Humanitarian organizations support people affected by recent attacks in Ukraine
“Our colleagues in Ukraine have just told us that new attacks today hit Poltava in the center of the country. Initial reports indicate some civilian casualties,” he said. speak Journalists attend his daily press conference at United Nations Headquarters, in New York.
At least 50 people were killed and more than 200 injured when two Russian missiles hit a military training facility and a nearby hospital in the city, media reports said.
Kharkiv attacks condemned
The attack followed airstrikes in the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv on August 30 and September 1. Six people were killed and 150 injured, including 30 children, according to authorities.
“Our humanitarian partners on the ground have also recorded extensive damage to civilian infrastructure,” Mr. Dujarric said.
“More than 90 residential buildings, a shopping mall and sports facilities, as well as two educational institutions were damaged in the attacks.”
The UN humanitarian coordinator in Ukraine, Matthias Schmale, condemned the repeated attacks.
“Civilians and civilian infrastructure must be protected under international humanitarian law,” he said in a declare.
Other areas are on fire
Meanwhile, aid workers in Kharkiv immediately mobilized forces and provided medical and psychosocial support.
More than a dozen non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have provided repair materials and covered more than 400 broken windows in the past two days.
Humanitarian organizations also noted that other areas of Ukraine – notably the Sumy and Donetsk regions and the Kyiv, Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia regions – also suffered deadly airstrikes and attacks over the weekend and Monday.
IAEA inspectors help ensure safety at Ukraine’s nuclear power plants.
Nuclear Safety Support
The International Atomic Energy Agency (International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)) will increase nuclear safety assistance to Ukraine after a number of missile attacks caused the direct disconnection of several nuclear power reactors or led to dangerous instability of the national power grid.
IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi announced developments after a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the capital Kyiv on Tuesday.
A team of experts from the UN agency will soon visit several damaged Ukrainian substations – the power distribution stations that form the backbone of the power grid – identified as essential to nuclear safety.
Members will assess the situation at the sites and report back on any further action that may be taken.
The situation is increasingly vulnerable.
Mr. Grossi stressed that the safe operation of nuclear power plants depends on a stable and reliable connection to the grid.
“As a result of the war, the situation is becoming increasingly vulnerable and even potentially dangerous,” he said.
“I agree with President Zelenskyy that the IAEA will expand its determined activities to help prevent nuclear accidents in conflict and take a closer look at this important aspect of nuclear safety and security.”
The IAEA has teams of experts stationed at all of Ukraine’s nuclear power plants. Substations critical to nuclear safety are located in different parts of the country, so assessing these facilities is also relevant, the agency added.
Ensuring energy security
Increased pressure on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure over the past six months has caused grid instability, causing serious problems for nuclear power plants.
Widespread attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure on August 26 caused major fluctuations in electricity supplies and led to the temporary shutdown or disconnection of reactors at the Rivne and South Ukraine nuclear power plants, one of which has yet to fully resume operations. The electricity situation outside the Khmelnytskyy nuclear power plant and the Chornobyl site was also affected.
Meanwhile, the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, which is on the front line of the conflict, has suffered eight “complete blackouts,” forcing it to temporarily rely on diesel generators. The plant lost connection to its only remaining 330 kilovolt (kV) backup power line on Monday evening, leaving it dependent on a single 750 kV line.
Mr Grossi will travel to Zaporizhzhya this weekend, marking his fifth visit to the plant since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022. But he also highlighted the nuclear safety and security risks at other Ukrainian sites.
“The increased vulnerability of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure is raising serious concerns about nuclear safety at Ukraine’s nuclear power plants, as we saw last week when several reactors were shut down due to damage to energy infrastructure elsewhere in the country,” he said.
“Ensuring that substations can operate normally for safety purposes is also of paramount importance for energy security in Ukraine, as the country relies heavily on nuclear power plants to produce the majority of its electricity.”
