Weekly Update #132
September 9, 2024

General Figures

Refugees from Ukraine recorded across Europe 

6,168,100

Last updated August 19 2024

Covers those granted refugee status, temporary asylum status, temporary protection, or statuses through similar national protection schemes, as well as those recorded in the country under other forms of stay 

Refugees from Ukraine recorded beyond Europe

571,300

Last updated August 19 2024

Covers those granted refugee status, temporary asylum status, temporary protection, or statuses through similar national protection schemes, as well as those recorded in the country under other forms of stay 

Refugees from Ukraine recorded globally

6,739,400

Last updated August 19 2024

Source: UNHCR collation of statistics made available by the authorities

UNHCR and partners mobilise as devastating attacks continue across Ukraine

As relentless attacks persist in causing destruction and suffering across Ukraine, UNHCR and partners are continuing efforts to support the affected civilian population.

On 1 September, a brutal attack on Sumy in eastern Ukraine caused severe damage to an orphanage and rehabilitation centre for children, as well as around 350 apartments in the area, injuring many civilians including children. UNHCR and partner Mission Proliska were on site to provide psychological support and emergency shelter materials.

On 2 September, another massive Russian attack on Kyiv resulted in numerous injuries and extensive damage to civilian infrastructure, including an educational facility. UNHCR and partner Rokada immediately responded with emergency repair materials and psychosocial support.

On 4 September, following Russian airstrikes on Lviv, at least 8 people were reported dead and dozens were injured including children. Multiple districts were severely damaged, UNHCR and partners Rokada, Right to Protection and NEEKA, immediately mobilised to provide emergency humanitarian assistance to affected families. Support includes psychological first aid, emergency shelter kits and help to register for emergency cash assistance.

Source: UNHCR

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Humanitarian Impact of Intensified Hostilities in Donetska and Sumska Oblasts - Flash Update #7 (6 Sep 2024)

HUMANITARIAN SITUATION

Every day, between 2,000 to 3,000 people are leaving front-line hromadas in Donetska Oblast and those bordering the Russian Federation in Sumska Oblast as the security situation continues to deteriorate. While people are leaving the two oblasts seeking safety in other parts of Ukraine, deadly attacks with multiple civilian casualties, including children, have been reported from across the country in recent days, including in Lviv and Poltava, which host many displaced people.

An estimated 24,000 people, including 2,000 children, left Pokrovsk Town in the last 10 days, according to the police. This is almost half of the residents of Pokrovsk at the start of the mandatory evacuation on 20 August. At the same time, some 26,000 to 27,000 residents, among them over 1,000 children, remain in the town and some 40,000 in Pokrovska Hromada.

The escalating hostilities led to the closure of basic public services and many private businesses in the affected areas. In Pokrovsk, most public services are closed, with only some shops and pharmacies functional. Banks also ceased operations in the town, with only a few ATMs still open. Starting from 5 September, evacuation trains that previously departed daily from Pokrovsk Town will now leave from Pavlohrad Town in Dnipropetrovska Oblast. Some 2,000 people remain in the neighbouring town of Myrnohrad, and 1,700 people in Toretsk, where humanitarian access is extremely limited or non-existent.

Due to security concerns, on 4 September, the authorities approved a mandatory evacuation of children and their caregivers from additional 40 towns and villages in Pokrovskyi and Kramatorskyi raions in Donetska Oblast.

Local authorities opened a new evacuation hub in Kramatorsk in Donetska Oblast last week to support people evacuating from hromadas around Chasiv Yar and Kostiantynivka. While there are regular trains from Kramatorsk, evacuees—mainly families with children—remain in the area while waiting for buses or government-organized evacuation trains to western Ukraine, particularly in Zakarpatska Oblast, where they will be supported upon arrival by governmental services and humanitarian partners. In Dnipropetrovska Oblast, a newly opened transit site in Pavlohrad has become the main reception point for evacuees, receiving some 200 people from Donetska Oblast over past the few days.

Increasing hostilities have led to the relocation of eight hospitals to safer locations outside of Donetska Oblast within the past two weeks, according to the Health Cluster. These hospitals sought support from health partners to facilitate their move. Concerns for the safety of humanitarian workers have prompted many partners in Donetska Oblast to relocate to Kramatorsk and Lyman. In Sumska Oblast, the Sumy Regional Blood Centre has reported a shortage of blood donations due to increased needs caused by increased attacks. The relocation of health facilities may further exacerbate the growing need for health services for those who remain.

HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE

Humanitarian partners continued to support evacuees from front-line hromadas in Donetska Oblast and border hromadas in Sumska Oblast. Support includes immediate assistance at transit centres, accommodation, transportation and relocation to safer parts of the country. Assistance is also provided to the residents affected by the latest attacks in addition to regular humanitarian programmes.

Cluster Response

Shelter and Non-Food Items Cluster partners provided emergency shelter materials to 600 families affected by recent strikes in Donetska Oblast. Additionally, three cluster partners responded to referrals by providing non-food supplies to support a transit centre in Pavlohrad, Dnipropetrovska Oblast. In Sumska Oblast, cluster partners provided non-food supplies to evacuees, such as clothes and bedding kits. Partners also provided emergency shelter kits and construction materials to people who chose to remain in the area.

Since 30 August, Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) Cluster partners have assisted 160 people in the Pavlohrad Transit Center, including 22 people with disabilities and 13 children. The cluster partners have maintained a daily presence at the centre since its opening, supporting registration, facilitating referrals to ensure an effective multi-sectoral response, and coordinating with operation partners on the ground

In Donetska and Dnipropetrovska oblasts, Food Security and Livelihood partners have coordinated food assistance forevacuees. Before the suspension of evacuation trains on 5 September, approximately 100 hot meals were provided daily at the Pokrovsk railway station. Now, evacuees are receiving hot meals at the Pavlohrad station. In the east, partners pre-positioned over 100,000 food boxes and are prepared to produce 300,000 loaves of bread if evacuation flows increase.

One Health Cluster partner halted activities in the oblast due to security and access concerns. Two other partners relocated their services to Dnipropetrovska Oblast. In Sumska Oblast, a partner delivered 15 tons of medical supplies to 16 health-care facilities, and another delivered a kit for treating non-communicable diseases to a children’s hospital that treats 4,000 child patients.

Protection Cluster partners continued to assist evacuated people from Donetska and Sumska oblasts. In the PavlohradTransit Center, the focus was on legal assistance and psychosocial support. Regular presence of the cluster was established to avoid overlaps and gaps.

In Donetska Oblast, six Child Protection partners provided services for evacuated children and families, including case management, cash for child protection, mental health and psychosocial support, and organized recreational activities for children and in-kind assistance through mobile teams and static modalities.

Source: OCHA

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Ukraine Red Cross Winterization Strategy 2024-2025

The Ukraine Red Cross has drawn up its Winterization Strategy, as the winter season nears.

For the 2024-2025 winterization response, the URCS will focus on enhancing its response capacity and delivering humanitarian services with the following strategic priorities:

Targeted Response: Tailor priorities and assistance packages based on the URCS geographical split (above) of vulnerability and varying needs between urban and rural zones and between front-line areas and areas more indirectly impacted by the conflict for example.

Energy Crisis Mitigation: Address the impact of the energy crisis on critical services.

Partnerships and Collaboration: Enable branches to collaborate with potential relief partners to maximize effectiveness.

Multisectoral Approach: Implement a multisectoral strategy focused on resilience building and sustainable recovery while addressing immediate winter needs.

Capacity Building: Strengthen the URCS's operational response capacity at all levels through a winter response that builds on URCS’s core activities in emergencies.

Vulnerable Populations: Prioritize support for people in vulnerable situations, particularly those remaining near the front lines, and those requiring immediate assistance due to conflict-related emergencies.

To address the humanitarian needs exacerbated by winter in Ukraine, URCS is appealing for CHF45,681,095 million to assist 962,488 people across the country. Given the trend of decreasing humanitarian funding, this response plan will strategically limit efforts to address the most critical needs, aligning with recommendations from clusters and aiming to cover additional critical unmet needs of the affected population.

Building on lessons learned from previous years’ responses, URCS will continue to focus this winter on service provision and enhancing its readiness to address emergencies, while shifting away from an emphasis on relief activities. The organization will closely coordinate its winter response efforts with the government and other humanitarian actors to ensure that planned activities complement, rather than duplicate, existing programs.

The proposed actions capitalize on URCS's expertise in emergency response and lifesaving operations, focusing on the immediate need to strengthen its collective capacity in partnership with State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SESU) and its network of regional branches. Simultaneously, URCS aims to progressively expand essential humanitarian services in accordance with its One Plan. This comprehensive plan has been developed through consultations with URCS's regional branches, local authorities, partner national societies in the region, shelter and livelihoods technical working group, ensuring alignment with the recommendations of Food Security and Livelihoods Clusters (FSLC) and Shelter Cluster Ukraine.

Details are found in the attached document.

Source: Ukrainian Red Cross Society

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Gender-Based Violence in Ukraine Amid War: An Assessment Report - Report on the results of sociological research (February - April 2024)

Executive Summary

Ukraine is going through one of the most difficult periods in its history due to the war with Russia that has been going on since 2014 and the large-scale invasion in 2022. This has significantly increased the risks of various forms of violence for women, especially those in the war zones or those who were displaced. Economic instability exacerbates their vulnerability to domestic violence, and limited access to necessary services and support complicates the situation. In addition, the war has led to a redefinition of gender roles and demonstrated the need for society to adapt to new realities. However, there is a serious problem with the lack of up-to-date data on gender-based violence (GBV), which makes it difficult to respond effectively and provide support to victims. There is also scant data on the level of awareness and prevalence of various forms of GBV among adults and adolescents in Ukraine. Therefore, observations of the social changes caused by the war emphasize the need for a national study on gender-based violence among women, men, girls and boys. In February - May 2024, World Vision and the NGO “Girls” jointly conducted a nationwide study of the understanding and prevalence of various forms of GBV and the effectiveness of the response.

Key findings

• Participants in focus group interviews (FGI) clearly associate GBV with physical acts such as hitting and beating, due to the commonly accepted perception of it in society and personal experiences. There has been an increase in attention to gender-based psychological violence, which is now being discussed more at the interpersonal level and in the media. This is attributed to the difficult psychological state of people in the third year of the war and to greater awareness of this problem.

• Perceptions of GBV vary by age, region and experience of participants. Adolescents have a broader understanding of GBV than adults, while adults are more likely to associate it with physical acts. Women from different regions have different perceptions of GBV, with women from the south and east more likely to associate it with physical acts, while women from the west have a more comprehensive view. Women who have experienced abusive relationships have a deeper understanding of different forms of GBV and tend to view it in a holistic way. Men understand GBV as a violation of human rights and as physical, psychological or social aggression directed at a person because of their gender. Some men see gender-based violence as a form of limiting freedom of choice or imposing stereotypical gender roles on men.

• Participants in the FGIs pointed to the significant impact of the full-scale war on their values and views and has prompted them to rethink gender roles and the nature of violence. Women become more sensitive to signs of violence and sexism, and more critical of gender norms and stereotypes. Participants in the focus group interviews are becoming more cautious and attentive to signs of violence in their environment and more likely to respond to suspicious behaviour. They are also becoming more courageous and ready to confront the perpetrator, despite social gender norms. Some men are also becoming more empathetic to victims of gender-based violence, especially after war crimes have been made public. However, other changes in men’s traditional gender roles are not reflected.

• The study of the impact of GBV reveals that most participants do not have sufficient information about the problem. One third of respondents (36%) are unaware of measures to prevent GBV in their communities, while 24% said that nothing has been done in their communities. Adolescents have better access to information through school lessons and other educational activities. Women, especially those who have experienced GBV, are more active in understanding and discussing the topic with their children.

• However, even in such discussions, the focus is usually on basic safety concepts and rules, rather than a deeper understanding of gender roles and rights. Participants in focus group interviews point to challenges in discussing GBV in families. Barriers include lack of awareness of the problem, cultural and religious restrictions, and lack of communication skills on such topics. Educational activities in schools are an important source of information about GBV for adolescents, but adolescents report that these activities do not cover all aspects of the topic of violence. It was found that the recognition of gender-based violence depends on its form and situation. Sexual violence is most often recognised by survivors (27% of those who have experienced it), while psychological and economic violence is often not recognised (12% each). Raising empathy and awareness contributes to the spread of awareness of violence. Women and men recognise violence differently.

• The majority of survivors of GBV do not seek help for all forms of violence. Survivors are more likely to seek help in situations of physical violence (24 per cent of those who have experienced it) and sexual violence (24 per cent of those who have experienced it), but less likely in other cases. Men are less likely to seek help, except in situations of sexual violence, and residents of the Western and North-Central regions are less likely to seek help, especially in small towns.

Source: NGO Girls, World Vision 

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New Policy Brief: How to Improve Documentation and Support Survivors of Torture and Conflict-Related Sexual Violence in Ukraine

Increasing numbers of survivors of torture and sexual violence inflicted by Russian forces in Ukraine need further support from Ukrainian authorities to improve how the country’s justice system documents crimes and supports survivors, Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) said today.

A new PHR policy brief (Supporting Survivors of Torture and Conflict-Related Sexual Violence in Ukraine: How to Improve Medico-Legal Documentation and Access to Justice) details how Ukrainian officials and their partners can address challenges to medico-legal documentation of human rights violations in ways that center survivors’ well-being, autonomy, and access to remedies.

Russian forces have perpetrated widespread torture and sexual violence since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Domestic agencies, led by the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine, and international actors have launched legal investigations into these abuses. However, barriers to survivor-centered documentation threaten to impede justice efforts by deterring survivors from coming forward.

PHR’s new policy brief argues that to achieve accountability and healing, effective laws, policies, and protocols must be in place in Ukraine to guide rigorous documentation and investigation of torture and conflict-related sexual violence. While recognizing the considerable efforts by the Ukrainian government to date, the brief calls on officials to expand the pool of qualified clinical professionals who can conduct medico-legal investigations as well as to support survivors through trauma-informed approaches to documentation and justice.

The Policy Brief co-author highlighted its value in building on the progress and reform systems  for survivors of torture and conflict-related sexual violence through survivor-centered approaches.

The policy brief will be launched at an event in Kyiv, Ukraine on August 28 (10:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Kyiv), “Torture and Persecution of Civilians as Crimes Against Humanity by the Russian Authorities in Ukraine: Ways to Ensure Accountability.”  The event will explore how to investigate and prosecute cases of torture, enforced disappearances, and other crimes against civilians during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The event will feature leading experts in field investigations, forensic documentation, and criminal justice.

The PHR policy brief makes recommendations to the government of Ukraine, including:

• Allow forensic medical evaluations from trained clinicians in addition to state-affiliated forensic experts to be admissible in cases concerning torture and conflict-related sexual violence.

• Clarify that investigators have discretion to determine when forensic medical evaluations are necessary and ensure survivors’ consent is obtained before performing an examination.

• Develop, adopt, and roll out comprehensive standardized forensic documentation to support clinicians and forensic experts in documenting conflict-related sexual violence and torture in a trauma-informed and survivor-centered manner.

• Prioritize capacity-building for all clinicians, including non-forensics experts, on survivor-centered, trauma-informed forensic documentation of sexual violence, and torture, in line with international standards.

The policy brief also calls on the international community and civil society actors to provide technical and financial resources to support the national efforts outlined above.

Physicians for Human Rights brings medical, law enforcement, and legal professionals together to gather and preserve forensic medical evidence of conflict-related sexual violence and torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment or punishment in survivor-centered, trauma-informed ways to support accountability processes. For over a decade, PHR has worked with partners in conflict and post-conflict settings to design and implement a suite of tools and strategies that have allowed forensic medical evidence of sexual violence and torture to support legal accountability.

Physicians for Human Rights (PHR) is a New York-based advocacy organization that uses science and medicine to prevent mass atrocities and severe human rights violations.

Source: PHR

Russia strikes power grid again, while fighting escalates in Donetsk and Sumy

Key Messages

• As of August 2024, Russia occupies 109,700 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory, down from 163,000 square kilometers at the peak of its invasion in 2022, following significant Ukrainian counter offensives in Kherson (July-November 2022) and Kharkiv oblasts (September-October 2022). Since then, frontlines have remained largely stable. However, in August, intense fighting continued in Donetsk oblast, where Russian forces have made slow gains, and in Kharkiv oblast, where Ukrainian forces have largely contained a recent Russian incursion aimed to reach the city of Kharkiv. Additionally, on August 6, Ukrainian forces launched an incursion into Russia’s Kursk oblast and seized 1,000 square kilometers. Meanwhile, Russian airstrikes on Ukrainian civilian and military targets persist, with a large-scale drone and missile strike on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure on August 26. In general, Ukrainian forces have maintained the capability to intercept and shoot down the majority of Russian drones and missiles following continued deliveries of western air defense systems. Nonetheless, many strikes still evade interception and regularly kill and injure civilians, limit humanitarian access, and impact infrastructure (including hospitals, transit centers, residences, and electrical power supply).

• In August, hostilities in Donetsk and Sumy oblasts continued to escalate, driving a surge of new displacement and mandatory evacuations. According to OCHA, 3,400 civilians were evacuated from Donetsk from August 7 to 29. In Sumy oblast, more than 600 people were evacuated from August 15 to 28. Mandatory evacuations were ongoing in many towns and villages as of the end of August. Humanitarian organizations have mobilized to provide multisectoral support to affected people. For instance, humanitarian actors are currently providing hot meals and food supplies – expected to be generally sufficient to meet needs given current levels of new displacements – and multi-purpose cash assistance at transit centers, with Cash Working Group partners registering more than 2,200 people for cash assistance from August 7 to 26. While humanitarian partners continue to reach frontline communities affected by hostilities, both humanitarian access and operations – as well as the provision of essential services such as electricity and financial services – are deteriorating in affected areas, such as in Pokrovsk town of Donetsk where an estimated 38,000 residents remained as of August 31.

• The August 26 attack on energy infrastructure was reportedly one of the biggest of the war. The extent of damage is still being assessed as of the end of August. In Sumy, around 250,000 people were left without electricity, a situation exacerbated by the summer heat. Work has been ongoing to repair prior damage to energy-generating infrastructure caused by previous strikes, but these new attacks – which largely targeted distribution infrastructure – pose a setback to expected improvements in the power supply. Emergency outages are being implemented countrywide as of the end of August, and planned power outages during winter – when temperatures are expected to drop below freezing – are inevitable. While hospitals, critical infrastructure, and many businesses now have greater generator capacity compared to 2022, concern exists for impacts on elderly people who will struggle to heat their homes. In response to the anticipated increase in winter needs, a 492 million USD appeal was recently launched to support approximately 1.8 million people, despite the 2024 humanitarian appeal being only 30 percent funded.

• According to USDA Foreign Agricultural Service (FAS), a heat wave and lack of precipitation in July in eastern and southern regions negatively impacted corn and soybean development, severely degrading potential yields. USDA has revised August production estimates for corn in the 2024/25 marketing year (July 2024 to June 2025) downward by 2 percent relative to last month’s estimates, for an estimated 16 percent decline relative to last year’s levels. Other crops such as grapes have also been impacted. Additionally, while average precipitation is most likely during the planting and cultivation period for winter wheat and rye from August to mid-October, the  high temperatures and dry conditions in August have left soils dry, posing challenges for winter planting.

• Ukrainian grain exports continue to be near pre-war levels. In the nearly two months since the beginning of the 2024/25 marketing year in July 2024, Ukrainian grain exports have totaled 6.9 million tons as of August 31, up 53 percent from the 4.5 million tons exported in the same period of the previous year following disruptions to exports due to Russia’s withdrawal from the Black Sea Grain Initiative in July 2023. In August, the government also finalized a system of minimum export prices for key grain and oilseed shipments, with the aim of preventing traders from exporting goods at artificially low prices to evade returns of foreign currency to Ukraine, after purchasing commodities from farmers in cash. It is unclear when the new rules will take effect. The Ukrainian Grain Association – a traders’ union – has voiced concerns about potential impacts, including reduced grain exports linked to the lower global competitiveness of Ukrainian grain and increased difficulty for farmers seeking to procure loans due to less predictable export prices. However, USDA FAS assesses that export volumes of legitimate companies will not be affected; rather, traders who have previously circumvented these requirements stand to lose the most from the new rules. While monitoring is required, the market is largely expected to adapt.

Source: FEWS NET

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Deadly Russian Attacks on Lviv’s Historic District

In Ukraine’s western city of Lviv, today is a day of mourning.

On September 4 at about 6 a.m., Russian air attacks struck the city’s historic district, killing civilians and damaging civilian buildings and infrastructure.

Seven people were killed, Lviv Mayor Andryi Sadovyi reported on Telegram, including four members of the same family: a 43-year-old mother and her three daughters, ages 7, 18, and 21. Only their father survived. Sixty-six people, including 10 children, required medical assistance, and 12 were rescued from under the rubble, Sadovyi said.

Local authorities said the attacks damaged about 50 civilian objects, including homes, medical facilities, and local architectural landmarks, located in Lviv’s historic district, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The attacks also damaged seven educational facilities, including a primary school and three secondary schools, affecting 1,456 children. Because of the early hour, no children or staff were in the schools.

An official from the city council education department told Human Rights Watch that Lyceum No. 5 on Kokorudza Street suffered damage to dozens of windows and classroom doors, as well as the stairwell. The school remains closed. Lyceum No. 17 sustained damage to over 100 windows as well as doors and the main gate. It reopened the next day and some students from Lyceum No. 5 will temporarily attend classes there.

Russia’s war against Ukraine has had a devastating, lasting impact on Ukrainian children’s access to education. The Ukrainian government reported that nearly 4,000 educational facilities have been damaged or destroyed since the full-scale invasion in February 2022. In Russia-occupied areas, children are subjected to the Kremlin’s anti-Ukraine propaganda, in violation of international humanitarian law. Active hostilities put children at risk and disrupt education.

The Ukrainian government has worked to protect education, by endorsing the Safe Schools Declaration and ensuring continued learning. But the repair and reconstruction of damaged schools will continue to require time and major resources. It’s crucial that international support for Ukraine’s efforts to ensure safe education to all children continues through assistance with equitable reconstruction of schools across the country and providing equipment, technology, and devices to facilitate remote learning where necessary.

Russia should immediately cease all unlawful attacks on civilians and civilian objects in Ukraine. Civilians, including children, shouldn’t have to continue to bear the brunt of this war.

Source: HRW

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Iran delivered hundreds of short-range ballistic missiles to Russia to support Russian  invasion of Ukraine

 An anonymous US official confirmed to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that Iran delivered the missiles to Russia and a senior European official stated that more shipments of Iranian missiles to Russia are expected. Iran and Russia previously signed a contract in December 2023 to send Iranian Ababil close-range ballistic missiles and Fateh-360 short-range ballistic missiles to Russia. It is unclear, however, exactly what kind of missiles are included in the recently delivered shipment to Russia.

The transfer of Iranian ballistic missiles is part of the deepening strategic partnership between Iran and Russia. CTP-ISW has reported extensively on how Moscow and Tehran have expanded their economic, media, military, and political cooperation since Russian forces launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.   Iran seeks to benefit economically and militarily from its expanding partnership with Russia. Iran has sought cash for its ailing economy in return for selling weapons to the Kremlin,

Russia recently intensified missile and drone attacks against Ukraine, notably continuing to use Iranian-developed Shahed-131/136 drones and North Korean ballistic missiles. Russia will likely use Iranian-provided ballistic missiles to target Ukrainian energy. military, and civilian infrastructure over the coming fall and winter to further destabilize Ukrainian society and disrupt Ukraine’s defense industrial base (DIB).

Source: ISW

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UN nuclear watchdog warns conditions ‘very fragile’ at Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia power plant

The head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog on Tuesday described the situation at Europe’s largest nuclear power plant as “very fragile” following fresh attacks near the site in central Ukraine, and vowed to expand the agency’s inspections to include critical electricity supplies.

Rafael Mariano Grossi, the director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, was making his 10th visit to Ukraine since the Russia-Ukraine war began in February 2022.

He was headed to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant after talks in Kyiv with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and top energy officials.

“I think the situation – I have very often characterized it – as very fragile,” Grossi told reporters in the Ukrainian capital. “The station is again on the verge of being on a blackout. We’ve had eight of those in the past. A blackout (means) no power: no power, no cooling. No cooling, then maybe you have a disaster.”

Earlier, Grossi posted on X that he was on his way to Zaporizhzhia to “help prevent a nuclear accident.”

The Zaporizhzhia plant, which came under Russian control in the wake of its full-scale invasion, saw artillery shelling in the area on Monday that damaged the facility’s power access, according to its operator Energoatom, which blamed Russia for the attacks.

Analysts say an explosion at the Zaporizhzhia plant would produce radiation and likely trigger panic, but the radiation risk beyond the immediate blast area would be relatively low and nothing like the scale of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. Also, if the wind is in an easterly direction, radiation could be pushed toward Russia.

The Zaporizhzhia region is one of four — along with Donetsk, Kherson and Luhansk — in southern and eastern Ukraine that Russia partly, and illegally, annexed in September 2022, seven months after it invaded its neighbor.

The Vienna-based IAEA says ongoing attacks in the Zaporizhzhia area, as well as damage to Ukraine’s grid, pose threats to the power supply that’s vital to the country’s nuclear power stations. The watchdog said its staff at Zaporizhzhia recently had to shelter indoors because of reported drone threats in the area.

Source: AP News

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First day of school in Ukraine marred by attacks

The start of the new school year in Ukraine was marred by deadly and destructive attacks, further impacting learning for children in the country. 

In Kyiv, schools were reportedly damaged as children woke up to loud explosions in the early morning hours of Monday. 

On the eve of the first day of school, educational facilities were reportedly damaged in the Kherson region and in the city of Sumy, where six children were injured according to local authorities. This comes after successive deadly attacks in the city of Kharkiv on 30 August and 1 September, where one child was killed, and 29 children were injured according to latest reports.

Since the escalation of the war in February 2022, more than 2,180 children have been killed or injured, and more than 1,300 educational facilities in Ukraine have been damaged or destroyed. As these are UN-verified numbers, the true numbers are likely higher. 

Children in Ukraine are entering a fifth year of disrupted education, with the escalation of the war now in its third year following the COVID-19 pandemic. Children across Ukraine are showing signs of widespread learning loss. Data from the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) conducted in Ukraine in 2022 and released in late 2023, show that the scale of learning gaps seen in 2022 compared to 2018 is equivalent to two years of loss in reading and one year of loss in math. 

Children and families in front-line areas in Donetsk and Sumy regions are being displaced amid intensified hostilities. As of 31 August 2024, local authorities in the Donetsk region reported evacuating 3,500 civilians, including 400 children, daily. An increase in evacuations from the border area in Sumy region was also reported. With the evacuations continuing through the first week of school, children on the move could be missing school days or online lessons as they seek safety in other parts of Ukraine.

Constant air raid alarms force children to move to shelters, disrupting their classes and their sleep. Attacks impact the electricity supply in the country, causing power outages that disrupt classes in schools and access to online learning.

According to data from the Ministry of Education and Science, as of May 2024, around 4.6 million children in Ukraine face barriers to education—including about 2 million who are directly affected by school and kindergarten closures. Most schools in the Eastern regions close to areas with active fighting have remained closed. 

The new “School Offline” strategy of the Ukrainian Government aims to return around 350,000 children to in-person and blended learning where it is possible and safe to do so. For areas where this is not possible, the strategy aims to improve the quality of distance learning. 

UNICEF is helping ensure children in Ukraine can access formal and non-formal education, including early learning, by supporting the rehabilitation of shelters in schools and kindergartens, providing learning supplies and equipment, conducting catch-up classes, establishing digital learning centres, and equipping teachers with skills to provide mental health and psychosocial support to their students.

Source: UNICEF

EU provides €40 million in humanitarian aid for winter preparedness in Ukraine

With relentless attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure, the Commission is boosting its humanitarian funding to vulnerable Ukrainians with an additional €40 million ahead of the approaching winter. Out of this, €35 million is allocated for humanitarian projects in Ukraine and €5 million for supporting Ukrainian refugees and their host communities in Moldova.

The primary focus of this funding is to help prepare Ukraine for the freezing winter months. Together with its humanitarian partners, the EU aims to repair damaged buildings, ensure electricity and heating, and provide shelter to the ones most in need.

In Moldova, the new funding is targeting the most vulnerable refugees, to provide them with protection and access to basic services, and to enhance the preparedness for additional refugee flows.

The announcement comes as Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič, is in Lithuania today attending a regional Civil Protection Forum, with a focus on mobilising further support to Ukraine ahead of the upcoming winter. During his visit, he will meet with the Minister of Interior of Lithuania, Agnė Bilotaitė.

Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič, said: "Russia’s war on Ukraine has continued to escalate in 2024 with no end in sight, putting civilian lives in constant danger. The approaching winter will only add to their hardships. Together with our humanitarian partners, we are already preparing for the challenges winter will bring to Ukraine. To support the most vulnerable, the EU is boosting its humanitarian aid with an additional €40 million, including €35 million for Ukraine and €5 million for Moldova, raising this year’s total contribution to €110 million for Ukraine and €13 million for Moldova. I want to also thank Lithuania and all other countries who continue offering vital energy supplies via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism. Your solidarity with Ukraine is as important as ever."

Background

The EU has been providing humanitarian aid in Ukraine since the conflict erupted in 2014 and is actively operating across the country, prioritizing hard-to-reach areas near the frontlines in the eastern and southern regions. Following Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022, the EU substantially ramped up its relief efforts in Ukraine.

Including the new funding announced today, the European Commission has allocated in total €966 million for humanitarian aid programmes to help civilians affected by the war in Ukraine since Russia's invasion in February 2022. Of this funding, €895 million has been allocated for humanitarian programmes within Ukraine and €71 million to support refugees who have fled to neighbouring Moldova.

In addition to its humanitarian aid operations, the European Commission has been coordinating its largest ever operation under the EU Civil Protection Mechanism by delivering more than 150,000 tonnes of in-kind assistance into Ukraine, such as ambulances, fire engines, medicines, shelter supplies, power generators, and much more.

For extra layer of crisis support, the EU has also deployed its own rescEU emergency stockpiles to send power generators, medical equipment, temporary shelter, and specialised equipment for public health risks such as chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear threats.

Source: ECHO

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Pentagon leaders head to Germany for talks on Ukraine military aid

Top U.S. military leaders will be in Germany to discuss Ukraine’s wartime needs as Russia has conducted one of its deadliest airstrikes in the conflict and Ukraine presses its offensive in Russia’s Kursk region.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Gen. C.Q. Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will host a meeting Friday at Ramstein Air Force Base of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, made up of military leaders from more than 50 nations that have regularly provided funding and weapon systems to bolster Ukraine since Russia invaded in February 2022.

Ukraine’s allies face renewed calls from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for additional air defenses and loosened restrictions on how far into Russia Ukraine can fire American-provided munitions. He has long pushed allies to go further to support Ukraine’s effort to fend off Russia.

The meeting comes after Russia used two ballistic missiles to target a military academy and nearby hospital this week in Ukraine, killing more than 50 people and wounding over 270 others, in one of the deadliest strikes of the war.

“Air defense systems and missiles are needed in Ukraine, not in a warehouse somewhere,” Zelenskyy said on his Telegram channel this week. “Long-range strikes that can protect us from Russian terror are needed now.”

So far, the Biden administration has kept relatively strict control over how the missiles it provides Ukraine can be used. Ukraine can defensively fire at Russian targets along the border, but the U.S. prohibits their use deeper into Russia, out of concern that such a strike would further escalate the war.

There has been no change in the policy on Ukraine’s use of U.S.-supplied weapons, Ryder told reporters Tuesday.

That the group of military leaders from Ukraine’s allies has continued to meet and agree to send weapons is extraordinary, however. Global pressure on weapons stockpiles has increased and contributors such as the U.S. face competing demands for that aid to bolster security in the Middle East and the Indo-Pacific.

Since 2022, the member nations together have provided about $106 billion in security assistance to Ukraine. The U.S. has provided more than $56 billion of tha The group’s meeting also comes as Zelenskyy has signaled a major reshuffling of his cabinet-level leaders. Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, one of Ukraine’s most recognizable faces on the international stage, resigned Wednesday before the expected reorganization.

Ukraine also has made a fundamental shift in its tactics in the war, seizing Russian territory in the Kursk region during an offensive that began a few weeks ago. Ukraine’s military is trying to maintain control of that land, while Russian President Vladimir Putin pushes his forces deeper into eastern Ukraine. Both sides are prepared for difficult fighting during the winter.

Both sides have become entrenched over the two previous winters, and Ukrainians have endured brutal conditions without electricity or heat as Russia has targeted its power grid.

Source: AP News

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UK to send hundreds more missiles to Ukraine

The UK will send hundreds more short-range missiles to Ukraine, it was announced ahead of a summit where Volodymyr Zelensky asked for authorisation to strike targets deep inside Russia with Western-supplied weapons.

The Ukrainian president made another impassioned plea for further military support during the opening stages of the summit at the Ramstein air base in Germany on Friday.

He said the eastern region of Donetsk, where Kyiv's forces are facing Russian attacks, in particular depended on the swift delivery of aid.

Also at the summit is UK Defence Secretary John Healey who will confirm the £162 million package, which includes the supply of 650 Lightweight Multirole Missiles (LMM).

He said the new package would give an "important boost" to Ukraine's air defences and show the government was "stepping up" its support.

But Prof Michael Clark, the former director-general of the defence and security think tank Royal United Services Institute, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the supply would likely be "exhausted within a couple of months". He said Ukraine needed "more of everything at the moment" given the intensity of Russian advances and bombardments.

Lightweight with precision guidance, LMMs have low collateral damage and a range of more than 6km (3.7 miles), according to manufacturer Thales. Hundreds have already been delivered to Ukraine.

In July, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer committed to sending £3bn a year to Ukraine for as long as needed. Since the start of Russia's invasion in February 2022, the UK has committed a total of £12.7bn, including £7.6bn in military support.

Meanwhile the United States, Kyiv's largest military backer, said it would provide a further $250m (£189.9m) in military aid.

Mr Zelensky arrived in Ramstein on Friday morning, just days after a Russian missile attack on the city of Poltava in central Ukraine killed at least 51 people.

In an appeal to international allies, he said: "It’s important that every support package that is announced is promptly put to work on the battlefield without any delay.

"The fighting in the Donetsk region depends on this - if [Russian President Vladimir] Putin does not have any achievements here, he will not have any achievements anywhere."

Mr Zelensky also called on Western allies to authorise the use of long-range missiles to attack targets within Russia, saying it was the only way to bring about an end to the war.

The UK previously said Ukraine had a "clear right" to use British-provided weapons for "self defence" which "does not preclude operations inside Russia," following Kyiv's surprise cross-border incursion last month. However, this excludes the use of long-range Storm Shadow missiles in territory outside Ukraine's internationally recognised borders.

The US provided long-range missiles to Ukraine earlier this year, but like Kyiv's other Western allies these have not been authorised for use on targets inside Russia.

Source: BBC