Ukrainian Red Cross continues to support population during energy crisis

For five weeks since the energy crisis began to worsen, the Ukrainian Red Cross Society (URCS) has been providing continuous humanitarian aid to residents of Kyiv and communities across the country.

"Since early January 2026, the organization has been supporting the operation of over 100 heating stations deployed by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine in Kyiv, and has also been organizing its own heating stations. Here, people can warm up, get hot meals, hot drinking water, and recharge their devices. During this period, more than 250,000 people have received assistance," said Maksym Dotsenko, URCS CEO.

The Ukrainian Red Cross is also establishing warming centers at schools across the capital. More than 15,260 blankets, 5,040 bedding sets, 1,380 bedding sets, 5,940 hygiene kits, heaters, and hot meals have been donated to support residents. Volunteers and staff at the Ukrainian Red Cross also provide psychosocial support.

Additionally, the organization supports the work of 40 field kitchens of the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, donating essential food and delivering thousands of hot meals and drinks. Volunteers also deliver food to warming stations and provide targeted assistance to people with limited mobility and those living alone who are unable to reach them.

A separate area of ​​the response is ensuring community energy resilience. The Ukrainian Red Cross is implementing a program to provide communities with 560 generators with a total capacity of 9.16 MW to support critical infrastructure, Points of Invincibility, and social protection institutions. This ensures the continued operation of vital services even during extended power outages. International partners played a key role in this initiative: 447 of the 560 generators were donated from the European Union's Strategic Reserves (rescEU) under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. These generators are intended to support communities most affected by Russian attacks on energy infrastructure. Additionally, the German Red Cross and the Belgian Red Cross provided an additional 34 powerful generators.

The URCS also recalled that since the beginning of the Russian Federation's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the organization has already donated more than 15,000 generators to support medical facilities, schools, and kindergartens.

The Ukrainian Red Cross coordinates with government agencies and international partners, quickly responding to the needs of communities. The Ukrainian Red Cross acknowledged the support and solidarity of donors and partners from the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office, the US Department of State, and the European Union.