“Intense hostilities since the start of Russia’s invasion on 24 February have left at least 17.7 million people in need of humanitarian assistance and protection, an increase of around 2 million people compared to April,” the report said.
Denise Brown, who is in charge of Ukraine aid at OCHA, called on the international community on Monday to continue supporting the country mired in an “unprecedented humanitarian crisis.”
The amount of USD 4.3 billion, raised from an earlier projected USD 2.25 billion, would cover enough to allow aid workers residing in Ukraine to operate until December.
“Over the last five months, we have seen how local, national and international humanitarian organizations have joined efforts across Ukraine to increase the scale and scope of operations and provide assistance to more than 11 million people," Brown said.
"And we fear it can even get worse during the winter, as more people will probably displace from areas where they cannot access gas, fuel or electricity to heat their homes,” he added.
The report said that supporting people during the winter season was one of the organization’s priorities since “the lack of access to fuel, gas or electricity due to damaged infrastructure could become a matter of life or death.”
During the first five months of the war, at least 2.3 million Ukrainians received financial assistance enabling them to take care of their immediate needs on their own, the report emphasized.
Brown said that, in addition to funding, humanitarian workers on the ground must also be given “unimpeded access to all war-affected areas.”
He appealed: "Since the war began, access has been extremely challenging in areas beyond the control of the government of Ukraine. I call on the parties to the conflict to comply with their obligations under international humanitarian law and facilitate the humanitarian response to make sure we can support every person who desperately needs assistance, no matter where they live."
Tuesday is day 167 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
(jh/gs)
Source: PAP