Ukrainian Civilians Under Siege amid Strikes, Winter Bite, Security Council Told

Nearly four years into the war in Ukraine, attacks continue to escalate and casualties keep rising — with figures from January to October 2025 already surpassing the total for all of last year — a senior UN official told the Security Council today, calling for intensified diplomatic efforts towards a just and lasting peace.

"No region of Ukraine is safe," said Kayoko Gotoh, Officer-in-Charge, Europe, Central Asia and Americas Division, Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations, noting that, in Kyiv alone, civilian casualties in the first ten months of 2025 were nearly 3.8 times higher than in 2024. Large-scale strikes on energy infrastructure have triggered prolonged power outages across most regions, leaving millions without heat, water or transport as temperatures fall. Hospitals, homes, railways, schools, cultural sites, diplomatic facilities and even kindergartens have been hit.

Most casualties, she continued, are still concentrated near the frontline — including in Kherson, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Chernihiv, Sumy and Donetsk — but Moscow’s increased use of long-range weapons has placed many more civilians at risk. Yesterday’s attack on Ternopil reportedly killed at least 26 people, including three children, and injured dozens more. Many remain missing under the rubble. "This was one of the war’s deadliest strikes on civilians," she said. Western regions — Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk — were also struck. In Kharkiv, at least 46 people, including two children, were reportedly injured in a drone attack. These incidents follow the massive 14 November strike on Kyiv, which killed at least six people, injured many more and damaged the Embassy of Azerbaijan — the second recent incident affecting diplomatic premises.

She also noted the war’s increasing effect on civilians inside the Russian Federation. According to Russian authorities, Ukrainian drone strikes have killed 392 people in 2025 — including 22 children — in the Russian Federation and in areas of Ukraine occupied by it.

Edem Wosornu, Director of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs’ Crisis Response Division, reported that "relentless" missile and drone strikes — "day and night" — are killing and injuring civilians, destroying homes and damaging critical civilian infrastructure in Ukraine. She also described growing power outages amid freezing temperatures, older people trapped without reliable access to water or medical care, civilians cut off from humanitarian assistance and an October missile strike on a children’s hospital in Kherson. "This pattern of attacks risks eroding an international legal framework that has taken more than a century to build," she underscored.

"At the same time, displacement and humanitarian needs are growing," she continued, noting that around 122,000 people have been newly displaced in 2025 alone — the vast majority being women, children and older people. And, while humanitarian organizations continue to deliver aid wherever access allows — reaching more than 4.2 million people between January and September 2025 — humanitarian workers face immense challenges. In October, a UN-led convoy in Kherson was attacked while trying to reach a community in need. Noting that footage of the strike "shows humanitarian vehicles being treated as targets", she underscored: "They are categorically not."

Also constraining humanitarian operations is a funding shortfall, she said, which "has a human cost" — 72,000 displaced people lack adequate shelter, survivors of conflict-related sexual violence lack specialized care and a growing mental-health crisis leaves millions without psychosocial support. Nevertheless, she spotlighted the "remarkable" determination of Ukrainian communities to survive and rebuild. She observed, however: "Resilience is not protection — it cannot substitute for safety, dignity or compliance with international law."

Attacks against Civilians, Weaponization of Civilian Infrastructure

In the ensuing discussion, many delegates condemned Moscow’s attacks against civilian populations and infrastructure, with Panama’s representative stressing that civilian protection is an "inescapable" obligation. "Hospitals, power grids and homes must never be targeted," emphasized the representative of Somalia.

"As another winter is around the corner, people in the conflict zone face the double whammy of warfare and bitter cold", creating a deeply concerning humanitarian situation, observed China’s delegate. Greece’s delegate added that — for the fourth consecutive year — the energy needs of Ukrainian civilians are weaponized, with the most vulnerable groups, women, children and the elderly, bearing the brunt of the aggression.

"The recent increase in attacks on Ukraine’s civilian energy infrastructure is deeply cynical," concurred Denmark’s delegate, noting that "deliberately denying the civilian population the means to keep warm, cook, light their homes and access clean drinking water represents a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law".

Underscoring that international humanitarian law explicitly protects humanitarian workers during armed conflict, Guyana’s delegate strongly condemned the attacks against an inter-agency humanitarian convoy carrying aid in the Kherson region in October.

The representative of the United Kingdom, noting that today is World Children’s Day, spotlighted the Ukrainian children who have become "victims of Russia’s illegal invasion and imperialist warmongering". They have been killed, injured or deprived of education — the Russian Federation struck a kindergarten in Kharkiv in October — and he stressed that these attacks, part of a larger pattern against civilian infrastructure, are "signs of desperation".

"We’re not at war with Ukrainian civilians," countered the representative of the Russian Federation, stating that Moscow’s forces "act with maximum responsibility, striking only military targets and their supporting transport and energy infrastructure". Now, amid heavy losses, Kyiv is conducting aggressive mobilization to replenish its forces — "people are just basically being grabbed off the streets", he said, citing the early November incident where Angelina Jolie’s bodyguard was "detained before her very eyes" while she visited Ukraine. He stressed: "We see no genuine desire [from Kyiv] to sit down and discuss key aspects of resolving the Ukrainian crisis."

Condemnation of Moscow’s Aggression and Its Spillover Across Europe

Ukraine’s delegate, meanwhile, stated: "While Ukraine stands ready to engage in meaningful negotiation to end this war, including at the leaders’ level, our red lines are clear and unwavering: there will never be any recognition — formal or otherwise — of Ukraine’s territory occupied by the Russian Federation as ‘Russian’." She asserted: "Our land is not for sale." Ukraine will also not accept any limits on its right to self-defence or on the size and capability of its armed forces. Nor will it tolerate any infringement of its sovereignty, she emphasized.

Numerous countries in the region echoed that sentiment. "Russia is the only obstacle to peace in Ukraine", and its aggression is now "spilling across Europe", warned the representative of Lithuania, also speaking for Estonia and Latvia.

Romania’s representative said that, on the night of 10-11 November, a Russian Federation unmanned aerial vehicle "yet again" violated his country’s airspace. It was followed by another violation on 19 November, related to a Russian Federation attack on the Ukrainian port of Izmail.

Poland’s representative recalled the 15-16 November sabotage against Polish railway infrastructure, which included "blowing up" a section of track crucial for the delivery of humanitarian aid — including from the UN — to Ukraine. "Fortunately, a tragedy was averted, but another line was crossed," he stressed, citing this as evidence of Moscow spreading its aggression to other countries in the region.

"Here is the shocking truth about this war", said the representative of the European Union, speaking in its capacity as observer: According to credible reports, over a million Russian soldiers have been killed or injured trying to conquer Ukraine. He urged Moscow to stop its systematic attacks, which include violations of European airspace, and "genuinely sit down for talks".

France’s representative underscored that "allowing aggression to achieve its aims would open the door, on every continent, to aggressive policies of revising borders in violation of the territorial integrity and sovereign equality of States". For its part, Paris is working towards a just and lasting peace in Ukraine, he said, adding: "That is a peace that does not mean Ukraine’s capitulation."

"Appeasement, or a lack of action, would only embolden the aggressor and risk sowing instability elsewhere," underscored the representative of Sweden, also speaking for Denmark, Finland, Iceland and Norway, and urged Moscow to cease its aggression and comply with international law. She added: "We must remember that this is a Russian war of choice."

Calls for Diplomatic Solution

Underscoring that Moscow and Kyiv "must negotiate" and that both must "accept a ceasefire", the representative of the United States noted that his country has called on others — particularly in Europe — to stop buying Russian Federation energy resources. Further, the United States imposed sanctions on that country’s two largest oil companies on 22 October. He stated: "We can impose further economic costs if Russia continues to ignore calls for a ceasefire; we will also continue to make weapons available for Ukraine’s defence."

Many echoed his call for a diplomatic solution. Among them was Pakistan’s delegate, who voiced regret that the diplomatic momentum generated at the start of the year by the adoption of resolution 2774 (2025) has yet to bear fruit. Intensified diplomatic efforts towards a definitive end to hostilities between the parties are paramount, concurred Algeria’s representative.

The speaker for the Republic of Korea also encouraged all parties to return to the negotiating table "so the killing and destruction stop, children can emerge from the bomb shelters, and soldiers return home".

"We need an unconditional ceasefire now to stop the bloodshed and lay the foundation of trust for sincere negotiation," said Germany’s representative, underscoring the need to preserve the inviolability of the UN Charter.

"With at least 14,500 civilians in Ukraine killed since February 2022, it is way past time for the conflicting parties to engage in diplomatic dialogue," stressed the representative of Sierra Leone, Council President for November, as he spoke in his national capacity.

"We need a decisive next step to end the bloodshed and stop the destruction. We need a ceasefire now," concluded Slovenia’s delegate.

Complete Live Blog coverage of today's meeting can be found here .