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SITUATION OVERVIEW
Over the past weeks, Russian Federation (RF) attacks have damaged or destroyed more than 50% of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. The impact is clearly visible on the images above, taken from the US Space Agency, NASA, which show the country in almost total darkness on 24 November 2022 compared to approximately one year prior. Regions like Lviv, Zaporizhzhia, Odesa, and Chernihiv have been completely disconnected from electricity, and on 24 November, 70% of Kyiv residents woke up without power. Damaged infrastructure has also impacted neighbouring countries such as Moldova, which experienced massive power cuts around the same time.
Power cuts increase protection risks, threatening the safety and lives of already vulnerable individuals, and put them further at risk through the loss of heating systems just as temperatures drop. Power impacts on critical services including water and sanitation, as well as communal heating, increase the risk that urban areas will not be able to fully sustain the population. Already, various local and national officials have suggested that Ukrainians make contingency plans to relocate to rural Dachas (farm homes) in case systems cannot sustain the population. Risks of large-scale displacement, both inside and out of Ukraine, remain high, with further increases likely as temperatures fall.
Following the withdrawal of RF troops and subsequent control by Ukrainian authorities, RF forces have intensified the shelling in the southern part of Kherson. Immediately following de-occupation, over 165,000 civilians were found to be living in dire conditions in the city, where damage to infrastructure is so severe that it makes it almost impossible for people to survive. On 27 November, the Ukrainian government moved hundreds of citizens out of Kherson to central and western parts of the country in its ongoing efforts to evacuate the remaining population to areas where basic services are more accessible and threats less immediate. IOM’s efforts to monitor the location and flows of displaced people, as well as their needs, support targeting these vulnerable populations with assistance they require.
Winterization support remains a high priority for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) across Ukraine and in other countries hosting refugees and other displaced people. In Ukraine, IOM is currently providing preparedness support to those in need through the distribution of basic goods, light repairs, financial support, and prepositioning of items to provide uninterrupted assistance throughout the winter season. IOM is working in close collaboration with the Ukrainian government, local partners, and the international community to address the urgent needs of civilians, including in newly accessible and heavily impacted areas such Mykoliav and Kharkiv. In host countries, IOM is working closely with the government and civil society to continue its support to refugees and third country nationals (TCNs), tailoring its response to the different needs and challenges faced there.