New year sees uptick and expansion of fighting on Ukraine’s frontlines

This article is published in association with United Nations.

The recent holiday and New Year season brought no respite in Ukraine, but rather an escalation and even expansion of the fighting, consistent with developments in 2024, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs said in a briefing to the Security Council on Thursday. 

“Most disturbingly, in 2024 we witnessed an alarming rise in the toll of civilian casualties,” Rosemary DiCarlo told ambassadors.

She said the total number of civilians killed and injured last year was 30 per cent higher than in 2023, citing figures from the UN human rights office, OHCHR.

Child toll ‘particularly distressing’

The increase in child casualties was “particularly distressing” as more boys and girls were killed or wounded in the first three quarters of 2024 than in all of 2023.

At least 12,456 civilians were killed in Ukraine from February 2022, when the war began, through December 2024. Among them were 669 children. Another 28,382 adults and 1,833 children were injured.  Actual figures are likely to be significantly higher.

Verified attacks on schools and hospitals also increased, with more than 580 educational and health facilities damaged or destroyed within nine months.

Death and displacement continue

This month has also been marred by violence. At least 13 people were reportedly killed and more than 100 injured in an attack in Zaporizhzhia on 9 January.

“Hostilities in the last two weeks have forced new displacements, with more than 1,600 people, including children, fleeing frontline areas, primarily in the Donetsk and Kharkiv regions, according to local authorities,” she said.

Civilian casualties were also recorded in Russian-occupied territories. An alleged Ukrainian strike on a supermarket in Donetsk city on 10 January reportedly left two people dead, and two others injured.

Ms. DiCarlo reiterated the UN’s unequivocal condemnation of all attacks targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure, adding that they must cease.

Diplomats and humanitarians impacted

The daily attacks have also made things increasingly difficult for the diplomatic community and international organizations operating in Ukraine.  

A 20 December strike on the capital, Kyiv, damaged six foreign embassies. Days before, a drone attack struck a vehicle belonging to the UN nuclear energy agency, IAEA, near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, located in the south.

“For humanitarian workers, too, this was another difficult year. Ten aid workers were killed and 41 injured in the line of duty,” she said.

North Korean troops 

Ms. DiCarlo reported that as fierce fighting continues in the east and south of Ukraine, deadly clashes persist in Russia’s Kursk region, and the UN remains concerned over the impact on both sides of the border. 

Furthermore, there are reports that military personnel from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), commonly known as North Korea, were captured in the Kursk region.

“The reported involvement of the DPRK troops in fighting alongside the Russian forces continues to raise serious concerns regarding further internationalization of this already dangerous conflict,” she said.

Dire humanitarian crisis

Ms. DiCarlo also addressed the dire humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.  On Thursday, the UN and the Government launched a $2.6 billion plan to assist some six million people this year, which she urged the international community to fully support.

She noted that the number of those in need has decreased, from 14.6 million in 2024 to 12.7 million now, due to improved access to services in the capital and other major urban centres.  However, conditions near the front lines have reached catastrophic levels.

She urged the Council not to forget about the many thousands of Ukrainian civilians living in Russian-occupied territories.

“The needs in these areas are estimated to be severe and worsened by extremely limited humanitarian access. We renew our call for the safe, rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief to all civilians in need,” she said.

Energy grid under attack

The humanitarian situation is compounded by the current harsh winter conditions and the widespread damage that Russia’s attacks have caused to energy production, with the latest wave occurring the previous day.

During the last quarter of 2024, Russia carried out at least four large-scale coordinated attacks targeting energy infrastructure.

Meanwhile, the UN continues to work with the Ukrainian authorities to restore energy generation capacity, while creating opportunities in the renewable energy sector.

Prisoners of War

Turning to other matters, Ms. DiCarlo said reports indicate that Russia and Ukraine conducted a prisoner exchange on Wednesday, resulting in 50 people returning to their homes.

While welcoming the development, and the reported exchange of more than 300 prisoners of war late last month, she said the UN remains alarmed by reports of executions of Ukrainian prisoners of war (POWs) by Russian forces.

A recent UN human rights report assessed that allegations of 19 incidents since August, involving the killing of 62 persons, were credible. It also found that Russia has used widespread and systematic torture against Ukrainian POWs.

Furthermore, the use of torture against Russian prisoners of war by Ukrainian forces has also been documented, and the Ukrainian authorities have reportedly opened investigations into the accusations.

Ms. DiCarlo concluded her remarks by stating that as the third anniversary of the Russian invasion approaches, “global calls for de-escalation and the beginning of a process to end the fighting are growing louder.”

She said the Secretary-General’s good offices remain available to support all good faith efforts towards a just, lasting and comprehensive peace.