The European Union has provided an additional €26.4 million to support the winter response being rolled out by UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, across Ukraine. This comes on top of the €17.5 million the EU had previously provided to UNHCR’s Ukraine operation in 2024 and the €4 million for UNHCR’s support to Ukrainian refugees in Moldova.

“With temperatures below -20°C and relentless shelling, millions of Ukrainians face harsh conditions in damaged homes. Supporting them through these hardships is paramount to the EU. With our partner UNHCR, we are providing cash assistance, materials, and repairs to help them face the cold months ahead,” said Janez Lenarčič, EU Commissioner for Crisis Management.

The funding from the EU will help UNHCR support the most vulnerable among the war-affected people, who have already lived through more than 1,000 days of full-scale war and are now facing freezing temperatures amid widespread destruction of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure due to targeted attacks.

UNHCR’s 2024-2025 winter response strategy includes:

• Cash assistance to vulnerable households who do not have access to centralized heating or cannot rely on gas. The cash assistance, implemented together with the Ministry of Social Policy and the Pension Fund of Ukraine, allows them to purchase solid fuel to heat their homes. It aims to reach 57,000 of the most vulnerable households countrywide.
• Frontline support carried out in cooperation with Ukraine’s Ministry of Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories. It aims to reach war-affected people living in frontline communities, who are already struggling to make ends meet and cover basic necessities, to help them pay the increased expenses for heating. It aims to reach 71,000 households.
• Distributing thermal kits to families with items that will allow them to quickly and easily insulate their homes from the cold. This also includes the UNHCR doing repair works, such as installing new high-quality windows and repairing damaged roofs, in war-damaged homes and in collective sites hosting displaced people, to improve the living conditions and warmth.

“Right now, it’s a top priority for UNHCR to support people across the country who are facing their third winter in the midst of full-scale war and urgently need this assistance to remain in their homes and get through the cold months. I am very grateful to the EU for this generous and extremely timely additional contribution. The European Union is already one of our strongest and most reliable partners, and a top donor to UNHCR’s programmes in Ukraine. This funding will truly make a big difference in the lives of so many Ukrainians, and practically demonstrate that solidarity with the people of Ukraine is still strong”, shared by Karolina Lindholm Billing, UNHCR Representative in Ukraine.

The European Union is among the world's leading donors of humanitarian aid. Through the Directorate General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations of the European Commission, the European Union helps millions of victims of conflict and disasters every year.