As winter begins in war-torn Eastern Ukraine, Alla Gapeshina manages a laugh while discussing how her family will survive the desolate cold months. "We'll have potatoes breakfast, lunch and dinner," she says, standing in her rocket-damaged home.

“Food can be scarce, but we won't starve,” says Ms Gapeshina, 58, who lives in the separatist-controlled village of Alexandrovka and works at a hospital cafeteria. “We'll survive the winter.”

Some 900,000 people are struggling to eat as the conflict between government forces and Russia-backed rebels drags on for a fifth year, according to new planning figures that the United Nations will issue by the end of 2018.

It is also the coldest humanitarian crisis in the world, and dropping temperatures pose a threat due to damaged homes and infrastructure. In the summer, people often grow their own vegetables in small gardens, unless shelling makes it too dangerous, but this isn't an option as the weather dips below freezing.

The number of people in need has been rising - jobs are hard to find and prices are high in the breakaway statelets, which are under Western sanctions and an economic blockade.