Six million Ukrainian refugees and displaced persons will need assistance in food and cash

Six million Ukrainians, both within Ukraine and refugees in neighbouring countries, need food and cash assistance in the short term, the UN said today.

Food assistance is accelerating in localities such as Bucha, Irpin, Hostomel and Borodianka, liberated at various times during the siege of 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 Programme (WFP), Jakob Kern, said that the agency has mobilized 60,000 tons of food for the Ukrainian crisis, which will allow two million people to be fed for 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 being made by the government in favour of the most vulnerable.

In cities where fighting continues and surrounded by Russian forces, such as Kharkiv, Sumy or Severodonestk, the UN humanitarian agency has managed to provide 113 tons of food for families who are trapped. It is estimated that this amount will serve 20,000 people for ten days.

Kern said in a press briefing that out of 1.7 million people WFP has been able to help, 1.4 million are in totally or partially besieged areas, but acknowledged that many of the most vulnerable (some of them unable to mobilize) remain beyond the reach of humanitarian personnel.

The most emblematic case is that of the port city of Mariupol, under siege almost since the beginning of the war - on 24 February - 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 essential to survive.

“In these circumstances, any disease that could be easily treated with medicine becomes life-threatening,” Kern said.

The World Health Organization (WHO) indicated that 15 generators destined for hospitals are en route to different locations in Ukraine, including several in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, partially under the control of Russian forces and where electricity supply is compromised due to heavy fighting.

This equipment shall provide the minimum amount of 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 via video call that two generators are also being sent to Mariupol with the intention of taking them to their final destination once security conditions permit. No humanitarian aid has been able to enter this city in recent weeks.

(With information from EFE)

KEEP READING: