The United Nations Security Council has issued warnings about the rapidly worsening humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, citing a sharp surge in civilian casualties amidst Russia's intensified aerial attacks, marking the deadliest period of the war in more than a year.
Officials at the UN HQ in New York on Tuesday said that civilian casualties between January and November have risen by 24% compared to the same period in 2024.
Kayoko Gotoh, a senior official in the UN’s Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, said, “2025 has been one of the deadliest for the people of Ukraine. These figures continue to increase as the Russian Federation escalates its aerial attacks across Ukraine.”
Ukraine’s Ambassador to the UN, Andriy Melnyk, accused nations continuing to purchase Russian energy of indirectly financing the war. He called for coordinated sanctions on all states sustaining Russia’s revenue streams.
“If we place the numbers of energy imports side by side with Russia’s military budget last year, estimated at around $145 billion, the picture becomes unmistakably clear,” Melnyk said.
“The purchases of Russian energy by just the three biggest consumers exceeded by far the entirety of Russia’s annual defence spending. In other words, due to the absence of UN-mandated sanctions — an absence ensured, of course, by Moscow’s abuse of the veto in this Council — a number of states are effectively sustaining Putin’s war, Putin’s war machine, through the growing imports of Russian oil, gas, and coal,” Melnyk added.
Russia’s Ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, pushed back, claiming Ukraine is forcibly conscripting civilians and accusing Western governments of prolonging the conflict.
“Ukrainians are now being forced to pay an even higher price. Men who don’t want to fight have been grabbed in the streets. They are being sent to a pointless, fratricidal meat grinder,” Nebenzia said.
“Can any of those who called today’s meeting clarify why Ukrainians are being forced to fight against their will, when what we have on the table are fairly realistic proposals for a long-term, lasting settlement of the Ukrainian conflict — something that our U.S. colleagues are diligently working on?”
The United States representative Jennifer Locetta condemned Russia’s ongoing strikes on populated areas and energy infrastructure, especially as winter conditions worsen.
“The rising humanitarian cost of this war is unacceptable, and it will ripple through for decades across the region," Locetta said.
"Meanwhile, as the winter grows colder and darker, strikes in populated areas and against Ukraine’s energy grid continue, leaving millions without heat and power. The killing must stop. Both sides must choose peace,” she added.
The session, convened at the request of six member states, including Slovenia and the United Kingdom, ended with renewed calls for de-escalation but no consensus on immediate actions.
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A Russian guided aerial bomb has struck an apartment building in Kharkiv, injuring 22 people, including children, according to the city’s mayor. The strike follows a day of near-continuous Russian attacks across Ukraine that killed at least five people.
Here's your AnewZ Daily Brief for 28 September 2026. These are the top stories making headlines in technology.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan has arrived in Washington for talks with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on bilateral ties and key regional and international developments, Saudi state news agency SPA reported.
U.S. President Donald Trump has denied reports that he offered Iran sanctions relief and access to frozen funds in exchange for nuclear concessions.
The European Union's decision to simultaneously advance accession talks with Ukraine, Moldova, Montenegro and Albania marks its most ambitious enlargement effort in more than two decades.
China has announced plans to complete the world's first AI-driven geological map of Mars by the end of 2028, a project that aims to reconstruct the red planet's ancient water history and introduce a Chinese framework for Martian geological time that Beijing hopes will become a new global standard.
Norway’s parliament on Wednesday began public hearings into ties between late U.S. sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and Norwegian diplomats and politicians, as authorities face questions over the impact of those relationships on the country’s foreign service.
New York prosecutors have reopened a criminal investigation into allegations that seven Cornell University fraternity members sexually assaulted a student in 2024. The case is set to be presented to a grand jury following renewed scrutiny.
British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has declared that Brexit has done more harm than good, while reaffirming support for Ukraine and NATO as he used his first Labour conference speech as leader to set out a new direction for Britain.
The arrival in South Korea of two North Korean soldiers captured while fighting for Russia has created a rare legal, diplomatic and humanitarian case, raising questions over their status, security and future.
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