Ukraine - Humanitarian Situation Monitoring in Government-Controlled areas: overview of humanitarian needs in Q2 2026

Please refer to the attached file.

May 2026 | Ukraine

Key Messages

• Closer proximity to the front line was associated with more severe reported needs.

• A lack of money and insufficient access to jobs or livelihoods were the most frequently reported challenges experienced by most people in the North and South, while a lack of drinking water and insufficient access to healthcare were most frequently reported in the East.

• Schools and other educational facilities, government buildings, roads and bridges were most frequently reported as damaged or destroyed across all assessed areas.

• Donetska and Khersonska Oblasts consistently had the highest shares of assessed settlements with severe and above needs across Food Security, WASH, Cash and Markets, Shelter and NFI, and Protection.

• In 82% of assessed settlements in Khersonska and 68% in Donetska Oblast, at least 10% of residents lived in war-damaged housing.

• Unmet health needs were higher in the East. Severe or extreme health needs were reported in 82% of assessed settlements in Donetska, 73% in Zaporizka, and 67% in Dnipropetrovska Oblasts

Context & Rationale

Since March 2022, REACH has conducted the Humanitarian Situation Monitoring (HSM) in Government Controlled Areas on a bimonthly basis to provide timely information on humanitarian conditions in frontline areas.
The assessment collects settlement-level data on multi-sectoral needs, service availability, infrastructure damage, and population movements.

Since February 2025, the HSM has focused on settlements located within 50 km of the frontline and/or the border with the Russian Federation, aligning with the geographical prioritization of humanitarian response efforts. Each round covers approximately 300 settlements through around 900 key informant interviews. Through the Settlement Vulnerability Index (SVI), which measures the severity of needs across sectors, the HSM supports humanitarian actors in identifying settlements facing elevated humanitarian vulnerabilities and informing evidence-based response planning.