Escalation of violence in Ukraine disrupts aid work
Reuters
Published Oct 10, 2022 02:08PM ET
By Emma Farge
GENEVA (Reuters) -The United Nations and other aid organisations in Ukraine said on Monday that Russia firing missiles at cities across the country had disrupted their humanitarian work on the ground.
Russia hit sites across Ukraine, striking Kyiv with an intensity not seen since Russian forces sought to capture the capital early in the more than seven-month war.
Moscow says the strikes were against energy, command and communication targets in retaliation for what it describes as terrorist attacks.
"The wave of attacks, claimed by Russia, has... impacted humanitarian operations across Ukraine, particularly hampering the movement of aid workers and delivery of emergency supplies in the east of the country, where people are in desperate need of assistance," the U.N. humanitarian office said in a report.
The International Committee of the Red Cross, which has some 700 staff at 10 locations across the country and delivers aid and medicine, said earlier on Monday that its teams had paused operations. A second Red Cross spokesperson later added that while field work had temporarily halted, aid workers were able to continue desk work. "As soon as it's safe to move they will," said Jason Straziuso.
The Norwegian Refugee Council also said that it had halted its aid operations in Ukraine until it is safe to resume, saying the temporary pause was affecting its work to pre-position supplies ahead of the winter.
"We cannot aid vulnerable communities when our aid workers are hiding from a barrage of bombs and in fear of repeated attacks," said Jan Egeland, secretary general of the NRC.
"People are heartbroken that they had to freeze out work today. Hopefully we can start work again even as early as tomorrow," he later told Reuters in an interview, saying he was worried about the impact of the disruptions on the elderly, many of whom are too weak to seek refuge elsewhere.
A spokesperson for the U.N. refugee agency said its operations continued, with staff sheltering during air raids.
Get The News You Want
Written By: Reuters
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.