Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs
Rosemary DiCarlo's remarks to the Security Council on Ukraine
New York, 16 January 2024
Mr. President,
The people of Ukraine have endured three years of devastation caused by Russia’s full-scale invasion of their country in February 2022. This invasion was launched in brazen violation of the UN Charter and international law.
The holiday and New Year season, a time meant for peace and reflection, brought no respite, but rather an escalation and even expansion of the fighting, consistent with the dangerous pattern of the past year.
Most disturbingly, in 2024 we witnessed an alarming rise in the toll of civilian casualties.
Last year, the total number of civilians killed and injured was 30 per cent higher than the year before, according to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
The increase in casualties among children is particularly distressing. More children were killed or injured in the first three quarters of 2024 than in all of 2023.
According to OHCHR, between February 2022 and 31 December 2024, at least 12,456 civilians, including 669 children, were killed. 28,382 civilians, including 1,833 children, have been injured. The actual figures are likely considerably higher.
Verified attacks on schools and hospitals also increased in 2024, with more than 580 educational and health facilities damaged or destroyed within nine months.
On 9 January of this year, at least 13 people were reportedly killed and more than 100 injured in Zaporizhzhia by a Russian attack.
Hostilities in the last two weeks have forced new displacements, with more than 1,600 people, including children, fleeing front-line areas, primarily in the Donetsk and Kharkiv regions, according to local authorities.
In the beginning of the new year, there were also civilian casualties in Russian-occupied territories of Ukraine.
On 10 January, an alleged Ukrainian strike on Donetsk city reportedly resulted in the death of two civilians and the wounding of two others at a local supermarket.
I want to repeat that we unequivocally condemn all attacks targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure. Such actions, no matter where they occur, are prohibited under international law and must cease immediately.
The daily attacks bring death and terror to the local population. But they have also made the situation increasingly dangerous for the diplomatic community and international organizations operating in Ukraine.
On 20 December, a strike on Kyiv damaged six foreign embassies.
On 10 December, a drone attack struck a vehicle of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) near the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant.
Diplomatic and international personnel and assets must be protected at all times.
For humanitarian workers, too, this was another difficult year. Ten aid workers were killed and 41 injured in the line of duty.
Mr. President,
As fierce fighting continues in the east and south of Ukraine, deadly clashes also persist in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation.
We have heard unconfirmed reports of civilian casualties and remain concerned about the impact of the hostilities on the population on both sides of the Ukrainian-Russian border.
Furthermore, there are reports that military personnel from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) were captured in the Kursk region of the Russian Federation.
The reported involvement of the DPRK troops in fighting alongside the Russian forces continues to raise serious concerns regarding further internationalization of this already dangerous conflict.
Mr. President,
The humanitarian crisis in Ukraine remains dire. The 2025 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan for Ukraine, launched today, estimates that 12.7 million people – roughly 36 per cent of the country’s population – will require assistance this year, with $2.6 billion needed to address their acute needs.
Despite the decrease in the number of people in need, from 14.6 million in 2024 to 12.7 million in 2025, thanks to improved access to services in the major urban centers of Kyiv and Lviv, humanitarian conditions near the front-line regions have deteriorated to catastrophic levels.
We must also not forget the plight of the many thousands of Ukrainian civilians living in territories of Ukraine currently occupied by the Russian Federation.
The needs in these areas are estimated to be severe and worsened by extremely limited humanitarian access. We renew our call for the safe, rapid and unimpeded passage of humanitarian relief to all civilians in need.
We are grateful to the donors who provided over $2.2 billion in 2024, thus enabling the United Nations to reach some 8.5 million people, 60 per cent of them women and girls.
We urge the international community to fully support the 2025 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan to sustain operations in an increasingly complex and dangerous environment.
It bears emphasizing that the humanitarian situation is compounded by the harsh winter and the widespread damage that Russia’s attacks have caused to Ukraine’s energy production.
Just yesterday, Ukraine suffered the latest wave of country-wide Russian attacks systematically targeting civilian energy infrastructure.
In the last months of 2024, Russia conducted at least four similar large-scale, coordinated attacks.
We condemn such reprehensible tactics, which terrorize the civilian population and deprive it of basic services. They must end.
The UN continues to work with the Government of Ukraine to restore energy generation capacity, while creating opportunities in the green energy sector.
Mr. President,
According to reports, Russia and Ukraine conducted a prisoner exchange yesterday that enabled fifty people to return to their homes.
We welcome this development as well as the reported exchange of more than 300 prisoners of war on 30 December. We commend the efforts of all involved and urge the sides to increase the scope and pace of these exchanges.
However, we remain alarmed by reports of executions of Ukrainian prisoners of war by Russian forces.
In its December report, OHCHR assessed that allegations of 19 incidents since August, involving the killing of 62 individuals, were credible.
OHCHR also found that the Russian Federation has used widespread and systematic torture against Ukrainian prisoners of war.
The use of torture against Russian prisoners of war by Ukrainian forces has also been documented. We note that Ukrainian authorities have reported opening investigations into the accusations.
Mr. President,
As we approach the third anniversary of Russia’s invasion, global calls for de-escalation and the beginning of a process to end the fighting are growing louder.
The Secretary-General’s good offices remain available to support all good faith efforts to find a just, lasting and comprehensive peace, in line with the UN Charter, international law and General Assembly resolutions.
Thank you.
