© Angels of Salvation/Oleksiy Gutnyk
Ukraine
Lives at stake: How global aid cuts will affect Ukraine
As the full-scale war enters its fourth year, Ukrainians face a deadly new threat
Ukraine
As the full-scale war enters its fourth year, Ukrainians face a deadly new threat
Global humanitarian organisations like UNHCR are facing a devastating funding crisis that is putting lives at risk.
For Ukrainians enduring a fourth year of unrelenting conflict, this news comes at the worst possible time.
There are 12.7 million people in need of humanitarian aid inside Ukraine – including communities in frontline regions close to the border with Russia – and 6.9 million Ukrainians living as refugees abroad.
As attacks on civilian targets continue to decimate communities, every day without sufficient funding puts lives at risk.
Ongoing airstrikes are continuing to kill, injure and displace Ukrainians. In the east and north of the country, many are arriving at transit centres with little more than the clothes on their backs.
With generous donors’ support, UNHCR and partners are providing traumatised evacuees with clothing, cash assistance to buy essentials, hygiene kits, legal aid and psychological support.
Serhii Zelenyi, 59, was recently evacuated by bus to a transit centre in the city of Pavlohrad after fleeing daily bombardments of his hometown in the frontline Donetsk region.
“It was very difficult. Drones were swarming over the city every day, from morning till late in the evening,” says Serhii. “Sometimes there was a two-hour pause, then the bombardments started again. It was impossible.”
The handyman and small-scale farmer was among the last of his neighbours to leave, finally deciding that the constant danger, lack of food, water and electricity, and the need to stay indoors almost all day was too much to bear.
When he arrived in Pavlohrad, Serhii received clothes and cash assistance from UNHCR through its local partner organisation, Proliska. He is now wondering what he will do next.
“I lost everything,” he said. “I need to start again from scratch.”
Liudmyla Rumin, 73, is another new evacuee to arrive at the transit centre. The pensioner was evacuated from the village of Zelenovskyi, close to the frontline city of Pokrovsk, in February 2025 after her house was destroyed by a missile attack.
“No roof, no windows, the water well was destroyed,” Liudmyla says of the impact on her home after the missile strike.
“It was very cold those days. I did not have food: two eggs, one piece of bread and some water. Here [in the centre] it is warm.”
Liudmyla used to work at the railway station in Zelenovskyi, but has spent the last few years planting vegetables in her garden. She now dreams of returning to her village and rebuilding.
After enduring years of hardship, the situation for Ukrainians like Serhii and Liudmyla is about to become even more extreme. Global funding cuts will have a devastating impact.
UNHCR estimates that in Ukraine:
Without access to essentials like food, shelter and medicine, people’s lives are at stake.
“Brutal funding cuts in the humanitarian sector are putting millions of lives at risk,” says Filippo Grandi, UN High Commissioner for Refugees. “The consequences for people fleeing danger will be immediate and devastating.”
UNHCR is doing everything in its power to prevent the funding freeze from causing more suffering to people who have already endured so much, but support is urgently needed to meet the huge shortfall.
Please donate as generously as you can to help UNHCR deliver more life-saving aid, including:
Now is the time when you can make a real difference to the people of Ukraine.
The devastation caused by three years of full-scale war is staggering.
As the full-scale war enters its fourth year, Ukrainians face a deadly new threat
The majority of funds raised by Australia for UNHCR are directed to UNHCR’s emergency operations, providing the ready funds and resources to respond quickly and effectively in situations of crisis and disaster.