Add us as your preferred source on Google to see more of our content in Search.
Add to Preferred SourcesChildren in Ukraine are facing the harshest winter of the war as intense strikes on energy and water systems coincide with extreme sub-zero temperatures, United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) warned. Millions of families across the country have gone days without heating, electricity, and water. With temperatures dropping to minus eighteen degrees Celsius, families are in constant survival mode—stuffing soft toys against windows to block the freezing cold and navigating dark stairwells to find warmth.
The youngest children face the greatest danger. Newborns and infants lose body heat rapidly and risk hypothermia and respiratory illness, which can quickly turn deadly without adequate warmth and medical care. Darkness and freezing temperatures intensify fear and stress, potentially triggering or worsening respiratory and other health problems. Schools and kindergartens in Kyiv and other areas have switched to remote learning, but power outages keep disrupting online classes.
UNICEF is working to assist 1.65 million people, including 470,000 children, through its large-scale winter response. The agency has sent 79 high-capacity generators to water and heating companies across the country and provided winter cash assistance to more than 183,000 people, including 86,000 children, in frontline regions. Following recent strikes on energy infrastructure in Zaporizhzhia and Dnipro, hospitals stayed open thanks to generators and solar installations put in place before winter. In Kyiv, generators from pre-positioned stocks prevented a complete shutdown of essential services after damage to central heating stations.
Nearly four years into the war, verified child casualties increased 11 percent in 2025 compared to the previous year—at least 92 children killed and 652 injured. More than 3,200 children have been killed or injured since the full-scale war began. UNICEF called once again for an end to attacks on civilian areas and the infrastructure children depend on.