UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine Matthias Schmale's remarks during the event: "Protecting Critical Energy Infrastructure of Ukraine against the Attacks of the Russian Federation during the War"

Good day from Kyiv,

Thank you for giving the UN team in Ukraine the opportunity to be part of this important discussion.

As winter has set in, it is urgent that the escalating energy crisis in Ukraine is addressed and that we work together to support the people of Ukraine during this critical time.

The UNDP estimates that over 60% of generation facilities have been damaged since 2022. 

The Russian Federation's systematic and deliberate targeting of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure constitutes a grave violation of international humanitarian law, inflicting foreseeable and widespread harm on civilians. 

Our first ask is to demand that the Russian armed forces immediately stop the targeting of the energy sector and to stop causing further misery for an already severely impacted civilian population.

As I have travelled around the country, I have seen for myself how the disruption of essential services such as electricity, water, and heating disproportionately affects vulnerable populations and leads to further displacement during freezing winter conditions. 

 Vulnerable populations include:

• Communities losing access to water as pumping stations without backup power fail, leaving heating and water systems inoperable. 
• Families braving freezing temperatures without electricity or heat, huddling together, and relying on makeshift solutions to survive. 
• Single-parent households, often led by women, balancing caregiving while struggling to heat their homes and keeping their children in school. 
• Older persons and people with disabilities trapped in multi-story buildings when elevators stop working, cutting them off from essential services and medical care. 
• And internally displaced people facing freezing conditions in shelters with inadequate insulation and heating supplies, making their already precarious lives even harder.

Needless to state, destroying essential services in the medium term poses major challenges to the country's economy and development.  Education and healthcare systems are under immense pressure, compounded by the growing mental health challenges as people face isolation, freezing homes, and the stress of ongoing conflict.

Restoring energy access is critical to ensuring essential services function and that no one is left behind.

We commend the Ukrainian government for its leadership and efforts to address the energy crisis.  This includes impressive efforts to rebuild damaged infrastructure and setting up numerous so-called “invincibility points” in cities, where people can get a warm meal, take care of basic hygiene needs and charge their phones.  They have also placed generators at key social infrastructure installations such as hospitals. 

But this is likely not enough, especially if the armed forces of the Russian Federation continue to destroy energy infrastructure as they did only a few days ago including around Kyiv.  Several governors and mayors and their teams for instance in Dnipro and Mykolaiv have spoken to me about their specific worries that the winter will become extremely difficult for vulnerable people living in high rise buildings in cities. We must support further contingeny planning and help ensure that generators are both connected and that there is sufficient fuel to run them.

The UN works closely with the Ministry of Energy, the Ministry of Restoration, and sub-national authorities to assist in mobilizing resources for urgent repairs and distributed energy solutions across the country.

Our 2024-2025 Winter Response Plan, appealing for US$492.1 million, focuses on ensuring access to essential services and supplies - heating, electricity, shelter, winter items and medical care for 1.8 million people. 

For this winter, the UN is providing:

• Over 500 MW of critical decentralized power generation and solar capacity to build back better the damaged critical energy infrastructure.
• Support to modernize critical infrastructure to ensure energy efficiency and access to electricity, heating, and water.
• Generators and fuel to healthcare facilities and other critical public services to avoid disruptions as much as possible
• Winter clothing, heating, cash for utilities and home insulation, to protect vulnerable families.
• Support for collective shelters, ensuring displaced populations have safe and warm accommodations.

Several UN Agencies including UNDP, our Human Rights colleagues, UNHCR and WHO have produced several reports with critical data on the energy crisis's impact on civilians, infrastructure, and industries to inform response plans. 

Of course, our work wouldn’t be possible without the generous support of our donors. On behalf of the UN, I want to express our deepest gratitude for your unwavering support. 

As for medium-term solutions, recommendations from our specialized agencies emphasize the need to diversify energy sources through renewables, expand transmission capacity with the EU, and improve energy efficiency, among other measures to ensure a stable and sustainable energy future.

I want to reiterate once more that attacks on critical civilian infrastructure violate international humanitarian law and human rights standards.

The UN remains committed to highlighting the human rights implications of these attacks on civilians. Under the leadership of OHCHR, efforts to document and report violations are ongoing. 

The United Nations stands firmly with Ukraine in this challenging time. We call on partners to sustain their support. Together, we can channel our efforts into three critical actions: prioritizing immediate lifesaving measures, ensuring that the most vulnerable remain at the heart of our response, and that we complement relief action with medium and long-term recovery.

Let us turn our solidarity into meaningful action, sustaining hope and providing tangible support to those in need. 

Thank you.