The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) accused Russia on Monday of an attack on a humanitarian aid distribution point near Zaporijia, eastern Ukraine, that left “several dead and injured” civilians.
In a statement, OCHA’s humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine, Denise Brown, said the attack took place on Sunday in Orikhiv, near the frontline of fighting between Ukrainians and Russians.
“After 500 days of Russian large-scale invasion of Ukraine, civilian casualties and injuries continue. Yesterday [domingo]in another attack [russo]several civilians were reportedly killed and injured while receiving humanitarian aid in the frontline town of Orikhiv in the Zaporijia region,” Brown said in the statement.
The OCHA coordinator for Ukraine also denounced that the attack destroyed a drinking water distribution point installed and maintained by a partner of the UN Humanitarian Fund for Ukraine.
“The people of Orikhiv have been living under constant shelling for many months. When I visited the town for Orthodox Christmas earlier this year, I found people forced to spend most of their days in shelters,” Brown said.
“As I have said many times before, and will continue to say, international humanitarian law is clear: civilians, civilian infrastructure and humanitarian assets must be protected. These violations must be investigated. The people of Ukraine need our support more than anything also needed. than ever. We will continue to help those most in need,” he concluded.
The military offensive in Ukraine launched by Russia has so far displaced nearly 15 million people – internally and to European countries – according to the latest UN data, which classify this refugee crisis as the worst in Europe since World War II (1939-1945) . ).
Currently, at least 18 million Ukrainians need humanitarian aid and 9.3 million need food aid and housing.
The invasion, justified by the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, with the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russia’s security, was condemned by the international community at large, which responded by sending weapons to Kiev and imposing sanctions to impose. to Moscow.
The UN presented as confirmed more than 8,000 civilian deaths and about 14,000 wounded since the start of the war, underlining that these numbers are far below the real ones.
Source: DN
