Enduring Another Wartime Winter in Ukraine
In eastern Ukraine, six children and their parents are struggling through a harsh winter, with essential support from UNICEF.
UNICEF is helping children in Ukraine make it through a fourth winter under fire
Just a few kilometers from the front line, in a dimly lit two-room house in Staryi Saltiv, Kharkiv region, Ukraine, six children, their parents and an indeterminate number of cats are struggling to make it through yet another winter under fire. Their own home was badly damaged during the fighting, and the savings they had set aside to pay for renovations had to be spent on food.
“Take a kitten, look how beautiful they are,” the children's mother, Svitlana, tells a visitor. “I can’t even count them any more. New ones turn up every day — people leave and abandon them when they go. I feel so sorry for them; they’ll freeze.”
The family cuts costs wherever they can so the children can afford to eat, stay warm and keep learning. All six children attend school online, despite a lack of devices and school supplies.
Video: Families are hanging on in Ukraine, with crucial support from UNICEF
In the next room, Anya, the eldest daughter, is finishing her homework on a laptop. Her brothers take turns playing on the big screen beside her. There are no doors or partitions between the two rooms: the bedroom doubles as a study. Two small tables are pushed together along the wall where everyone sits to learn. Despite the small space, life here is buzzing in every corner.
“Last year UNICEF distributed briquettes for the winter — they really saved us,” Svitlana recalls. “We got through the winter very well, in warmth. The children were hardly ill at all.”
They also received winter clothes and learning devices for the children, who all study online. “We got the gadgets last year through social services with UNICEF support,” Svitlana says. “If it weren’t for that, the children would still be taking turns using one phone.”
But as the war continues, the additional challenges of winter remain.
Learn more: UNICEF Delivers Warmth to Children in Ukraine
The house they still cannot return to
Svitlana has lived in Staryi Saltiv since 2009. She has seven children and three grandchildren. The six younger children live with her and their father; the eldest daughter lives nearby, with a family of her own.
The little house where they are staying belongs to relatives. “Before the war, we were just about to start a major renovation,” Svitlana says. “Our relatives let us stay here while we did up our own house. We managed to install a sewage system, bring in water, rewire the electrics and buy materials for partitions. And then the full-scale war started.”
Power and water supply were cut off in their community. Her husband had to go out and get for food for their children under shelling. The family was displaced and moved apartments several times before settling back in their temporary home.
Svitlana recalls that several rockets landed in their yard, and one of them hit the house. Officially, the damage has never been recorded — there is no inspection report and therefore no compensation.
“We just can’t afford to complete the interior,” she sighs. “My husband is the only one working. To finish the house, we’d have to deprive the children — not buy fruit here, clothes there. But how do you explain to a child that instead of a winter coat we’re going to buy a door?”
Humanitarian cash assistance gives parents flexibility to prioritize their children's most urgent needs
For the 2025-2026 winter season, UNICEF is providing cash assistance to vulnerable families living in areas close to the front line. The one-time payment helps families buy essentials for children and improve their living conditions to help them get by during the cold season.
By November 2025, UNICEF had delivered winter cash support to 46,640 households in Ukraine, reaching 150,539 people including 68,327 children.
Learn more about UNICEF's 2025-26 winter response in Ukraine
Svitlana used the 19,400 Ukrainian hryvnias (around $450) they received from UNICEF to buy firewood to heat their home. With the ongoing hostilities, this winter is shaping up to be the toughest one yet and her children’s needs are mounting. The devices they use every day are wearing out quickly: the batteries no longer hold charge, the ports are loose. They will need to be replaced over time so that each child can have their own computer or tablet for lessons.
“Pens, ordinary pencils — that’s a daily problem," Svitlana says. "We bought them in bulk, everything was neatly stored. It’s only the third month of the school year — and there’s already nothing left. I sometimes joke that the kids must be eating them.”
What would be ordinary, low-cost school items for most families turn into a major expense when you have six children.
The small house where the family is currently living also needs repairs: the roof leaks, the wallpaper is peeling away from the damp walls, there is no running water or sewage, and the washing machine drains into a bucket. In one room, bunk beds are crammed together: the girls sleep two to a bed on the top bunks, the boys sleep on the lower ones.
Svitlana dreams of simple things: that one day each of her children will have their own corner to sleep and study in; that they won’t have to choose between warmth and exercise books.
“Whatever happens, we have to finish the house and move in,” she says quietly. “After that, we’ll think about the future.”
Learn more about UNICEF's work for children in Ukraine
As part of UNICEF’s winter response for 2025-2026, UNICEF is providing humanitarian cash assistance to families with children living in frontline areas to support their urgent winter needs. The winter humanitarian cash assistance program is supported financially by the European Union; the German Federal Foreign Office; the Governments of Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and the United States; and UNICEF National Committees in Ireland and Switzerland.
Please donate now to help UNICEF reach more children in need in Ukraine and around the world.
Right now, the lives of the most vulnerable children hang in the balance as conflicts and crises jeopardize the care and protection that they deserve. Dependable, uninterrupted and effective foreign aid is critical to the well-being of millions of children. Please contact your members of Congress and urge them to support ongoing U.S. investments in foreign assistance.
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