Russian attacks put millions of Ukrainians at risk of displacement this winter, UN Migration says
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Millions of Ukrainians who returned home are at risk of displacement this winter as Russia continues its attacks on civilian infrastructure, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), also known as U.N. Migration, reported Oct. 16.
The agency estimates that around 1.56 million Ukrainians who returned home as of June 2026 now live in frontline districts where three in four people need materials to repair damaged walls while nearly two in four need insulation and roofing materials.
A total of 4.1 million returnees have moved back to Ukraine in a figure that does not include Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), the report found.
"For millions of Ukrainians, the challenge is no longer simply whether they can return home. It is whether they can remain there safely, and right now the conditions are making it difficult," Arthur Erken, IOM Regional Director for Europe and Central Asia, said.
Where heating is available, many cannot afford to adequately heat their homes. Only 32% of Ukrainians reported being able to do so during the last heating season, a figure that dropped to just 1% in frontline regions.
Six in 10 households have also reduced heating consumption, U.N. Migration says.
Russia regularly attacks energy infrastructure and residential buildings in fatal strikes that leave many without power.
Russia launched a large-scale ballistic missile attack on Kyiv overnight Oct. 13-14, wreaking destruction in a residential neighborhood and targeting several energy facilities in Kyiv.
Prime Minister Serhii Koretskyi said that all three of the city's combined heat and power stations were attacked, as well as critical infrastructure in the Kyiv Oblast that provides power to Kyiv and central regions.
The attack killed five and injured 25 in total, with many casualties coming from a strike on a Kyiv residential building.
At least three women were killed, and another 25 people, including a 7-year-old girl, were injured as a result of the Russian strike on the residential building, Kyiv Police said.
