The United Nations Office at Geneva
Multimedia Newsroom
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.
Similar Stories
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
DRC Ebola outbreak: hundreds of suspected cases, no vaccine
A fast-spreading Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has health workers rushing to stop transmission while the roll out of any potential vaccine is months away, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
A UN Human Rights Office report released today covers 19 months of large-scale violations of international law including atrocity crimes, from October 2023 to the end of May 2025.
1
1
1
Edited News | OCHA , UNICEF
At least six million people in Somalia are going days without enough food, UN aid teams warned on Friday, highlighting that nearly two million of this number are young children “at high risk of illness or death”.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF , WHO
Children shot, stabbed and pepper-sprayed in occupied West Bank; scores of Gaza amputees denied prosthetics, aid teams warn
Israeli military operations and surging settler attacks in the occupied West Bank are killing and maiming Palestinian children, while in Gaza tens of thousands with life-changing injuries lack access to treatment and rehabilitation, UN agencies warned on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | WHO
The risk of hantavirus spreading to the general population is “absolutely low”, the UN World Health Organization (WHO) stressed on Friday.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR , IFRC
Death and destruction have continued unabated in Lebanon while communities are still unable to return to their homes despite a ceasefire that began on 17 April, humanitarians said on Tuesday.
1
1
Edited News | WHO
Deadly hantavirus on board cruise ship may be transmitted among humans - WHO
Hantavirus victims on a ship in the Atlantic Ocean may have been infected prior to joining the cruise and human-to-human transmission on board cannot be ruled out – although it is rare - the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR
UN rights chief concerned by upheld convictions of Cambodian activists.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNHCR , OHCHR
Middle East crisis puts aid, food, fuel further out of reach for millions already struggling – UN agencies
As the Middle East crisis continues the humanitarian fallout is worsening, with aid route disruptions and food and fuel price hikes wrecking the lives and rights of the most vulnerable, UN agencies warned on Friday.
1
1
2
Edited News | UNMAS
Demining experts from around the world have been sharing their collective shock at the widespread and growing threat from unexploded ordnance, the new head of the UN Mine Action Service (UNMAS) said on Wednesday.
1
1
1
Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG
The UN Human Rights Office in Syria conducted a 5-day visit to the northeast of the country where they received accounts of human rights violations and abuses.
1
1
1
Edited News | UNICEF
Sudan: ‘History repeating itself’ for Darfur’s children - UNICEF
Mass atrocities in Sudan’s Darfur 20 years ago reverberated as far as Hollywood, but today, a new generation of children faces attacks, hunger and displacement in an emergency largely ignored by the outside world, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned on Tuesday.