The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has warned that Ukrainians face a renewed risk of displacement this winter, as damaged homes and continued attacks on energy infrastructure leave millions without adequate shelter or heating.

The warning targets a specific mechanism: homes already damaged by earlier fighting remain unrepaired, and new strikes on power and heating systems threaten to make them unliveable in cold months. Families who stayed in or returned to damaged housing may be forced to move again if utilities fail.

Who is affected?

The IOM warning covers Ukrainians living in housing damaged during the conflict and people who returned to affected areas after earlier waves of displacement. These groups face a compound problem.

• Shelter damage: homes with broken windows, walls or roofs cannot hold heat.
• Energy strikes: attacks on power generation and heating networks can cut supply to entire districts.
• Winter timing: cold temperatures turn utility failures from an inconvenience into an emergency.

The IOM assessment links displacement risk directly to this combination rather than to a single cause. A damaged home with working heating can still shelter a family; the same home without power may not.

Why displacement could repeat

Many Ukrainians displaced earlier in the conflict have returned home where conditions allowed, and others never left damaged areas. The IOM warning signals that these decisions are fragile.

If energy attacks continue through winter, residents of damaged housing may have to relocate again — to other regions of Ukraine or abroad. That would repeat the displacement pattern of previous winters, when strikes on infrastructure drove internal movement and cross-border flight.

The IOM frames the risk in humanitarian terms: displacement in winter is more dangerous, more expensive and harder to reverse than movement in warm months.

What the warning means for readers

Passport File readers should treat this as an early-warning signal rather than a new rule. The IOM statement does not change any visa regime, temporary protection status or asylum procedure in Ukraine's neighbouring states.

What it does is indicate pressure that destination countries may face:

• Renewed internal displacement inside Ukraine.
• Possible new outflows if energy failures spread.
• Continued strain on host-country systems that already shelter Ukrainians.

Anyone following Ukrainian displacement should monitor updates from the International Organization for Migration and from national immigration authorities in host countries for any procedural changes.

Takeaway in plain words: the IOM expects damaged homes plus energy strikes to push Ukrainians out of their homes again this winter, and host countries should prepare for that pressure rather than be surprised by it.

This article reports a published IOM warning. It does not provide individual legal or humanitarian advice; readers with personal circumstances should consult official IOM communications and relevant government sources.