Ukraine: Top UN aid official condemns latest deadly attacks in Kharkiv
The attacks occurred in the city’s Novobovarskyi district late on Thursday. According to media, at least 3 people were killed and 16 others were injured.
Continuous rocket attacks caused significant damage to residential buildings. They also affected rescue workers rushing to the scene.
IN statement issued on Friday, United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine Denise Brown offered her deepest condolences “to the families affected by the relentless attacks by the Armed Forces Russia.”
Humanitarian response hampered
Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, has been subjected to relentless shelling in recent weeks. United Nations agencies assisted in evacuating people from other parts of the wider Kharkiv region under attack.
Ms. Brown said the escalation of conflict in Kharkiv and elsewhere in Ukraine continues to devastate the lives of families, making humanitarian response efforts even more important and difficult.
“International humanitarian law prohibits attacks on civilians or civilian infrastructure,” she said.
“Living in fear of air strikes at home, at work or when shopping is not normal.”
Violations against children
Ms. Brown heads the United Nations Office in Ukraine, which issued a separate document declare on Friday condemned the serious violations of children’s rights following Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Severe hostility continues to cause enormous physical, psychological and emotional harm to children, disrupting their lives and endangering their futures.
“The most recent wave of Russian attacks in the Kharkiv Region shows the terrible cost of war and the horrors that Ukraine’s children are facing,” Ms. Brown said.
“Many people were killed or injured, and thousands were forced to flee their homes with nothing but the clothes on their backs and the deep stress of witnessing a truly horrifying situation.”
Young life has ended
According to the United Nations human rights office, more than 600 children have been killed and more than 1,420 injured since tensions escalated. OHCHRalthough the actual number is likely much higher.
The statement said children had to spend countless hours in bomb shelters due to indiscriminate attacks. Boys and girls in frontline communities spent between 3,000 and 5,000 hours underground – the equivalent of four to seven months – making their lives stressful and extremely difficult.
Forced displacement further increases the dangers they face, including separation from their families and increased risk of trafficking, exploitation and abuse.
Education and health care are disrupted
The war also seriously affected education and many schools adopted online or underground classes. The United Nations Office in Ukraine expressed particular concern about the situation of children in frontline areas.
Currently, nearly a million boys and girls – a quarter of all Ukrainian children enrolled in school – are unable to participate in in-person learning, especially those with disabilities and special educational needs.
Children’s health is another victim of war. Damage to medical facilities, along with the displacement of personnel, means access to health care services is limited.
The statement noted that displaced families and those living near the front lines are struggling to get necessary medical care, especially for pregnant women and newborns, while the Vaccination campaigns have been disrupted, thereby increasing the risk of outbreaks of several preventable diseases.
Delivery commitment
The statement concluded that the United Nations and its partners in Ukraine are working to support the country’s children.
Last year, the United Nations provided vital primary health care to more than 5.1 million children and mothers and educational services to more than 2.5 million students and teachers.
Ms. Brown emphasized the United Nations’ commitment to supporting the people of Ukraine but noted that “no amount of aid can bring back what a generation of children lost to the Russian invasion.” .