Six million Ukrainians, both inside Ukraine and refugees in neighboring countries, now need food and cash aid in the short term, the UN said Tuesday.
Food assistance is accelerating in towns such as Bucha, Irpin, Hostomel and Borodianka, liberated at different times from the siege by Russian troops and where the destruction of infrastructure has been widespread.
By videoconference from the Ukrainian city of Lviv, the emergency coordinator of the World Food Program (WFP), Jakob Kern, said that this organization has mobilized 60,000 tons of food for the Ukraine crisis, which will allow two million people to be fed per about two months.
More than two-thirds of that aid has been obtained or purchased in Ukraine itself, he said, noting that these shipments seek to complement the important humanitarian efforts that the government is making in favor of the most vulnerable.
In cities where the fighting continues and that are surrounded by Russian forces, such as Kharkov, Sumy or Severodonestk, the UN humanitarian agency has managed to supply 113 tons of food to families who are trapped. It is estimated that this amount will serve 20,000 people for ten days.
Kern specified in a press briefing that of the 1.7 million people WFP has been able to help, 1.4 million are in areas wholly or partially besieged, but acknowledged that many of the most vulnerable (some of them unable to to mobilize) remain out of the reach of humanitarian personnel.
The most emblematic case is that of the port city of Mariúpol, under siege almost since the beginning of the war -on February 24- and where it is estimated that there are still more than 100,000 civilians who have not been able to escape and who lack everything the essentials to survive.
“Under these circumstances, any disease that could be easily treated with medication becomes life-threatening,” Kern said.
The World Health Organization (WHO) indicated that fifteen generators intended for hospitals are on their way to different locations in Ukraine, including several in the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, partially under the control of Russian forces and where due to heavy fighting the supply electrical is compromised.
This equipment will supply the minimum energy necessary for the operation of medical and surgical units in reference hospitals that currently lack or have limited electricity.
A WHO representative in Ukraine, Bhanu Bhatnagar, indicated by video call that two generators are also being sent to Mariupol with the intention of taking them to their final destination once security conditions allow. No humanitarian aid has been able to enter this city in recent weeks. (I)
Source: Eluniverso
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