The humanitarian situation in Ukraine continues to worsen due to the military conflict and it is necessary to step up aid to the country, where nearly 40% of the population depends on aid, the United Nations warned on Monday.
In a briefing to the Security Council, United Nations (UN) Humanitarian Coordinator Martin Griffiths explained the need to reach “more people and more often” at a time when almost a year has passed since the Russian invasion and there are no signs of the violence abating.
Griffiths specifically drew attention to the difficulties of providing support to the population in Russian-occupied areas.
“Humanitarian access to areas under temporary military control of the Russian Federation has become increasingly unpredictable and presents more obstacles,” the UN representative said. who regretted that no agreement had been reached on the passage of any relief caravans from the front lines.
Griffiths recalled that, as the first anniversary of the Russian invasion approaches, more than 7,000 civilian deaths have been confirmed and an estimated 17.6 million people are in need of humanitarian assistance.
In addition, according to data from the organization, nearly eight million people have fled to neighboring countries and about 5.3 million are internally displaced.
While Griffiths emphasized the importance of doing more, he highlighted the ongoing humanitarian efforts in Ukraine, where aid has already been provided to nearly 16 million people – more than 1.3 million of them in areas not controlled by Kiev – and where more than 650 organizations all provinces.
The humanitarian situation was at the center of today’s meeting on Ukraine in the Security Council, where Russia and the Western powers again exchanged accusations as usual.
US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield denounced Russian attacks on basic Ukrainian infrastructure as a way of punishing civilians and accused Russian forces of cracking down on organizations that provide humanitarian aid.
In addition, he again denounced the alleged forced transfer of Ukrainian children to Russia: “It’s hard to imagine the cruelty of being forced to live in the country that killed your parents and having to repeat the propaganda that hurt you so much personally.”
In response, Russia’s deputy representative to the UN, Dmitry Polyanskiy, stressed that of about eight million Ukrainians who left the country, about three million went to Russia.
“This is not the forced deportation that our Western colleagues are talking about. These are people who have chosen their future and who have rejected the Kiev regime,” he stressed.
Reiterating a common argument of the Russian political leaders, the diplomat also argued that it is the weapons supplied to Ukraine by Europe and the United States that prolong the conflict and hinder the prospects for peace.
Source: DN
