Ukraine: Continued Russian assaults drive civilians from frontline communities

This article is published in association with United Nations.

As Ukrainian cities struggle to recover from this week’s deadly missile and drone strikes, frontline areas remain under relentless attack, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) reported on Friday, warning of ongoing displacement and deepening humanitarian needs.

“Attacks on frontline regions (are) increasing and it’s always civilians that are bearing the highest cost of the war,”saidUNHCR Representative Karolina Lindholm Billing.

Since January, more than 3,500 newly displaced people have transited through a centre in Pavlohrad towards central Ukraine; in total, more than 200,000 people have been evacuated or displaced from frontline areas between August last year and the start of 2025.

Last to leave

Last month, more than 4,200 evacuees arrived at a transit centre in the northeastern city of Sumy where UNHCR and partners provide humanitarian support. These numbers are only a fraction of all those made homeless by the violence and mandatory evacuation orders issued by Kyiv in the face of ongoing Russian aggression.

The majority of those being moved are the elderly with low mobility or disabilities, families with few resources and children. In many cases, they stayed until the end because they didn’t want to leave everything they had behind, UNHCR said.

Cities and civilians targeted

On Thursday, UN aid agencies led condemnation of Russian missile-and-drone attack on Kyiv that killed 12 people and injured 84, one of a wave of attacks across the country that point to an intensification of the conflict since the start of the year – and growing humanitarian needs for refugees.

“Those deadly Russian attacks have intensified alarmingly since January,” said Ms. Billing, speaking to journalists in Geneva via videolink from Kyiv.

“More than 1,000 people have been directly affected as their homes have been damaged or completely destroyed. Civilian infrastructure were also hit in several other regions yesterday, including in Kharkiv, where I myself woke up around 2 am in the morning to the loud sound of explosions.”

According to the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, civilian casualties in Ukraine were 70 per cent higher in March this year compared to 12 months earlier.

Supporting lives and livelihoods

The war has left four million internally displaced since 24 February 2022 when Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine. Many of those uprooted have yet to find affordable housing and a new job – which is why support from humanitarian organizations is so crucial, the UNHCR official continued.

“One of the main things we deliver as part of the emergency response are emergency shelter materials that help people cover broken windows, roofs and doors,” Ms. Billing said.

Since 2022, UNHCR has supported around 450,000 people making repairs on their homes. The UN agency also provides psychological first aid and legal support to those who have lost their identity documents and emergency cash assistance to help people cover most basic needs.   

Funding impacts

But more support is needed to sustain a timely and predictable response to the many calls for assistance the agency receives from the affected people and the authorities.

Last year, US funding for UNHCR accounted for around 40 per cent of its overall contributions. For 2025, UNHCR has appealed for $803.5 million to address the emergency situation in Ukraine. Today, that appeal is just 25 per cent funded. During the winter period, the agency had to put some of its programmes partially on hold, impacting psychosocial support, emergency shelter material and cash assistance.