Ukraine: UK aid and humanitarian situation 2022 to 2026

On 24 February 2022 Russia invaded Ukraine, with forces crossing into the country from Belarus in the north, Russia in the east and Crimea in the south. After failing to take the capital, Kyiv, in 2022, fighting is now focused in south and eastern Ukraine.

Russia’s military actions forced many Ukrainians to leave the county and have resulted in significant damage to Ukrainian infrastructure and public services, creating a substantial level of humanitarian need and reconstruction costs.

The current conflict has exacerbated the humanitarian crisis that has been ongoing in eastern Ukraine since 2014. In that year, Russia annexed Crimea. Two regions in the Donbas, controlled by Russian-backed separatist forces, also declared independence.

The briefing describes the humanitarian situation in Ukraine, the number of displaced people, and what aid the UK and others have pledged from 2022.

The Commons Library’s Conflict in Ukraine collection provides more analysis on the conflict, including sanctions and meeting the costs of reconstruction.

Humanitarian needs

The situation in eastern Ukraine since 2014 caused the country’s humanitarian needs to grow. To January 2021, over 3,000 civilians were killed (PDF) and the UN estimated around 2.9 million people were in need of humanitarian aid (such as support to access shelter or health services) (at February 2022).

Between February 2022 and December 2025 more than 14,999 civilians have been killed (note this is a likely underestimate, according to UN monitors) and the number of people in need of humanitarian assistance stands at 10.8 million in 2026 (Ukraine has an estimated population of 33 million).

In April 2025 the World Bank estimated that the cost of Ukraine’s reconstruction and recovery stood at US$524 million. It also estimates that Ukraine’s gross domestic product fell 29% in 2022 and poverty rates rose 1.7 times from 2021 to 2023, from 21% to 36% of the population.

Many people have been displaced

Around 5.9 million refugees from Ukraine are recorded globally, and an additional 3.4 million are displaced within the country. Germany hosts the higher number of refugees (3.3 million), reportedly followed by Russia (1.2 million) and Poland (980,000). Around 264,000 refugees are in the UK.

UK aid to Ukraine

From 2010 to 2021, the UK provided a total of £204 million in bilateral aid (aid given for a specific programme or purpose) to Ukraine to improve Ukrainian governance and address humanitarian needs. In 2022, the UK provided £342 million in bilateral aid; this fell to £250 million in 2023 but rose to £270 million in 2024. Data reported to the Development Assistance Committee, which includes the world’s major aid donors (except China) shows the UK was the seventh-largest donor of aid to Ukraine in 2023. Specific UK aid pledges include:

• £577 million in humanitarian aid (from February 2022 to March 2026)
• This includes up to £283 million aid for 2025/26
• £470 million for energy and energy security. This includes £20 million for the winter of 2025/26 and provision of generators
• US$100 million (£74 million) for the Ukrainian Government’s budget to support public sector salaries, social protection, and core services. This forms part of a World Bank scheme (see below).

From December 2021 to February 2024 the UK has announced £6.5 billion of fiscal support to Ukraine via World Bank loan bank guarantees and grants.­ UK export finance has also had a “market risk appetite” of £3.5 billion for Ukraine, to help fund reconstruction and increase UK-Ukraine trade.

G7, World Bank and IMF support

G7 members are the UK, Italy, France, Germany, Canada, the United States, and Japan, as well as the European Union. At the G7 summit in May 2023, the group said it would increase its commitment of budget and economic support for Ukraine for 2023 and early 2024 to $44 billion. At the June 2024 G7 meeting, G7 leaders said that they would launch ‘extraordinary revenue acceleration loans’ for Ukraine, to make available $50 billion in additional funding by the end of 2024.

Together with donors, the World Bank has mobilised $88 billion in finance for Ukraine from February 2022 to January 2026 (around £64 billion).

In March 2023, the IMF also announced a $15.6 billion programme (£12.8 billion) for 2022 to 2027 as part of its wider package of support for Ukraine. Preliminary agreement was reached on a new $8.1 billion IMF programme in November 2025.

Update log

October 2025: Added UK spending for 2024 and committments for 2025/26

February 2026: Updated humanitarian situation and some aid committments