Photo: NGO Humanitarian Mission Proliska
Geneva, 21 May 2024
UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, is extremely worried about the worsening humanitarian situation, and resulting spike in humanitarian needs and forced displacement owing to the new ground offensive by the Russian Federation Armed Forces in the northeastern Kharkiv region in Ukraine.
At the same time, relentless aerial attacks continue, prolonging and exacerbating an already dire situation. More than two years since Russia’s full-scale invasion, regular shelling and attacks continue to claim lives and destroy homes and critical infrastructure across the country. Most recently, last week on 19 May, an air attack targeted a recreation area in Cherkaska Lozova village in Kharkiv region, killing six people and injuring at least 27.
In the past week, more than 10,300 people were evacuated from their villages in Kharkiv region’s border areas, by Ukrainian authorities with the help of volunteers and humanitarian organizations. The majority of the evacuees, who had to escape their homes with only a few belongings, are already highly vulnerable and include mainly older people, those with low mobility or disabilities, who were not able to flee earlier. Psychologists who UNHCR partners with to provide support, report that as a consequence, many are suffering from acute stress.
To receive and support many of the highly vulnerable evacuees, a transit center was immediately set-up in Kharkiv city by the authorities and humanitarian organizations, including UNHCR and our national NGO partners Proliska and Right to Protection.. They have now been registered as internally displaced people, provided with different types of humanitarian assistance such as basic relief items, psychosocial and legal aid, enrolled for cash assistance, and advised on available accommodation options.
The vast majority of evacuees have expressed a clear wish to stay with family members, in rental accommodation or in collective sites in Kharkiv and not move further away from their homes in order to be able to return when the situation allows. Alongside other humanitarian partners, and in coordination with authorities, UNHCR is exploring additional options for temporary accommodation.
At the same time, more people continue to flee on their own from frontline communities in Donetsk, Sumy, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions towards central and western regions. Here, the authorities leading the response are requesting support to help with the reception of and assistance to the internally displaced people.
UNHCR is concerned that the conditions in Kharkiv – Ukraine’s second largest city, which is already hosting some 200,000 internally displaced people – could become even more difficult, if the ground offensive and relentless aerial attacks continue. This could force many people to leave Kharkiv for safety and survival, seeking protection elsewhere. Under the leadership of the UN Humanitarian Coordinator, OCHA is coordinating the development of enhanced response preparedness levels in collaboration with the humanitarian Clusters and lead agencies.
Last week, Kharkiv city experienced an air raid alert that lasted non-stop for 16 hours. In addition, the attacks on energy infrastructure that have been impacting people across Ukraine, are particularly critical in Kharkiv, where the energy supply is already well below its standard capacity, affecting not only households, but also production capacity and the economy.
To ensure that UNHCR and partners can respond to the evolving situation, it is crucial that donors maintain robust and flexible funding for our humanitarian and recovery programmes. This also includes support to the winter response later this year, as the comprehensive damage to energy facilities is estimated to significantly increase the need for humanitarian assistance during the cold season. As of end April, UNHCR’s response in Ukraine is just 16 per cent funded from a total of USD 598.9 million required.
Share on Facebook Share on Twitter
