Damaged kindergarten building in Kharkov, Ukraine. Ukraine: attacks on energy infrastructure create a “crisis within a crisis” Peace and security
Continuing attacks on energy infrastructure facilities in Ukraine are exacerbating the suffering of the population and could lead to a large-scale humanitarian crisis with the onset of cold weather. The UN Humanitarian Coordinator in the country Matthias Schmale warned about this today.
“We are very worried about people living in multi-storey buildings in cities near the front line – the situation could develop into a major crisis,” Schmale said, speaking to reporters in Geneva on Friday.
Massive attacks
The day before, Russia launched massive attacks on critical energy infrastructure throughout Ukraine. In total, according to Ukrainian authorities, 705 munitions were fired – this is one of the largest attacks since the start of a full-scale invasion in 2022.
Humanitarian organizations, faced with a shortage of funds, “will not be able to respond to a serious crisis within a crisis” if people in front-line cities such as Zaporozhye, Kharkov or Dnieper in multi-storey buildings “remain without electricity and clean water for several days in a row” in the winter time, Schmale explained.
“The destruction of energy infrastructure at the beginning of winter directly affects the civilian population and is a form of terror,” the UN representative emphasized. He added that the constant shelling throughout the country creates the impression of widespread insecurity, and the consequences for people’s mental health are becoming more and more serious. Drones were responsible for a third of all documented civilian deaths or injuries in 2025. Overall, the number of civilian casualties increased by 30 percent compared to last year.
Strikes on hospitals and educational institutions
Among those killed as a result of the attack the day before was a seven-year-old girl from the Vinnytsia region. Earlier this week, a children’s hospital in Kherson was seriously damaged, where medical workers and a child were injured. According to the World Health Organization, from January to October 2025, 364 attacks were recorded that affected medical institutions in Ukraine. children to kindergarten, and a couple of hours later I receive a call asking me to pick up my frightened children who survived three missile strikes.”The UN Coordinator also expressed concern about the situation in the territories of Ukraine under Russian occupation, noting that for about a million people the danger is growing every day. They, according to Shmale, face “violations of their fundamental rights, including the right to citizenship”: residents of these territories are threatened with deportation or arrest if they do not process Russian documents. Ukrainians find it difficult due to a serious lack of funds. “In 2022 we had more than 4 billion dollars, in 2023 – 2.6 billion, last year, even despite everything that is happening in the world, 2.2 billion. This year, only 1.1 billion has been received – half as much as a year earlier, and there are only two months left until the end of the year,” he said. calling on the international community “not to forget about Ukraine.”
According to him, humanitarian workers on the ground feel that the conflict is increasingly taking on the character of a protracted war.
“We have gone through periods of cautious optimism, when it seemed that everything could end… But now, those who are here, they don’t feel it at all,” concluded Schmale.