaged radiators in the building. “They tried to restart the heating yesterday, but the pipes burst throughout the house. You can see huge cracks on the radiators — they’re ruined.”Some of the windows in the family’s flat are covered with plywood. The glass blew out from the blast wave. Dasha’s grandfather, Anatolii, 72, is repairing the balcony, trying to seal the gaps so even more cold doesn’t seep inside. For Iryna and Anatolii, the past nine days have become a single task: keeping a child warm. Iryna layers Dasha in pyjamas and a fur-lined waistcoat, then wraps her in several blankets.“I can’t bathe her, she starts shivering from the cold,” Iryna says, exhausted. “At home, in warm clothes, with hot-water bottles and blankets, she eventually warms up. But you should see how she cries when we have to go down to the shelter.”The family does not ignore air raid alerts. Their building has been shelled more than once. But each trip to the basement is another test for a small child. If the temperature inside their flat hovers around +13°C, in the dark, non-residential shelter it barely reaches +5°C.“Dasha cries and says the air raids won’t let her sleep,” Iryna says, lifting her daughter into her arms. Dasha buries her face in her mum’s chest — her mother’s hug is the warmest place in the home. “I really want the lights to come back”In another part of Kyiv, Tetiana returns from a shopping centre with her eight-year-old son Yehor, where they went to charge phones and warm up. While they were out, frost spread across the windows of Yehor’s ground-floor bedroom.“It’s been cold at home for many days,” Yehor says. “So I keep a torch on. These days I sleep in my clothes, and mum covers me with a sleeping bag. And I really want the lights to come back. I want to go to school, because my friends are there. At home it’s dark and sad.” Tetiana says her son struggles most with the darkness. Yehor has a disability related to his eyesight, and in low light he can barely see.“We had no electricity at all for four days,” she says. “Now they switch it on for a couple of hours, but it’s not enough to heat the flat. Frost keeps forming on the windows.”A warm tent that feels “almost like nursery"To help residents cope, SESU has set up warming points across Kyiv. In the bright orange tents, families can warm up, eat hot food, charge devices, and speak to a psychologist — or simply sit somewhere heated and safe. UNICEF has supported these warming points with psychosocial support materials, including toys and board games, so children can play, decompress and regain a sense of normality — helping both children and adults cope better with stress, fear and the biting cold.Inside one tent, four-year-old Mila plays with her friend, shaping colourful animals from modelling clay. Mila’s kindergarten was damaged by shelling — windows were blown out, and there is no heating. “The kindergarten is closed,” says Mila’s 68-year-old grandfather, Viktor Mykolaiovych. “Her parents are at work. At home we had no electricity for four days. What is a small child meant to do in the dark and cold? So I brought her here — to warm up and be around other children. It’s good these places exist.”An SESU worker offers Viktor a hot tea and hands Mila a biscuit. The girl takes it, smiles, and says: “It’s almost like my nursery.”In a couple of hours, Mila and her grandfather will climb the dark stairwell back to their flat on the 12th floor — without electricity, the lift does not work. But for a little while, warmth and play allow a child to forget the harsh conditions she has lived with for more than a week.UNICEF’s winter response started months ago and builds on investments made in previous years, as well as scaled-up support following the latest emergency situation. This includes: Strengthening district heating systems and bolstering energy supplies to reduce disruptions and keep water flowing, hospitals functioning and heating running.  Winter cash assistance targeting 320,000 people, including 145,000 children so parents can prioritize their children’s urgent needs.Winter grants to 1,500 educational facilities to help them conduct urgent upgrades to stay open and ensure a more child-friendly environment for some 445,000 students.UNICEF’s winter response is made possible thanks to the vital support of partners including Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) through KfW, the UK Government, the European Union, the US Government, the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Government of Sweden and the Danish Government.