Ukrainian children are in survival mode, UNICEF warns. Ukraine: families in “survival mode” amid Russian strikes and severe frosts Peace and Security
Families across Ukraine are in “constant survival mode” amid ongoing waves of Russian missile attacks and drone strikes that have left entire neighborhoods—sometimes for days at a time—without heat, water or electricity as temperatures plummet to extremely low levels. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) announced this on Friday.
“Families literally began to cover their windows even with soft toys in order to somehow protect themselves from the piercing cold,” Munir Mammadzade, UNICEF representative for Ukraine, told reporters at a briefing in Geneva. This statement came after another night of attacks on energy infrastructure facilities, in particular in Zaporozhye and Kharkov regions. As a result of these attacks, many residential areas were left without electricity and heating. The cold poses a mortal danger to the population. It has turned into a “national emergency,” Mammadzadeh said. In Kiev on Friday, the thermometer dropped to -15 degrees Celsius, and next week it could be even colder on the streets and in houses without heating. If until now humanitarian efforts have been mainly focused on front-line areas, then constant Russian attacks on urban infrastructure, including residential areas, have revealed a much more complex range of needs of people living in apartment buildings. Among them is Kyiv resident Svetlana, who is trying to conditions to surround her three-year-old daughter Arina with the necessary care. “She told us that she had no heating and electricity for more three days, and this was still in the first week of outages – now it is already the second or almost the third week, and many families still have to do without them,” noted Mammadzadeh. Jamie Wa of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies noted that while power was restored “within days” after previous attacks in Kharkov and Odessa, the situation in the capital is more complex. “In Kyiv we are faced with prolonged outages, and they affect a much larger number of people,” she said. Nearly four years after the full-scale Russian invasion began, “children’s lives are still filled with thoughts of survival rather than childhood,” Mammadzadeh warned. He noted that the number of deaths and injuries among children increased by 11 percent in 2025 compared to the previous year. UNICEF is helping residents of Ukrainian cities, in particular by supporting the operation of large tents where people can stay warm. “Svetlana cannot bathe Arina or prepare a hot meal, so she wraps the child in several layers of clothing and descends a dark staircase 10 floors to reach a tent set up outside by the State Service of Ukraine for Emergency Situations,” Mammadzade explained. “There they can warm up, get hot food, charge devices and talk to a psychologist – or just sit warm,” he said. The UN Children’s Fund warns that children are especially vulnerable to the physical and psychological consequences of living in the dark and in extreme cold, which the organization says increases fear and stress “and can lead to respiratory and other illnesses or aggravate them.” “The smallest ones are especially defenseless,” Mammadzadeh emphasized. “Newborns and infants quickly lose body heat and are at increased risk of hypothermia and respiratory illness—conditions that, without adequate warmth and medical care, can quickly become deadly.”