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STORY: UN / UKRAINE
TRT: 06:04
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / RUSSIAN / NATS
DATELINE: 12 JANUARY 2026, NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, United Nations headquarters
2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs:
“The start of the New Year has brought no peace or even respite to Ukraine, but renewed fighting and devastation. Large-scale aerial assaults by the Russian Federation against civilians and critical civilian infrastructure across the country have resulted in horrific levels of destruction and suffering.”
4. Wide shot, Security Council
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs:
“In one of the most recent large-scale barrages, overnight between 8 and 9 January, the Russian Federation reportedly launched 242 drones and 36 missiles against Ukraine. In Kyiv, at least four people were reportedly killed and 25 others injured. A paramedic rushing to provide emergency medical care was among those killed, reportedly by a so-called “double-tap” strike. Energy facilities and multiple residential buildings were damaged, leaving nearly half of the city and hundreds of thousands of residents without heating. The Embassy of Qatar was also damaged.”
6. Med shot, Russian representative
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Rosemary DiCarlo, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs:
“That same day, areas of the western Lviv region, near the Polish border, were reportedly targeted by a Russian intermediate-range ballistic missile, the so-called “Oreshnik.” This would be the second time the potentially devastating weapon has been fired at Ukraine since 2024. The Oreshnik system is believed to be capable of carrying nuclear weapons, which has heightened concern over its deployment. According to Ukrainian authorities, this strike damaged gas distribution pipelines, raising additional concerns about risks to critical civilian infrastructure.”
8. Med shot, Ukrainian Ambassador
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Ramesh Rajasingham, Director, Humanitarian Sector Division, Head and Representative of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Geneva (OCHA):
“What makes these attacks especially devastating is that they cripple the systems that keep civilians alive during winter. Power, heating and water infrastructure have been repeatedly struck in major urban areas, including Kyiv, Odesa, Dnipro, Zaporizhzhia, and Kryvyi Rih, leaving hundreds of thousands of people without electricity, heating or water for prolonged periods. With winter conditions intensifying, each damaged substation, heating pipeline or pumping station triggers cascading failures that put even more lives at risk. In Kryvyi Rih, families are melting snow for washing and cooking. They are also heating water over candles after power cuts lasting more than a day.”
10. Med shot, Russian Ambassador
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Tammy Bruce, Ambassador, Deputy Representative to the United Nations, United States:
“At a moment of tremendous potential, due only to President Trump’s unparalleled commitment to peace around the world, both sides should be seeking ways to de-escalate, yet Russia’s action risks expanding and intensifying the war. From the start, President Trump has decried the carnage of this conflict. Horribly, we have to continue to deplore the staggering number of casualties – service members and civilians, men, women, and children. We condemn Russia’s continuing and intensifying attacks on Ukraine’s energy facilities and other civil infrastructure. These attacks make a mockery of the cause of peace, a cause of paramount importance to the world, and to President Trump.”
12. Wide shot, Security Council
13. SOUNDBITE (Russian) Vasily Nebenzya, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Russian Federation:
“The Ukrainian clique will be helped neither by the failed French summit of the so-called “coalition of the willing,” nor by the advance of NATO forces toward Ukraine’s borders (we have already repeatedly spoken about the potential consequences of their presence in Ukraine). This is something many have recently been boasting about, and the threat of which largely served as a trigger for the launch of the special military operation, in addition to our desire to end the war begun by the Kyiv regime against its own people. Nor will incantations about a “ceasefire” help, offered in the hope of catching one’s breath after crushing defeats on the battlefield. Zelensky will not be helped by his absurd “conditions” either—conditions that ignore reality, contact with which he has long since lost—and which he puts forward in response to U.S. proposals, effectively nullifying them.”
14. Wide shot, Security Council
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Andriy Melnyk, Ambassador, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ukraine:
“Next month, Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine will enter its 13th year and the fifth year since the full-scale invasion of 2022. It has now lasted longer than the war between the Third Reich and the Soviet Union — 1,418 days. So when we compare World War Two to Russia's military invasion now, the parallels are becoming increasingly shocking, not only in the sheer duration of Moscow's brutal war against Ukrainian statehood, but also in the scale of destruction and, tragically, in the mounting toll of human suffering. The level of Russia's systematic crimes we are witnessing day and night has reached an unprecedented height. This Council can no longer ignore this outrageous war. Every single day that the Security Council fails to act to end Russia's war [it] brings more victims.”
16. Wide shot, end of Security Council's meeting, Ukrainian Ambassador and Stavros Lambrinidis, Head of the Delegation of the European Union to the United Nations, shaking hands
The New Year has brought “no peace or even respite to Ukraine,” with renewed fighting and large-scale aerial attacks hitting civilians and critical infrastructure, a top UN political affairs official said.
Briefing the Security Council, Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo said large-scale assaults by the Russian Federation have resulted in “horrific levels of destruction and suffering” across the country.
DiCarlo said that overnight between 8 and 9 January, Russia reportedly launched 242 drones and 36 missiles against Ukraine. In Kyiv, at least four people were reportedly killed and 25 others injured, including a paramedic responding to emergency calls who was killed in what was described as a “double-tap” strike.
She said energy facilities and residential buildings were damaged, leaving nearly half of the city and hundreds of thousands of residents without heating, while the Embassy of Qatar was also damaged.
She added that on the same day, areas of Ukraine’s western Lviv region near the Polish border were reportedly targeted by an intermediate-range ballistic missile known as “Oreshnik,” marking the second time the weapon has been fired at Ukraine since 2024.
DiCarlo said the system is believed to be capable of carrying nuclear weapons, raising concerns over its deployment, and that Ukrainian authorities reported damage to gas distribution pipelines.
Also briefing the Council, Ramesh Rajasingham, head of OCHA’s Humanitarian Sector Division, warned that the attacks are having severe consequences for civilians during winter. He said repeated strikes on power, heating, and water systems in major cities have left hundreds of thousands of people without basic services, adding that in Kryvyi Rih families are melting snow for washing and cooking and heating water over candles after prolonged power cuts.
The United States said Russia’s actions risk expanding and intensifying the war. U.S. Deputy Representative Tammy Bruce said the attacks on Ukraine’s energy facilities and civilian infrastructure “make a mockery of the cause of peace,” while deploring the continuing toll on civilians and service members.
Ambassador Vasily Nebenzya of Russia said Ukraine would not be helped by what he described as failed diplomatic initiatives or by Western support.
Ukraine’s Ambassador Andriy Melnyk told the Council that next month Russia’s war against Ukraine will enter its 13th year and the fifth year since the full-scale invasion of 2022 which means it has now lasted longer than the war between the Third Reich and the Soviet Union.
Melnyk said the scale and duration of the conflict, along with what he described as systematic crimes, mean the Council “can no longer ignore this outrageous war,” warning that each day without action brings more victims.
