Ukraine: Humanitarian Response and Funding Snapshot (January - February 2025) [EN/UK]

Sustained waves of attacks in January and February caused grave humanitarian consequences for millions of people in Ukraine. As the war entered its fourth year since the full-scale invasion, the scope and scale of strikes in the centre, north, east and south of Ukraine continued unabated. Fighting in front-line areas and widespread attacks led to significant civilian casualties, destruction of civilian infrastructure and substantial disruptions to vital services, including health care and education. Nearly 3.7 million people remain displaced, with new waves of displacement due to violence being recorded in the northeastern part of the country.

In the first two months of 2025, humanitarian organizations reached 1.6 million people with vital aid and services, including emergency assistance following strikes. More than 1.1 million accessed water, sanitation and hygiene services while over 1.1 million people received food and livelihood support. Nearly 400,000 received health care assistance, and approximately 170,000 were supported with materials for emergency repairs and essential household items. Humanitarian partners provided general protection services — including counselling and legal aid — to nearly 230,000 people. Around 160,000 children and caregivers received child protection support. Nearly 90,000 children and teachers benefited from education support. Services to prevent and respond to gender-based violence reached more than 90,000 people. Mine action activities — primarily focused on risk awareness and education — reached more than 60,000 people. Nearly 50,000 people received multi-purpose cash assistance for basic needs. Approximately 14,700 displaced people received support at collective sites.

With support for people living near the front line identified as a strategic priority for the 2025 humanitarian response in Ukraine, aid organizations stepped up efforts to reach affected communities — both through regular service delivery and through inter-agency convoys. From January to February, 11 inter-agency convoys reached nearly 14,600 people in front-line Donetska, Kharkivska, Khersonska and Zaporizka oblasts.

Winter response remained a priority during the first two months of the year. As part of the 2024-2025 Winter Response Plan, through February 2025, more than 1 million people received critical winter supplies and services. This included support for district heating services, fuel support, heaters, and winter clothes. Whenever feasible and appropriate, cash assistance was prioritized according to vulnerability criteria, access and proximity of functioning markets to purchase winter items and services.

In the first two months of 2025, the Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan — seeking US$2.63 billion — received just over $400 million, or 15.5 per cent of the required funding. The announcement of funding suspension by a key donor in January 2025 led humanitarian actors to scale back or pause the provision of some programming. While mitigation measures are being implemented to minimize the impact of funding cuts, some disruption to operations is expected. Humanitarian partners are now re-prioritizing the response to direct limited resources toward the most urgent needs in four strategic areas: support to front-line communities, emergency response, evacuations and assistance for displaced populations.