Ukraine’s women at breaking point after four years of war as attacks on energy, healthcare continue – UN humanitarians

This article is published in association with United Nations.

Four years into Russia’s full-scale invasion, millions in Ukraine struggle to keep the lights on and heat their homes, with the crisis taking a particular toll on women, humanitarians warned on Friday.

Freshly back from a visit to the country UN Women’s Chief of Humanitarian Action Sofia Calltorp told reporters in Geneva of the suffering inflicted upon families left without heating, electricity and reliable shelter amid brutal winter conditions. Sixty-five per cent of Ukraine’s energy generation capacity has been destroyed by deliberate attacks.

“Those energy blackouts, they are not just technical disruptions,” she said. “They directly undermine women’s safety, protection and economic security.” 

Ms. Calltorp explained that extended darkness, lack of street lighting and disrupted transport “severely restrict women’s mobility and increase exposure to harassment and accidents.”

Many Ukrainian women work in sectors that are the hardest hit by extended power cuts, such as education, health, social services and retail, and are now losing their jobs, the UN Women official said.

© UNHCR/Alina Kovalenko

A widowed mother of eight starts a life from scratch in a new city and inspires other displaced women.

No electricity, no school, no salary

“In Kyiv, in a heated tent that had been set up to support citizens, I met with Irina… She told me: ‘No electricity means no school for my children and no electricity means no job for me. It means no salary.’”

UN Women reported that 2025 was the deadliest year of the conflict for women so far and that since 24 February 2022, more than 5,000 women and girls have been confirmed killed and 14,000 injured, with the real toll likely far higher.

Despite the challenges, Ukraine’s women are “carrying the country forward” and women-led organizations are at the heart of humanitarian response, Ms. Calltorp said. They provide vital protection, psychosocial support, emergency assistance and livelihood opportunities to hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians – yet they are now under serious threat because of funding cuts.

One in three women-led organizations warned that they may not survive beyond six months, according to a recent survey focused on the impact of cuts in foreign assistance

“Due to the funding reductions in 2025 and 2026, these organizations in Ukraine are projected to lose at least $53.9 million by the end of the year,” said UN Women’s representative in Ukraine Sabine Freizer Gunes. “If this continues, an estimated 63,000 women in 2026 will lose access to services” such as support for survivors of conflict-related sexual violence.

“There will be more women in need of psychosocial and legal support. There’ll be less political participation for women, less economic opportunity and less economic growth in Ukraine. Weakening women’s organizations at this moment risks weakening the entire humanitarian and recovery architecture of Ukraine,” Ms. Freizer Gunes said. 

Photo courtesy of Ukrainian Women’s Fund

Women fleeing the combat zones of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts stand in line to receive humanitarian aid.

Vulnerable groups hit hard by attacks on energy infrastructure

Turning to the broader humanitarian impact of the energy crisis, Jaime Wah, Deputy Head of Delegation for the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) in Ukraine, said that when the power goes out “it is often the most vulnerable who carry the consequences.” 

“For older people, people with disabilities and those with chronic illnesses, this is life-threatening,” she insisted.

Speaking from Kyiv, Ms. Wah said that while “cold homes increase illness,” the psychosocial toll of the power outages is “equally serious.” 

“Prolonged darkness, isolation and constant uncertainty are exhausting communities,” she stressed. “Many people have experienced traumatic events, yet access to specialized mental health and psychosocial support remains limited.”

The conflict’s devastating toll on health is further deepened by attacks on healthcare which are “severe and widespread” in Ukraine, World Health Organization (WHO) spokesperson Christian Lindmeier said.

In the past four years WHO has verified more than 2,870 confirmed attacks, resulting in 233 deaths and 937 injuries among healthcare workers and patients. 

“Facilities operate beyond surge capacity, with the workforce depleted and infrastructure damaged,” Mr. Lindmeier warned.

The WHO spokesperson also said that the reported number of people with disabilities has increased by nearly 390,000, or more than 10 per cent, since February 2022. 

Beyond this figure, “it’s the support [for people with disabilities] that is missing, the freedom of movement for people, the lack of supplies.” 

“The numbers are one thing. The story behind [them is] a much bigger one,” he insisted.