Attachments
MAIN DEVELOPMENTS IN UKRAINE BETWEEN 1 MAY AND 31 AUGUST 2025
• Between May–August 2025, humanitarian access in frontline oblasts further deteriorated following shifts in the front line, continued attacks on humanitarian responders, and disruptions to basic services.
• Frontline shifts in Donetska oblast led to deteriorated access throughout the oblast, limiting access to several towns and cities to humanitarians conducting evacuations in armoured vehicles. The number of usable logistics routes in the oblast also decreased. Humanitarian access in the oblast is likely to deteriorate further from September–December. • Limited Russian advances in Kharkivska oblast and the continued presence of Russian forces in Sumska oblast also increased access constraints for humanitarians in areas near the front line, with security risks near the border with the Russian Federation in both oblasts.
• From May–August, there was a wide variety in the type of violent incidents affecting humanitarians, including direct first-person view (FPV) drone attacks on vehicles, attacks on distribution points, and landmine and unexploded ordnance (UXO) incidents. Advancing front lines in Dnipropetrovska oblast increased the risk of such incidents in Synelnykivskyi raion.
• Civilians faced increasingly limited access to basic services and utilities in frontline areas, as new towns and cities remained without functioning services owing to security constraints and heavy damage. The combination of disrupted utilities and damaged shelter left the people remaining in rural frontline areas particularly vulnerable to the impacts of the upcoming cold season.
• At the end of August, Russia resumed its large-scale targeting of energy infrastructure ahead of the upcoming cold season, in line with previous seasonal escalations. ACAPS’ Ukraine: Scenarios for the Cold Season report explores the potential impacts of these attacks, including utility disruptions, logistical constraints, fuel shortages, and health concerns, in more detail.
• Civilians without Russian passports in Russian-occupied territories are likely to face further service access constraints and an increased risk of arbitrary detention following a Russian legislative change coming into effect in September. The final section of this report analyses the impacts of these changes and the current constraints facing civilians in Russian-occupied territories.