Immense devastation amid severe
and worsening disruption to basic
services four years into the full-scale
invasion of Ukraine

UNOPS continues to work with partners to support the restoration of services.
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, UNOPS has supported efforts to keep people
and the buildings they live and work in warm by providing generators and bolstering
infrastructure. We have purchased and delivered over $45 million worth of heating
equipment over the past year, helping municipal workers keep the heating on for hundreds
of thousands of families in conflict-affected regions. Our teams have procured critical health supplies, they have repaired damaged and destroyed schools, and refurbished homes.

Statement by Jorge Moreira da Silva, UN Under-Secretary-General
and UNOPS Executive Director

COPENHAGEN, 23 February 2026

“It is just another day of survival”, Yana, our colleague in
Kyiv, told us on a crackly internet line that kept cutting, as electricity in her home has been
severely interrupted.

For the past month, she and her family have been getting just over one hour a day of
steady electricity on good days.
Yana is not alone. Across Ukraine many, among them children and older people, are
impacted; with their numbers increasing as attacks continue daily, affecting areas far away
from the front line.

Today marks four years since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine and nearly
12 years since the illegal annexation of Ukrainian territory. For many years now, people in
the war-torn country have struggled to get by and protect themselves and their children.
Since the beginning of 2026, attacks have intensified, leading to severe cuts in the delivery
of and access to basic services including electricity, water and heating. All the while,
temperatures have remained sub zero and regularly below minus 20 celsius.
People and institutions are beyond drained. Families are exhausted as they live in
uncertainty and fear.

UNOPS continues to work with partners to support the restoration of services.
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, UNOPS has supported efforts to keep people
and the buildings they live and work in warm by providing generators and bolstering
infrastructure. We have purchased and delivered over $45 million worth of heating
equipment over the past year, helping municipal workers keep the heating on for hundreds
of thousands of families in conflict-affected regions. Our teams have procured critical health supplies, they have repaired damaged and destroyed schools, and refurbished homes.

Much, much more is needed to help the people of Ukraine overcome the massive
destruction and trauma, rebuilding their lives and shattered communities. While our teams
continue to work and respond, we call for a long overdue unconditional ceasefire that
would put an end to the suffering and reach a political peaceful solution to this conflict. The
time has come to put an end to this conflict, violence will breed more violence.

Please find the original press release here.

For more information on UNOPS work in Ukraine, see here.