UN warns Ukraine faces 'toughest winter' since 2022 invasion — risk of humanitarian catastrophe

Alexander De Croo, head of the UN Development Programme, told the BBC that Ukraine faces its "toughest winter" since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022.

De Croo identified what he called Russia’s "very systematic" targeting of civilian and energy infrastructure — including transmission lines, petrol stations, shopping centres and business facilities — as the principal threat to winter survival. He warned this could cut access to heating and disrupt water and sewage systems.

He said such failures combined with winter lows that can reach -20°C in Ukraine would bring conditions “really close to humanitarian catastrophe.” UNDP is helping to rebuild parts of the energy system damaged last winter and is establishing more decentralised energy plants intended to be less vulnerable to attack.

De Croo described reconstruction work as dangerous and intermittent: teams rebuild sites while air-raid alarms continue, and parts of each day are unusable because of the risk. He called completing the work “almost an impossible task.”

The statement comes amid intensified attacks in recent months, including use of faster jet-powered drones and strikes on infrastructure. Ukrainian officials reported multiple deadly strikes on shopping centres and other locations; Russia reported casualties in Sochi and other incidents attributed to Ukrainian attacks.