UN migration agency: Millions of returnees in Ukraine face renewed displacement
Some 1.56 million returnees live in districts near the front line. Only 1% of households there were able to heat adequately last winter, according to the IOM.
Symbolic image · Photo: Alex Blokha / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) warns that millions of Ukrainians who have returned to their hometowns could be displaced again in winter. The reason is the continuing Russian attacks on civilian infrastructure. According to the report published on Oct. 16, around 1.56 million returnees (as of June 2026) live in districts near the front line; in total, the IOM counts 4.1 million returnees, not including internally displaced people.
Three in four returnees near the front line need materials to repair damaged walls, and almost one in two need insulation and roofing materials. Only 32% of households said they had heated adequately during the last heating season, and just 1% in the front-line regions. Six in 10 households have cut back their consumption.
"For millions of Ukrainians, it is no longer just a question of whether they can return home," said IOM Regional Director Arthur Erken. In a Russian missile attack on Kyiv overnight into Oct. 14, all three of the city's combined heat and power plants were targeted, according to Prime Minister Serhiy Koretskyi.