Attachments
Background
Since the full-scale war in Ukraine started on 24 February 2022, the country’s security situation deteriorated rapidly, leaving millions of people in need of urgent humanitarian assistance. The intense military escalation has resulted in loss of life and injuries, massive destruction and damage to civilian infrastructure, interrupting critical services and supply chains. Therefore, humanitarian organisations in Ukraine have prioritised the rapid expansion of existing life- saving operations and the expansion of assistance delivery to all regions of the country. Approaching the fourth year of war in 2025, 12.7 million people are in need and war shows no signs of abating, driving humanitarian needs across the country.1 It is anticipated that the limitations of the logistics capacities will continue to constrain humanitarian operations, with supply routes unlikely to simplify while needs are increasing with the ongoing conflict and large-scale initiatives such as winterisation.
To support responding humanitarian organisations in their delivery of assistance to affected populations, the Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC) Cluster Approach was activated in Ukraine for Logistics on 3 March 2022.
Logistics Gaps and Bottlenecks
The volatile security situation remains the most significant challenge for the planning and implementation of humanitarian response activities, particularly in eastern, northern and southern areas. Based on the findings of the Gaps and Needs Analysis (GNA), conducted in summer 2024, the Logistics Cluster and its partners have re-assessed an identified the logistics gaps and bottlenecks as follows:
- The current security situation in Ukraine is creating difficulties for planning and executing aid delivery, including the forward movement and staging of humanitarian cargo. Further, as conflict continues, it is anticipated that mounting damage to road infrastructure will further constrain humanitarian operations.
- While the commercial logistics sector is well developed, due to the conflict, many private sector companies relocated to the western area of the country, leading to limited logistics services currently available in the eastern area of Ukraine. There are also limitations on labour forcethat would otherwise be available, particularly to support the transport of cargo to hard-to-reach areas.
- The ability to secure suitable storage space in and around hard-to-reach areas has been constrained.
- The conflict has resulted in the closure of all airports and seaports. Shipping lines have also suspended their services from the country and diverted their vessels to other Black Sea ports until further notice. There is significant pressure on the land borders that remain open to facilitate the majority of the country’s imports and exports, with long waiting times.
1 Background as summarised in 2025 Ukraine Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan, January 2025