He briefed the Council against the backdrop of sustained missile and drone attacks, including a bombing on Wednesday night that killed at least 25 people.
Despite the escalation of violence, Ms. Gotoh noted that the UN has supported more than six million people with electricity, heating, water and sanitation services.
He also highlighted the progress made last month by the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which secured an agreement from both sides to reconnect the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to the grid.
No region is spared
While most civilian casualties occur near the front lines, Russia’s increasing use of long-range weapons is exposing more of the country to danger. Gotoh described Wednesday’s attack as one of the “deadliest” of the war and said the western regions of Lviv and Ivano-Frankivsk were also hit. “No region of Ukraine is safe”, he warned.
The alarming casualty figures underline the magnitude of the crisis. The number of civilians killed in kyiv at the end of October was almost four times higher than in all of 2024and the total number of victims nationwide has already surpassed last year’s count.
According to the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR), 14,534 civilians – including 745 children – have died since the war began.
Russia is also experiencing increasing impacts of the conflict: Ukrainian drone strikes reportedly killed 392 people, including 22 children.according to Russian authorities. The UN has not been able to verify these figures.
Under tension
Some 3.7 million Ukrainians remain displaced within the country and almost six million are refugees, said Edem Wosornu, director of Operations and Advocacy at the UN aid coordination office, OCHA.
This year alone, around 122,000 people have been uprooted, mainly from frontline areas.
Aid workers continue to operate under the constant threat of shelling, shifting battle lines and other security risks.
“We continue to urge the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure, including humanitarian and medical personnel and assets,” Ms. Wosornu said.
It warned that the severe underfunding of the 2025 humanitarian response plan is already restricting essential services, leaving 72,000 displaced people without adequate shelter, limiting specialized support to survivors of conflict-related sexual violence and halting critical programs for more than 600,000 women and girls.
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