Briefing to the Security Council on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine by Joyce Msuya, Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Deputy Emergency Relief Coordinator

Thank you, Mr. President

Thank you for the opportunity to brief the Council once again on the humanitarian situation in Ukraine, along with Assistant Secretary-General Jenča.

Since our last update to this Council on 20 June, the humanitarian situation in Ukraine has continued to deteriorate sharply. Over the past week, renewed waves of missile and drone strikes have devastated lives and infrastructure across multiple regions, as already outlined by Assistant Secretary-General Jenča.

According to the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, the scale and speed of civilian harm remain alarmingly high. In the first half of 2025, nearly 50 per cent more civilian casualties were recorded compared to the same period last year.

Over the past day, authorities report strikes on urban centres, including Cherkasy, Kharkiv and Odesa, killed five civilians and injured 93 – among them 11 children – as hostilities intensify nationwide.

Last weekend, attacks struck populated areas in Dnipro, Kharkiv and Sumy, reportedly killing dozens of people and injuring more than 70, including children. In Kharkiv, a rehabilitation centre for people with disabilities was hit.

In Kyiv, a kindergarten, a metro station, shops and residential buildings were damaged. In the Ivano-Frankivsk region – once seen as a refuge far from the front lines and home to many displaced families – we saw the largest attack there since the war escalated in 2022. There is no safe place left in Ukraine.

These are the latest in a series of attacks that have brought even more fear and suffering to communities – both near the front lines and far from them.

The use of explosive weapons in populated areas, including long-range missiles and drones, remains a key driver of civilian harm.

Mr. President,

Civilians in Ukraine continue to bear the heaviest burden – struggling to access food, water, power and healthcare. Nearly 13 million people need assistance, but limited funding means we can reach only a fraction of them.

For many displaced women and girls, safety remains out of reach. Risks of violence – at home, in shelters and during evacuations – continue. Yet the local, women-led groups best placed to help are scaling back due to funding shortfalls, leaving countless women without the protection they so urgently need.

Displacement from front-line areas continues to rise. Since April, more than 26,000 people fleeing hostilities have registered at transit centres. In response, our partners are working with authorities to open new sites in the Sumy and Dnipro regions to meet rising needs.

Across Ukraine, 3.7 million people remain displaced, with nearly 6 million refugees abroad.

Additionally, unverified reports in recent days and weeks indicate civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure in the regions of Kursk, Bryansk, Belgorod, Voronezh, Kaluga, Lipetsk and Tula regions in the Russian Federation.

Under international humanitarian law, all parties must take all feasible precautions to avoid and minimize civilian harm.

Mr. President,

The continued use of antipersonnel mines puts civilian lives and livelihoods at risk every day. The Antipersonnel Mine Ban Convention strictly prohibits their use.

Under this Convention, States have agreed that the harm caused by these weapons is unacceptable and that considerations of humanity must impose limits on their use.

We cannot go back.

This is why we note with alarm the recent decree by the Ukrainian President announcing Ukraine’s withdrawal from the Convention. This follows the regrettable decisions of neighbouring countries to withdraw from this Convention.

Assertions of exceptional threats and military necessity cannot outweigh international humanitarian law, which seeks to limit human suffering precisely when a State is fighting against its enemy.

The Secretary-General has urged all States to adhere to humanitarian disarmament treaties and immediately halt any steps towards their withdrawal.

Mr. President,

Despite relentless risks, our humanitarian partners in Ukraine continue their vital work, reaching more than 3.6 million people with emergency healthcare, shelter, clean water and cash to families since January.

But access remains precarious. In regions such as Kherson and Donetsk, intensified fighting has forced aid convoys to be delayed or suspended, putting humanitarian workers at risk and interrupting life-saving support. We remain committed to ensuring all necessary arrangements are in place to reach people in need, safely and without obstruction.

Our ability to reach an estimated 1.5 million civilians in areas under the control of the Russian Federation, including parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, remains extremely limited and increasingly difficult. It is not for lack of capacity or will, but rather persistent access impediments that prevent us from getting help to those who need it most.

At the same time, we urgently need the resources to sustain and expand efforts where we have access.

International humanitarian law couldn’t be clearer: All parties must allow safe, rapid and unimpeded access to civilians in need – no matter where they are or who controls the territory.

Mr. President,

Despite the growing scale of needs, funding remains critically low – just 34 per cent of the $2.6 billion required for the 2025 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan has been received, forcing cuts to vital programmes just as needs are soaring.

Cash assistance, mental health support, and services to respond to gender-based violence have been slashed due to funding shortfalls. Without an immediate influx of resources, even prioritized programmes will be at risk – just as the people of Ukraine approach a fourth wartime winter.

Last week, the United Nations and our humanitarian partners launched the 2025-2026 Winter Response Plan, which aims to reach 1.7 million people with heating support, winter clothing, shelter repairs, emergency energy solutions and cash. The plan prioritizes households in front-line and collective sites – where freezing temperatures could turn already dire conditions into deadly ones.

We urge Member States to act now – so that emergency supplies are in place before winter hits and conditions make it far harder to reach those in need.

Mr. President,

Allow me to close with three urgent messages to this Council:

First, civilians and civilian objects must be protected. The scale of civilian death and injury and the destruction to homes, schools, hospitals and displacement centres must stop. Disproportionate and other indiscriminate attacks are strictly prohibited.

Second, ensure humanitarian access. All parties must facilitate safe, rapid and unimpeded access to civilians in need, wherever they are.

The Council and all Member States must exert their influence to ensure civilians are protected and humanitarians can reach those in need.

Third, support the response. Ukrainians cannot afford delays or donor fatigue. Every contribution counts.

Mr. President,

This war continues to inflict suffering on a staggering scale. The trauma is daily, the destruction is widespread, and the resilience of civilians is being pushed to its limits. But our commitment to assist them must not waver.

Thank you.