The plight of civilians affected by war in 2023 was “resoundingly dire”, as the world witnessed horrors not only in Gaza and southern Israel but also the intense suffering of populations in other crisis hotspots around the globe, senior UN officials said on Tuesday.
The UN expressed new concerns on Tuesday over a rise in displacement and humanitarian needs in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region amid “relentless” Russian air and ground attacks.
Daily attacks by the Russian military in Ukraine have damaged dozens of towns and villages in the south and east of the country but also in central areas - including the city of Dnipro, which was shelled again early this Friday, UN humanitarians said.
An array of military hardware has been deployed against heavily populated areas, such as drones and a new, frightening threat: relatively inexpensive glide bombs that can fly up to 80 kilometres and cause heavy damage.
Amidst the rapidly deteriorating security situation in the Kharkiv region in northeastern Ukraine, UN agencies are helping local authorities to evacuate thousands of people from border areas with Russia.
Escalating Russian attacks in northeast Ukraine have killed civilians, sparked further displacement and caused massive destruction to railways and other infrastructure, a senior official with the UN humanitarian affairs office, OCHA, told the Security Council on Tuesday.
Nearly 2,000 children in Ukraine have lost their lives or been wounded amidst ongoing and escalating war, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Monday, citing UN-verified data.
