Ukrainian Children Cut Off from School and Heat in the Coldest Winter
Kyiv, 22 January – Ukrainian children are facing their coldest and most dangerous winter since 2022. With schools closed until February in Kyiv and other regions, hundreds of thousands of children are cut off from education, safe spaces, and essential support.
Repeated attacks on energy infrastructure have left homes, schools, and hospitals without electricity, heating, or water. Children are enduring freezing conditions, putting their health, education, and mental well-being at serious risk, World Vision warns.
With daytime temperatures dropping to -16°C and nighttime temperatures falling to -20°C, prolonged power outages lasting up to 36 hours in some areas mean children experience 16 to 17 hours each day without electricity. Schools and kindergartens struggle to operate safely, and children relying on remote learning cannot consistently attend lessons, charge devices, or complete assignments.
“This is the worst winter for Ukrainian children since the war began,” said Arman Grigoryan, World Vision Ukraine Crisis Response Director.
“Long hours in the dark and cold are harming children’s health, increasing stress and anxiety, and affecting their mental well-being. Their education is being disrupted at a critical time in their development. Humanitarian operations are also severely hampered, with aid teams working through blackouts, icy roads, and damaged infrastructure, often relying on generators just to keep essential services running.”
Children describe the daily hardships they face. “Sometimes there is no electricity all day. It is hard to read or do homework, and the cold never goes away. We sit at home wearing gloves, hats, and jackets. It has been dark and cold like this for two months,” said Gloria, 12, from Kyiv.
“We have constant power outages, no heating, and no way to stay warm. Our phones and devices run out of battery, but we need them to get information or call for help. School is online, yet learning is difficult when electricity and Wi-Fi do not work. Sometimes I cannot hear my teacher at all. With no power, no heat, and frequent air alarms, living like this is very hard,” shared Mark, 8, a student from Kyiv.
Nearly half of households rely on centralised heating, and one in five families report health problems linked to cold indoor temperatures, putting children, especially those with chronic illnesses, at serious risk.
World Vision is scaling up its response to protect children and families. The organisation is providing cash assistance to help households cover utilities and basic needs. In frontline areas, World Vision and local partners are distributing winterisation kits containing mattresses, sleeping bags, high-thermal blankets, rescue foil blankets, power banks, thermos flasks, portable stoves with dry fuel, and battery-powered flashlights.
To safeguard children’s well-being, World Vision has also supplied generators to child-friendly spaces, ensuring that psychosocial support, learning activities, and safe spaces can continue even during prolonged blackouts.
“In winter, our child-friendly space works through constant power cuts,” said Olena, facilitator at a World Vision-supported centre in Kyiv.
“Sometimes there is no electricity for 15 or 16 hours a day. We use generators, and inverter batteries, but sometimes they are not enough. Children often do activities under flashlights. Parents bring their children just to warm up, because at home it can be eight or nine degrees. Even in these conditions, we keep coming because children need warmth, learning, and a sense of normality.”
Since February 2022, over 4,300 educational facilities have been damaged, further undermining children’s access to learning and essential services.
To date, World Vision has reached more than 240,000 children with educational support, 230,000 people with cash assistance, over 459,000 with food assistance, and provided non-food items to more than 335,000 people across Ukraine.
Notes to Editor:
About World Vision Ukraine Crisis Response: Since the onset of the war, World Vision and its local partners have reached over 2,3 million people, including more than 1 million children, providing food, non-food items, cash assistance, protection, education, livelihoods, and mental health support. Operating in 22 of Ukraine’s 24 regions, World Vision continues to deliver both immediate relief and long-term recovery programmes to address ongoing needs.
For further information, please contact:
Laurentia Jora | Advocacy & Communications Manager | Email: laurentia_jora@wvi.org