Risk of humanitarian catastrophe: UN "very worried" about upcoming winter in Ukraine

Alexander De Croo, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), has said Ukraine faces its "toughest winter" since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion, which could turn into a humanitarian catastrophe if Russia continues its attacks on the country's energy infrastructure.

Source: De Croo in a comment to BBC

Details: De Croo, the third-highest-ranking official in the UN, accused Russia of carrying out "very systematic" attacks on Ukraine's civilian and energy infrastructure. He said the targets include petrol stations, shopping centres and business centres, but primarily energy facilities.

"There is absolutely no justification for that," the senior official stressed.

De Croo said there is now a "race against the clock" to repair the power grid before winter begins and temperatures drop sharply.

He noted that Ukraine is entering this winter "from a very weak base". The senior official added that the UN is "very, very worried... about what this winter could become".

He said there is a serious risk of a humanitarian catastrophe if the population experiences a critical shortage of electricity needed to run heating systems and water supply and sewage systems stop functioning.

"With the temperatures that you would get here, that would lead to circumstances which would be really close to humanitarian catastrophe," De Croo noted.

"This winter is going to be the toughest one since the [beginning of the full-scale] war," he stressed.

The UNDP is currently helping repair damaged parts of the energy system and establish decentralised generation facilities that are less vulnerable to missile and drone attacks.

Meanwhile, De Croo acknowledged that carrying out this difficult work under the current security conditions is "almost an impossible task".

Quote: "They [Ukrainian power engineers – ed.] are reconstructing these sites under constant, constant air alarms. And they know that they are working at a site which is a target. So you try to reconstruct, but part of your day you can't work because it's just too dangerous."

Background: On 12 September, Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi said that Ukraine is significantly better prepared this year for Russian attacks on its energy sector than it was last winter.

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