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STORY: UN / UKRAINE HUMANITARIAN INTERVIEW
TRT: 06:45
SOURCE: UN NEWS
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 20 OCTOBER 2025, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE – NEW YORK CITY
1. Med shot, UN flag
20 OCTOBER 2025, NEW YORK CITY
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Andrea De Domenico, Head of Office, OCHA in Ukraine:
“Winter is coming, so the weather conditions are deteriorating by the day, so one of the priorities we have is to ensure that we support people, particularly vulnerable people, to be ready for winter.”
RECENT – UKRAINE
3. Med shot, offloading of humanitarian aid
20 OCTOBER 2025, NEW YORK CITY
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Andrea De Domenico, Head of Office, OCHA in Ukraine:
“We have seen massive displacement during August and September due to the pressure on some point along the front line. And particularly concerning now is the situation in some cities that are in proximity now of the front line and from where civilians had to constantly move out to find safe places where to keep on surviving.”
RECENT – UKRAINE
5. Med shot, offloading of humanitarian aid
20 OCTOBER 2025, NEW YORK CITY
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Andrea De Domenico, Head of Office, OCHA in Ukraine:
“This year alone, we had more than 100 incidents that we have recorded. The UN is also contributing to response in the front line. And yes, events like last week are particularly concerning.”
14 OCTOBER 2025, KHERSON REGION, UKRAINE
7. Wide shot, trucks damaged by the attack
20 OCTOBER 2025, NEW YORK CITY
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Andrea De Domenico, Head of Office, OCHA in Ukraine:
“It's the first event, if we do not count the event of IAEA, of attacks on, direct attacks, on humanitarian convoy of the United Nations. We had other incidents where we were collateral damages of other attacks, and that has happened, but directly like this is the first time. Of course, it's shocking for those who were there and concerning for those who were not there.”
14 OCTOBER 2025, KHERSON REGION, UKRAINE
9. Wide shot, trucks damaged by the attack
20 OCTOBER 2025, NEW YORK CITY
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Andrea De Domenico, Head of Office, OCHA in Ukraine:
“With shrinking resources globally, we have, of course, had to make tough choices. And we are now in the planning phase for next year.”
RECENT – UKRAINE
11. Med shot, offloading of humanitarian aid
20 OCTOBER 2025, NEW YORK CITY
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Andrea De Domenico, Head of Office, OCHA in Ukraine:
“And we have identified some specific areas, like the response along the front lines, the support to the evacuations, the response to airstrikes, and the humanitarian component to the displacement of people as the top priorities for the work we are doing.”
14 OCTOBER 2025, KHERSON REGION, UKRAINE
13. Wide shot, trucks damaged by the attack
20 OCTOBER 2025, NEW YORK CITY
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Andrea De Domenico, Head of Office, OCHA in Ukraine:
“Considering the trends that we have noticed - in the last weeks you've seen that the 60 per cent of the gas production has been damaged, for example, and that has an implication that is very very costly for the quality of life of people. Electricity has been heavily impacted, and if you take away water and electricity, to people, of course, surviving winter in their places will be very, very difficult.”
14 OCTOBER 2025, KHERSON REGION, UKRAINE
15. Wide shot, trucks damaged by the attack
20 OCTOBER 2025, NEW YORK CITY
16. SOUNDBITE (English) Andrea De Domenico, Head of Office, OCHA in Ukraine:
“So, we have asked the overall humanitarian plan was targeting six million people and by the end of August we have reached almost four million people. Specifically for winter we have asked 277 million and I think that roughly 50 per cent of that has been mobilized, which means that we still need, you know, there is still a long way to go in order to hit the overall target.”
RECENT - UKRAINE
17. Wide shot, offloading of humanitarian aid
20 OCTOBER 2025, NEW YORK CITY
18. SOUNDBITE (English) Andrea De Domenico, Head of Office, OCHA in Ukraine:
“Unfortunately, if we will not be able to receive that money, it means that people will not be able to stay where they are and they will not be able to spend winter in their homes and will require then evacuations from their homes. That's the only way out.”
14 OCTOBER 2025, KHERSON REGION, UKRAINE
19. Wide shot, trucks damaged by the attack
20 OCTOBER 2025, NEW YORK CITY
20. SOUNDBITE (English) Andrea De Domenico, Head of Office, OCHA in Ukraine:
“The capacity of attacks have expanded, and so people were forced to move again. For the most vulnerable, people are hosted in what we call collective centers. The government is doing huge effort to support those centers but it is not enough, so the humanitarian community is also supporting those. Humanitarian coordinator Matthias Schmale, for example, decided recently to allocate some additional resources in support of those collective centers through the Ukrainian humanitarian fund.”
14 OCTOBER 2025, KHERSON REGION, UKRAINE
21. Close-up shot, truck damaged by the attack
20 OCTOBER 2025, NEW YORK CITY
22. SOUNDBITE (English) Andrea De Domenico, Head of Office, OCHA in Ukraine:
“Going systematically to the front line and meeting people, what is really heartbreaking is that we realize that the war has the same color, the same smell, and the same noise that you can find in other places. Peculiar here, I think, though, is the impact it has on elderly people.”
14 OCTOBER 2025, KHERSON REGION, UKRAINE
23. Wide shot, truck damaged by the attack
20 OCTOBER 2025, NEW YORK CITY
24. SOUNDBITE (English) Andrea De Domenico, Head of Office, OCHA in Ukraine:
“The amount of elderly people that you find in need of support that are benefiting of the assistance provided by civil society and international humanitarian community is really something that has stricken me. At the end and it's very sad to think that these people will most probably be unable to go back to their homes and you can see it in their eyes, in their pain how profoundly disturbing it is for them to go through these traumatic experiences, knowing that they maybe will never see their home again. It's horrible, I think, and this is the price of war and the way, the face it takes in Ukraine.”
FILE – NEW YORK CITY
25. Med shot, UN flag
“Winter is coming, so the weather conditions are deteriorating by the day,” said Andrea De Domenico, Head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Ukraine, warning that vulnerable communities urgently need help to prepare for freezing temperatures.
Speaking to UN News from Kyiv, De Domenico said ensuring support for civilians ahead of winter is among OCHA’s top priorities. He noted that recent months have seen “massive displacement during August and September due to the pressure on some point along the front line.”
De Domenico confirmed that more than 100 security incidents involving humanitarian workers have been recorded this year alone. “Events like last week are particularly concerning,” he said, referring to an attack on a UN convoy in southern Ukraine.
“It’s the first event, if we do not count the event of IAEA, of attacks on, direct attacks, on humanitarian convoy of the United Nations,” he said. “We had other incidents where we were collateral damages of other attacks, and that has happened, but directly like this, it is the first time. Of course, it’s shocking for those who were there.”
Despite these dangers, OCHA continues to operate in frontline regions, though funding shortfalls are forcing difficult decisions. “With shrinking resources globally, we have, of course, had to make tough choices. And we are now in the planning phase for next year,” De Domenico said.
He explained that OCHA has prioritized “the response along the front lines, the support to the evacuations, the response to airstrikes, and the humanitarian component to the displacement of people.”
The situation is made worse by damage to critical infrastructure. “Considering the trends that we have noticed, in the last weeks you've seen that the 60 per cent of the gas production has been damaged, for example, and that has an implication that is very, very costly for the quality of life of people,” he said. “Electricity has been heavily impacted, and if you take away water and electricity, of course, surviving winter in their places will be very, very difficult.”
According to De Domenico, the humanitarian plan aims to assist six million people, and by the end of August, nearly four million had received aid. “For winter we have asked 277 million and I think that roughly 50 per cent of that has been mobilized, which means that there is still a long way to go in order to hit the overall target,” he said.
He warned, “Unfortunately, if we will not be able to receive that money, it means that people will not be able to stay where they are and they will not be able to spend winter in their homes and will require then evacuations from their homes. That’s the only way out.”
De Domenico said the expanding attacks have forced more people to flee, with the most vulnerable housed in “collective centers.”
“The government is doing huge effort to support those centers but it is not enough,” he said, adding that Humanitarian Coordinator Matthias Schmale recently allocated additional resources from the Ukrainian Humanitarian Fund to help.
Reflecting on his visits to front-line areas, De Domenico described the experience as deeply affecting. “Going systematically to the front line and meeting people, what is really heartbreaking is that we realize that the war has the same color, the same smell, and the same noise that you can find in other places. Peculiar here, I think, though, is the impact it has on elderly people.”
“The amount of elderly people that you find in need of support that are benefiting of the assistance provided by civil society and international humanitarian community is really something that has stricken me,” he said. “It’s horrible, I think, and this is the price of war and the way, the face it takes in Ukraine.”
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