Ukraine: Situation Report, 13 Jul 2022

Source:

• OCHA

 

 | 

Posted:

15 Jul 2022 |

 

Originally published:

13 Jul 2022 |

 

Origin:

View original

Format

 

Attachments

• Download Report(PDF | 3.69 MB)

HIGHLIGHTS

• Fighting and hostilities went on unabated over the last week, causing deaths, destruction and impacting the humanitarian situation in Ukraine, mainly in the east.
• Last week, dozens of civilians were killed in the aftermath of a strike on Chasiv Yar in Donbas, the second deadliest single attack since the start of the war.
• People who stayed or returned to heavily affected areas in the east and south are forced to get by with limited access to essential services, including water and electricity.
• Ukraine’s agricultural land continues to be affected as the UN-brokered talks between Russia and Ukraine on grain exports are taking place.
• While humanitarian needs exacerbate, the UN and humanitarian partners have been able to reach 10.3 million people across Ukraine.

ANALYSIS

General security and humanitarian situation

Fierce fighting in the east and deadly missile strikes brought more destruction and devastating impact on the people of Ukraine in several oblasts of the country in the past week. A strike on Chasiv Yar in the Government-controlled part of eastern Donetska oblast on 9 July hit a municipal dormitory for vulnerable people. By 12 July, local authorities confirmed that 34 people, including a child, had been killed, and nine injured civilians had been rescued from under the collapsed building. Humanitarian Coordinator a.i. for Ukraine Sebastian Rhodes Stampa condemned the strike, once again stressing that the parties to the conflict have an obligation under international humanitarian law to spare civilians and civilian infrastructure in times of war. The attack on Chasiv Yar is the second deadliest since the start of the war, after the 8 April airstrike on a train station in Kramatorsk, which killed nearly 60 people. It adds to the growing toll of casualties and severe damage of the past two weeks caused by attacks which hit civilian areas, including the strike on a residential building and recreation centre in Serhiivka in southern Odeska oblast on 1 July and the missile that hit a shopping centre in Kremenchuk in central Poltavska oblast just days earlier on 27 June.

At the same time, the frequency and severity of civilian attacks have intensified on both sides of the front line and in different parts of the country, particularly in eastern Luhanska and Kharkivska and south-eastern Zaporizka oblasts. According to humanitarian sources and authorities, heavy shelling and more than 160 civilian casualties were reported on both sides in Donetska oblast from 8 to 11 July. The Government-controlled cities of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk were allegedly a focus of the fighting, following reports of civilian casualties and damages to houses and other vital civilian infrastructure in other Government-controlled parts of the oblast, including the towns of Bakhmut and Toretsk. Multiple-launch rocket system fire reportedly resulted in more than 35 civilian casualties in the eastern city of Kharkiv on 11 July, when several residential buildings, a shopping centre and other civilian buildings were struck. Several residential buildings, a shopping centre and other civilian buildings were reportedly struck the eastern city of Kharkiv on 11 July, causing more than 35 civilian casualties, according to the local authorities.

Elsewhere in Ukraine, rocket fire and missile strikes were reported in Odeska and Zaporizka oblasts, while reports of repeated destructive attacks on the southern city of Mykolaiv and across Mykolaivska oblast continue to emerge. On 12 July, for example, two hospitals were reportedly hit in the city centre, according to humanitarian security reports and local authorities. The following day, 13 July, five civilians were reportedly killed due to hostilities in the area, according to local sources.

Although displacement trends are much more fluid than at the start of the war, fighting and hostilities continued to push people from their homes or prevent them from moving back. Inside Ukraine, over 5 million people went back home, while about 6.3 million are still internally displaced, according to the International Organization for Migration. The number of forcibly displaced people seeking refuge in European countries still stands at nearly 6 million. In its latest report, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) highlights that only 16 per cent of surveyed refugees have plans to return to Ukraine due to a high level of uncertainty about the future, and most of them intend to come back only temporarily.

Disclaimer

UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs

To learn more about OCHA's activities, please visit https://www.unocha.org/.