Ukraine

Introduction

Russia’s war on Ukraine continues to escalate in 2026 and shows no signs of abating: with 2,514 civilians killed, 2025 has been the deadliest year of the conflict since 2022.

Millions of people have limited or no access to basic services. Heavy fighting and attacks continue to endanger the lives of civilians and cause severe damage to housing, water. electricity supply, heating, and public infrastructure such as schools and health facilities. 

The EU has mobilised all available resources to enable the delivery of emergency assistance to Ukraine. 

EU assistance for 2022-2025 (since 24 February 2022)

EU assistance for 2014-2021

What are the needs?

Overview

Needs inside the country

The situation is most severe along the frontlines in eastern, northeastern and southern Ukraine, and in the Russian-occupied territories.

Russia’s war on Ukraine has led to serious humanitarian challenges. Ensuring safe access for humanitarian organisations is essential to deliver relief items and enable safe evacuations from areas under attack.

Sustained hostilities along the frontline and relentless aerial attacks on urban areas continue to cause harm and suffering to civilians, triggering displacement towards safer areas. Extensive damage to housing leaves thousands of individuals with inadequate accommodation, particularly those in collective centres and closer to the frontline. 

Repeated Russian attacks on infrastructures are leaving millions of Ukrainians without essential services, such as water, electricity, and heating, causing severe hardship in this harshest ever winter season. 

The war continuously increases protection concerns, as civilians are exposed to shelling, armed violence, mines, family separation, or eviction. The safety risks for women and girls are extremely worrying, as is the situation of the most vulnerable groups (children, elderly people, persons with disabilities, and LGBTIQ+ people). At least 2.5 million people, primarily women and girls, require prevention and response services to gender-based violence. 

Continuous attacks also give rise to mental health care needs. Nearly 10 million people are at risk of or are living with mental health conditions, including stress, anxiety, depression, and post-traumatic stress disorder. The situation for children is especially worrying due to their exposure to conflict and violence, restricted access to safe education and limited opportunities for social interaction.

The repeated violations of international humanitarian law and war crimes are extremely alarming.

How are we helping?

The EU’s largest civil protection operation to date

To provide emergency assistance to Ukrainians, the European Commission is coordinating its largest ever operation under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. 

So far, all 27 EU countries together with 6 participating states (Norway, Türkiye, North Macedonia, Iceland, Serbia and Moldova), have offered in-kind assistance ranging from medical supplies to shelter items, vehicles and energy equipment. 

The EU has established logistical hubs in Poland, Romania, and Slovakia to channel items to Ukraine more efficiently. As of January 2026, more than 157,000 tonnes of aid have been delivered.

By the end of 2025, the EU Civil Protection Mechanism successfully relocated a full thermal power plant from Lithuania to Ukraine, completing its largest-ever coordinated logistical operation to date. The equipment has been crucial to completing emergency repairs in several parts of the country where energy infrastructure was severely damaged. It can supply power to 1 million Ukrainians.

The EU has also delivered 7,200 transformers and almost 10,000 generators since the start of the full-scale invasion. These supplies are helping to restore essential services such as hospitals, schools and water utilities, and are protecting civilians in the freezing conditions of the harsh winters. 

To date, the EU support for Ukraine's energy sector has helped meet the needs of an estimated 9 million people. 

The EU is also coordinating medical evacuations of Ukrainian patients in urgent need of treatment, transferring them to hospitals across Europe to receive specialized care. In September 2022, the EU opened a hub in Rzeszów, Poland, to facilitate these medical evacuations. 

The EU Medevac Hub offers treatment to patients arriving from Ukraine before they are flown out to a hospital in another European country. So far, more than 4,800 patients have been transferred to 22 countries for treatment.

In April 2023, Ukraine joined the EU Civil Protection Mechanism as a participating state. Established in 2001, the Mechanism aims to strengthen the cooperation between the EU Member States and 10 participating states on civil protection to improve prevention, preparedness, and response to disasters.

EU humanitarian aid in Ukraine

The EU has been delivering humanitarian assistance to Ukraine since February 2014.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, the European Commission has allocated over €1 billion for humanitarian aid programmes in Ukraine. This includes:

• €485 million in 2022
• €300 million in 2023
• €165 million in 2024
• €220 million in 2025
• €145 million in 2026

EU humanitarian funding is helping people inside Ukraine by providing them with:

• cash assistance to help cover basic needs
• protection
• health care
• including mental health and psychosocial support
• emergency and winterised shelter
• food and water
• essential household items
• education in emergencies 

The EU pays particular attention to supporting the most at risk households, especially in preparation for winters. 

Recently, in light of the growing energy crisis, EU humanitarian partners contributed to the establishment and operation of ‘invincibility points’ particularly across Kyiv, to provide for a much-needed lifeline. 

Our partners are present across the country and mobilising assistance on the ground to assist the most vulnerable.

EU humanitarian offices in Ukraine play a key role in facilitating humanitarian coordination and information sharing among various organisations, including donors, authorities and humanitarian partners. Thanks to field presence in Kyiv and Dnipro, EU humanitarian experts are also carrying out missions in almost all affected regions of Ukraine to assess the needs and monitor EU-funded actions.

_{Last updated: 29/01/2026}