12 trucks carrying food, water purifiers, sanitation and other much-needed household items, arrived in the area on Monday.
Months of escalation and intense fighting in Ukraine are taking a heavy toll on civilians and more than 2.2 million people in Donetska alone need life-saving assistance. OCHAspeaknote that the situation in Sloviansk, formerly home to 100,000 people, is particularly worrying.
Fierce artillery
The disaster damaged the water system, leaving the 25,000 people there – mainly the elderly and the most vulnerable – without running water. Limited electricity and a lack of basic supplies while some stores remain open for business, coupled with rising prices, are further affecting people’s access to food and other essentials. .
“The city is only 10 kilometers from the line and has experienced intense shelling in the past weeks. Almost no one went out. They spend their days evade the constant bombardmentwithout access to basic services,” said Osnat Lubrani, the United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine.
In Sloviansk, humanitarians delivered water filters and vital hygiene items to meet the needs of 20,000 people, vital household items to about 2,000 people, and enough food to feed about 5,000. in a month.
Meanwhile, in Kramatorsk, some 37,850 people – of the nearly 78,000 who remain in the city – will receive vital support, including water filter kits and toiletries for more than 20,000 people, as well as support food assistance for at least 10,000 people.
Secure access required
The humanitarian convoy, coordinated by OCHA, informed both sides of the conflict to ensure the safety of the operation.
More than 300 humanitarian organizations operating across Ukraine, two-thirds of which are national NGOs, have helped save more than 8.8 million lives.
However, the war has left nearly 16 million people in need of humanitarian aid.
“We have repeatedly and firmly engaged the parties to the conflict to make sure we can help everyone in Ukraine, wherever they are. However, we have been prevented from accessing areas where we know people need assistance right now, including Mariupol, Kherson and most recently Sievierodonetsk,” Ms. Lubrani said.
“We call on the parties to the conflict to facilitate safe and unhindered humanitarian access to all regions of Ukraine, so that we can expand our relief operations further. and support those who have now endured these four months of war.”
