Finland’s humanitarian assistance in Ukraine

Finland responds to Ukraine’s acute needs by providing humanitarian assistance that will save lives, alleviate human suffering and protect human dignity. Finland allocated a total of EUR 80.45 million in assistance between February 2022 and May 2025 to respond to the humanitarian situation in Ukraine. Ukraine is the largest recipient of Finland’s humanitarian assistance.

Russia’s illegal war of aggression in Ukraine has caused immense destruction and suffering. According to a UN estimate, approximately 12.7 million Ukrainians, or about 36 per cent of the country’s population, need humanitarian assistance and protection in 2025. It is estimated that 14 per cent of them are persons with disabilities. Especially people in the frontline have increasingly serious needs. 

At least EUR 20 million in humanitarian assistance is allocated to Ukraine through a separate budget item “Humanitarian assistance to Ukraine” every year during this government term. Finland channels humanitarian assistance through UN specialised agencies, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and Finnish civil society organisations. Finland’s humanitarian assistance prioritises helping those in the most vulnerable situations, especially persons with disabilities.

Important partners for Finland in Ukraine include the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), the World Food Programme (WFP) and the Ukraine Humanitarian Fund (UHF), a pooled fund managed by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

In the early 2025 round of distribution of humanitarian assistance, Finland allocated EUR 5 million to the Ukraine relief operation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The ICRC and the Ukrainian Red Cross Society (URCS) provide vital assistance especially to people in the frontline and offer technical and material support for repairing destroyed infrastructure and maintaining power supply, water supply and health services. 

The UN Refugee Agency UNHCR focuses on protection measures, providing emergency relief, supporting local communities, finding sustainable solutions for internally displaced people and returnees, and supporting reconstruction. Finland supports the UNHCR’s Ukraine operation by EUR 6 million in the early part of 2025.

The WFP has several operations in Ukraine: a comprehensive country operation delivering food kits primarily in hard-to-reach and frontline areas and distributing cash assistance to people internally displaced or affected by the war; the school meals programme, which the WFP is implementing within the framework of the Ukrainian Government’s school nutrition reform; and agricultural mine action carried out with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization FAO. Finland has supported all of these operations. Finland has also indirectly supported Ukraine by providing a total of EUR 13.5 million in funding through the WFP to grain exports to countries suffering from food insecurity. In the early 2025 round of distribution of funding, EUR 2 million was granted to the WFP’s country operation in Ukraine.  

Finland also finances the Ukraine Humanitarian Fund (UHF), a pooled fund managed by the OCHA. Most of Finland’s support to Ukraine has been channelled through the UHF. The UHF pools contributions from multiple donors into a single fund  and decides on the allocation of funding to different actors and sectors locally in Ukraine. The most pressing humanitarian needs can thus be taken into account in funding decisions. The UHF strongly supports the humanitarian work of local civil society organisations. Funding decisions are made with particular attention to gender equality, the inclusion of persons with disabilities, protection and education in emergencies. In early 2025, Finland allocated EUR 3 million to the UHF.  

In addition, Finnish civil society organisations deliver humanitarian assistance in Ukraine. The projects of Save the Children and Plan International in Ukraine received EUR 1 million and EUR 750,000 respectively in the call for project grant applications for 2025. Save the Children’s project in Ukraine will improve access to school for Ukrainian children, child welfare and mental health and psychosocial support services in the Sumy and Kharkov regions. Plan International’s project in Ukraine will respond to the urgent mental health and wellbeing needs of children and young people affected by the violence of war in the conflict-ridden regions of Kherson, Mykolaiv and Odessa. Furthermore, Fida International is carrying out a project in the Zaporizhzhia and Zakarpattia regions with funding from 2024.

Finland’s support to Ukraine in 2024

In 2024, Finland granted a total of EUR 20 million in humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, including:

• EUR 5 million to the Ukraine Humanitarian Fund (UHF) managed by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). 
• EUR 6 million to the Ukraine relief operation of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The ICRC provided vital assistance and offered technical and material support to repair destroyed infrastructure and to maintain power supply, water supply and health services. In addition to protecting civilians, the operation promoted international humanitarian law, monitored the living conditions and treatment of prisoners of war and helped to reunite families separated by the conflict.
• EUR 4 million to the Ukraine operation of the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). The UNHCR’s operation provided, among other things, emergency relief, offered alternative energy sources (including generators and backup power supplies) and housing solutions, and supported the early recovery and resilience of local communities.
• EUR 2 million to the Ukraine operation of the World Food Programme (WFP). The WFP’s operation focused on distributing food kits in hard-to-reach and frontline areas and on providing cash assistance. The WFP also offered food supplies to hospitals, for example. Additionally, Finland provided EUR 0.5 million in support through the WFP for school meals in Ukraine.
• EUR 2.5 million to the two-year humanitarian project of the civil society organisation Fida International in Ukraine. The project provides cash assistance and psychosocial support primarily to internally displaced people in the Zaporizhzhia and Zakarpattia regions.

The website was updated on 19 May 2025.