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Ukraine: Families in ‘survival mode’ amid Russian strikes and -18°C cold
Families across Ukraine are in “constant survival mode” amid ongoing waves of Russian missile and drone strikes that have left blocks without power for days at a time, while temperatures plunge to a deadly -18°C (-0.4°F), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) said on Friday.
“Families have actually reverted to stuffing even soft toys to their windows to block some of the freezing cold,” said Munir Mammadzade, UNICEF Country Representative in Ukraine.
The alert follows another night of attacks against power infrastructure in Zaporizhzhia oblast in the south and Kharkiv oblast in the east which have left many residential areas without electricity and heating.
The deadly threat of cold caused by attacks on power infrastructure is becoming a “national-scale emergency…on top of the war”, Mr. Mammadzade told journalists in Geneva during a scheduled briefing.
Pointing to temperatures of -15°C (5°F) in Kyiv on Friday, the UNICEF official warned that next week could be even colder, while millions of families across the country live with no heating. “Children and families are in constant survival mode because of that,” he said.
While the humanitarian focus until now has been on frontline areas, the constant Russian strikes on urban infrastructure including residential areas have highlighted a far more complicated set of needs among people living in apartment blocks.
These include Kyiv resident Svitlana “who is doing what she can to care for her three-year-old daughter, Adina”, on the 10th floor of her building. “She told us that she had no heating or electricity for more than three days, and that was in the first week of disruption - we're already on the second or almost third week - and many families continue to go without,” Mr. Mammadzade said.
Echoing those concerns from Kyiv, Jaime Wah from the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) noted that although power has been restored “in a matter of days” following previous attacks on Kharkiv and Odesa, the situation appeared more difficult in the capital, where she rubbed her hands to keep warm while talking via video to journalists in Geneva. “In Kyiv, we’re facing a situation for sustained outages and also higher populations affected because of it,” she said.
Nearly four years since the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, “children's lives are still consumed by thoughts of survival and not childhood”, UNICEF’s Mr. Mammadzade warned, noting an 11 per cent increase in verified child casualties during 2025, compared to the previous year.
Ukraine update – UNICEF, IFRC
TRT: 02’54”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 16 JANUARY 2026 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
Speakers:
- Munir Mammadzade, UNICEF Country Representative in Ukraine
- Jaime Wah, IFRC Deputy Head of Delegation for Ukraine (from Kyiv).
SHOTLIST
- Exterior wide, UN Geneva flag alley.
- Wide, UN Geneva Press room, podium speakers, journalists.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Munir Mammadzade, UNICEF Country Representative in Ukraine: “Last night actually there was a major attack and I was receiving updates that many residential areas became without electricity and heating as well. So, it is becoming also kind of national scale emergency that yesterday the Government has discussed and probably will declare emergency nationwide emergency in relation to winter, on top of the war situation already.”
- Wide, podium speakers.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Munir Mammadzade, UNICEF Country Representative in Ukraine: “Of course, we’re increasingly worried about right now in Kyiv, it's -15°C, it might go even further down next week and millions of families across the country are again enduring days without heating, as I mentioned, electricity and water supplies. So, children and families are in constant survival mode because of that.”
- Medium, journalist.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Munir Mammadzade, UNICEF Country Representative in Ukraine: “Families have actually reverted to stuffing even soft toys to their windows to get – to block - some of the freezing cold.”
- Medium-wide, podium speakers.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Jaime Wah, IFRC Deputy Head of Delegation for Ukraine (from Kyiv): “The Kharkiv region last night was also hit quite hard. Also, Odessa region around Christmas time there were a couple days where they had no electricity and no heating; but I think in those areas the restoration of those systems took a matter of days for the systems to become at least partially functional. I think in Kyiv, we're facing a situation for sustained outages and also higher populations affected because of it.”
- Medium-wide, podium speakers.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Munir Mammadzade, UNICEF Country Representative in Ukraine: “Nearly four years into this relentless war, children's lives are still consumed by thoughts of survival and not childhood, unfortunately. And then winter threat follows a tragic also 11 per cent increase in verified child casualties during 2025, comparing to the previous year.”
- Medium-wide, podium speakers.
- SOUNDBITE (English) – Munir Mammadzade, UNICEF Country Representative in Ukraine: “For example, on the 10th floor of one such building in Kyiv’s left bank, Svitlana is doing what she can to care for her three-year-old daughter, Adina. So, she told us that she had no heating or electricity for more than three days, and that was in the first week of disruption - we're already on the second or almost third week - and many families continue to go without, as I mentioned or have sporadic access to key services.”
- Medium, journalist.
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