Weekly Update #113
April 29, 2024
Weekly Update #113
April 29, 2024
Embedded Files
April 29, 2024
REFUGEE SITUATION
REFUGEE SITUATION
(as of 19 April 2024)
(as of 19 April 2024)
General Figures
General Figures
Refugees from Ukraine recorded across Europe
5,930,400
Last updated March 14 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
541,200
Last updated March 27 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
6,471,600
Last updated April 19 2024
Source: UNHCR collation of statistics made available by the authorities
As of December 2023, an estimated 3.7 million persons were living in internal displacement within Ukraine, with 80 per cent of all IDPs having been displaced for longer than one year and 39 per cent of all IDPs displaced more than once (IOM DISPLACEMENT TRACKING MATRIX, 2024).
Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)
Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs)
Refugees and Asylum Seekers
Refugees and Asylum Seekers
In the European Union, the Temporary Protection Directive was implemented to facilitate the large influx of refugees from Ukraine. Despite a large number of new registrations for temporary protection in EU-27 countries -- especially Poland, Germany and Czechia -- in the first half of 2022, new registrations have slowed since the third quarter of 2022 (EUROSTAT, 2024; OECD; 2023).
Source: Migration Data Portal
THE HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE
THE HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE
(as of April 28)
(as of April 28)
Overview of US Response to Ukraine Conflict
Overview of US Response to Ukraine Conflict
FOOD SECURITY
2. 4 Million
People in Ukraine reached with in-kind food assistance with USAID/BHA-supported via WFP in March
USAID’s Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance (USAID/BHA) is supporting the UN World Food Program (WFP) and two international NGOs (INGOs) to provide food assistance in Ukraine. WFP continues to prioritize food distributions in eastern and southern Ukraine’s frontline areas. WFP reached nearly 2.4 million people with food assistance, including approximately 1.5 million people with in-kind food supplies and 893,000 people with cash-based assistance, across Ukraine in March.
HEALTH
276 health facilities supported by Health cluster
USAID/BHA is supporting the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the UN World Health Organization (WHO), and five INGO partners. They reached more than 653,000 people across Ukraine with primary health care services, including medicines and supplies, between January and February.
WASH
1.1 Million people supported with WASH services through USG partner UNICEF
USG partners are providing water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) support to conflict-affected populations, including distributing hygiene kits; repairing damaged WASH infrastructure; and transporting safe drinking water to affected areas.
MULTIPURPOSE CASH ASSISTANCE
10 USG implementing partners providing MPCA
WFP disbursed more than $20.4 million in cash assistance to nearly 893,000 conflict-affected individuals across Ukraine in March. State/PRM is also supporting IOM and UNHCR to provide MPCA to refugees in neighboring countries, as well as UNICEF to provide cash assistance to vulnerable households with children in transit from Ukraine to neighboring countries. UNHCR and its partners have reached nearly 1.7 million conflict-affected individuals, including IDPs and returnees inside Ukraine, with cash assistance since March 2022.
PROTECTION
188,000 People reached with protection assistance by State/PRM partner UNHCR between January and March.
IOM, UNFPA, UNICEF, UN Women—and WHO, as well as ten INGOs and two Ukrainian NGOs to implement protection interventions for conflict-affected populations in Ukraine. USAID/BHA partners provide MHPSS services to children, persons with disabilities, and older people and operate mobile protection teams to reach remote communities with gender-based violence (GBV) prevention and response activities, legal assistance, and MHPSS. UNICEF-supported MHPSS interventions reached more than 117,000 children and caregivers to help them cope with the psychological effects of conflict and displacement during February.
Source: USAID
STATUS OF THE CONFLICT
STATUS OF THE CONFLICT
Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs
Situation Overview & Humanitarian Needs
Child casualties increased as intensified attacks continued across Ukraine. Damage to critical civilian infrastructure, including electricity, water and systems, schools and health facilities, are having adverse impacts on children. March saw Sumska Region struck over 200 times according to President Zelensky, resulting in evacuations from border areas. Voluntary evacuations also continued in Kharkivska Region, which remained volatile throughout March, with Kharkiv city experiencing several attacks per week and areas closer to the frontline being targeted almost daily.
A strike in Odesa on 2 March killed 12 people, including 5 children. Since the escalation of the conflict in February 2022, the United Nations has verified the killing of at least 600 children and the injuring of 1,357 children – this includes 25 children killed and 100 children maimed in 2024. Strikes across the country accelerated on 15 March when an attack on Odesa killed 20 people and injured 70 others and on 21 March when attacks on Kyiv injured 17 people, followed by mass attacks on critical infrastructure on 22 March that killed five people, left a million people without power and heat, struck the Dnipro Hydroelectric Power Plant in Zaporizka, and cut off power to Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. Further strikes, with a particular focus on energy infrastructure, continued through the end of the month. Infrastructure serving children has also been affected: 140 educational facilities and 36 health facilities have been damaged or destroyed this year.
The verified number of children killed in attacks across Ukraine has increased by nearly 40 per cent this year compared to last, as deadly attacks continue, UNICEF warned today.
Attacks between 1 January and 31 March 2024 resulted in the deaths of 25 children, according to UN-verified data - the youngest was just two months old. Nine children were reportedly killed in attacks during the first three weeks.
According to official UN data, at least 600 children have been killed in attacks since the escalation of the war in 2022. More than 1,350 children have been injured. The true number of children killed and injured is likely considerably higher.
The infrastructure that children rely on also continues to come under attack. Thousands of homes, 36 health facilities and 140 educational facilities were damaged or destroyed in the first three months of the year. Attacks affecting power supplies and water sources have further disrupted critical services, putting children’s lives and well-being at further risk.
Two years of war preceded by two years of COVID-19 has meant children’s access to schooling has been disrupted for more than four years – years equivalent to a primary education. Nearly half of children enrolled in school in Ukraine are missing out on in-person schooling, with almost one million children across the country not able to access any in-person learning at all due to insecurity.
Amid ongoing attacks, UNICEF is working across Ukraine to preserve learning opportunities for children through rehabilitating schools and shelters, providing at-home learning kits and online learning support. In 2023, UNICEF reached 1.3 million children with formal and non-formal learning.
UNICEF is also delivering mental health and psychosocial support including through safe spaces, protection and support hubs, reaching 2.5 million children and caregivers last year alone.
Together with partners, UNICEF is rebuilding critical water and health infrastructure destroyed or damaged by attacks.
Currently, UNICEF requires an additional $250 million to ensure critical support for children and families inside Ukraine including in frontline areas, for humanitarian and recovery programmes in 2024.
UNICEF Child-focused Response
As intensified attacks continued across Ukraine, reports of child casualties increased, while damages to critical, child-related civilian infrastructure, including electricity and water systems, schools and health facilities, continued to have adverse impacts. With children continuing to bear the brunt of the war, UNICEF amplified messages to support advocacy on protection of children.
So far, in 2024, UNICEF has ensured continuous access to safe water and sanitation services for 775,463 people through the restoration, maintenance and repair of critical infrastructure and reached 1,367,378 people with WASH supplies. Additionally, over the past month, UNICEF has supported 15 water utilities with essential equipment and supplies for the restoration and maintenance of infrastructure and delivered 595 tons of water treatment chemicals to ensure minimum water quality standards for 346,358 people.
To date, in 2024, UNICEF has provided mental health and psychosocial support to 236,648 children and families. On 20 March, UNICEF supported the launch of the first Resilience Centres+ in Valkivksa and Kehychivska municipalities of Kharkivska Region. The Resilience+ approach builds on the Government of Ukraine’s vision of ‘Resilience Services’ – an array of psychosocial support services – and expanding it towards a platform for integrated social service provision and referral mechanisms.
Source: UNICEF Ukraine
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Russia has exploited Ukrainian ammunition shortages due to the six-month delay in the approval of US military aid, sluggish deliveries from the EU, and the disarray caused by the failed Ukrainian summer 2023 counter-offensive to press its advantage in the skies. In October 2023, Russian forces launched an ongoing counter-attack along the frontline with a particular focus on the Ukrainian stronghold of Avdiivka in a salient north of Donetsk city, which they seized in mid-February having achieved aerial superiority in the area.
The increased tempo of Russian airstrikes at Ukraine’s hinterlands since late December 2023 likely further depleted Ukraine’s stock of interceptor missiles. ACLED data suggest that Russian airstrikes increased by 22% in January, a further 31% in February, and an additional 11% in March. ACLED also records corresponding increases in Russia’s targeting of civilians in Ukraine during air raids — the number of events rose by 11% in January, 50% in February, and a further 19% in March (see graph below). In the first three weeks of April, Russian airstrikes killed at least 65 civilians across Ukraine, more than twice the monthly average of the preceding 12 months.
The scarcity of air defenses allowed Russia to resume targeting Ukraine's energy infrastructure --- ostensibly in response to Ukraine's targeting of oil infrastructure deep within Russia and aiming to disrupt domestic weapon production --- but also likely meant to enable Russian aircraft to act more freely along the frontline. Occurring at the end of the cold season in Ukraine, the renewed strikes are wreaking more havoc than Russia's October 2022 to March 2023 campaign, which focused on power distribution networks. The strikes between 21 March and 11 April severely damaged multiple thermal and hydroelectric power plants across Ukraine, knocking out thermal power generation in the Kharkiv region (see map below).3 The 11 April strike destroyed the Trypilska thermal power plant south of Kyiv, one of the largest in the country powering three regions in central Ukraine.4 The resulting blackouts are contributing to civilian hardship as the country braces itself for further escalation of the war in the coming months.
Source: ACLED
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The United States reportedly provided an unspecified number of long-range ATACMS missiles to Ukraine in March 2024, some of which Ukraine has already used to strike Russian targets in deep rear areas. Western media reported that senior US officials stated that the United States secretly shipped an unspecified number of ATACMS with a range of roughly 300 kilometers to Ukraine in March 2024.[5] A senior US official reportedly stated that Ukrainian forces have since conducted strikes with the ATACMS missiles against a Russian military base in occupied Crimea and an unspecified target east of occupied Berdyansk, Zaporizhia Oblast.
The arrival of long-range ATACMS missiles in sufficient quantities will allow Ukrainian forces to degrade Russian logistics and threaten Russian airfields in deep rear areas, although months of delay may have provided the Russian military time to offset the potential operational impacts that ATACMS will afford Ukraine. Ukraine used US-provided ATACMS long-range missiles to strike Russian targets in occupied Ukraine for the first time on October 17, 2023, targeting Russian airfields in occupied Berdyansk and Luhansk City.[11] Ukrainian forces likely aimed to disrupt Russian aviation support for localized Russian offensive efforts at the time but were not provided with enough ATACMS to conduct a sustained interdiction effort against Russian aviation assets at scale.[12] Cluster-munition-armed versions of the ATACMS missiles allow Ukrainian forces to conduct more efficient strikes against airfields that can more widely destroy Russian aircraft and other assets than individual missile strikes on individual aircraft.[13] These strikes may prompt Russian forces to relocate aircraft further away from the frontline.
Source: ISW
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US to send weapons to Ukraine via Germany, Poland
US to send weapons to Ukraine via Germany, Poland
Following the go-ahead from Washington, things have begun to move very fast: US ammunition shipments are about to travel to Ukraine from Poland and also from Germany and other EU countries. For months, the US Department of Defense has prepared for the day when the House of Representatives would approve a new Ukraine aid package, which it finally has, to the tune of $60 billion (€56 billion).
Ukraine has also been waiting for months. Lacking ammunition, troops are under massive artillery attack from Russian forces on the eastern front, and barely able to return fire.
Ukraine's 'decentralized logistics'
A sophisticated transport system is in place to protect the supplies from air attacks by Russia on their journey from Ukraine's border to troops within the country. Since Russia's invasion in February 2022, Ukraine has built up "decentralized logistics" for armament deliveries, Lange said. "The supplies are not all loaded onto one train, which would then become a prime target for attack," he said, "but are rather distributed across different trains, which often run at night."
Thanks to its international backers, Ukraine now also has a fleet of heavy-duty transporters at its disposal for deliveries by road. There is a night curfew in Ukraine, which makes it more difficult for Moscow's target reconnaissance to locate the supply routes.
The regional airport in the small town of Rzeszow in southeastern Poland is the most important hub for international aid. Hodges said he assumed that US aircraft coming from Germany would land there. US military logistics can move arms and munitions quickly by rail or by C-17 aircraft that fly them to Rzeszow.
"Because of its geography and also because of its, advanced infrastructure, and then finally because of the, almost 80 years of US presence and cooperation," Hodges said, Germany is the most important hub for deliveries from the United States to Ukraine.
The largest ammunition depot of the US armed forces outside of the United States is located in southwestern Germany. The Miesau Ammo Depot is situated in the immediate vicinity of Ramstein, the largest US Air Force base in Europe, in the German state of Rhineland Palatinate.
Source: DW
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Source: BBC
UPDATES ON INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT FOR UKRAINE
UPDATES ON INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT FOR UKRAINE
Timeline of Milestones in EU Response to Ukraine
Timeline of Milestones in EU Response to Ukraine
20 February 2024
EU provides an additional €83 million in humanitarian aid to support people affected by Russia’s war on Ukraine
€75 million is allocated for humanitarian projects in Ukraine to provide emergency aid such as access to basic needs, shelter, clean water, healthcare and education.
€8 million is allocated for humanitarian support of Ukrainian refugees and hosted communities in Moldova.
14 November 2023
EU boost humanitarian funding to Ukraine with €100 million for Ukraine and €10 million for Moldova
This new funding will help the EU’s humanitarian partners to provide essential services like cash assistance, food, water, shelter, health care, psychosocial support, and protection.
6 June 2023
Nova Kakhovka dam breach
In response to the disastrous breach of the Nova Kakhovka dam, the EU mobilised immediate assistance to Ukraine via (i) its Civil Protection Mechanism, (ii) deployment of its rescEU reserves, and (iii) via its humanitarian partners.
20 April 2023
Ukraine joins the EU Civil Protection Mechanism
On 21 April, Ukraine became a participating state of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism – the European solidarity framework that helps countries overwhelmed by a disaster.
20 April 2023
The EU tops up its humanitarian aid to Ukraine with €55 million
This new humanitarian funding will notably focus on preparing for next winter to ensure an extra layer of protection to those in need.
3 February 2023
New humanitarian funding €145 million for Ukraine
During the EU-Ukraine summit in Kyiv, the EU mobilised further €145 million in humanitarian aid to Ukraine.
19 October 2022
EU announces new rescEU reseve to provide emergency shelter to displaced Ukrainians
The EU has developed a new rescEU shelter reserve. It will be put into immediate use in Rivne, Bucha and Kharkiv regions to provide temporary shelter to internally displaced persons.
19 October 2022
The EU announces additional €150 million in humanitarian aid for Ukraine and €25 million for Moldova
The key priority is to provide winterised shelter in view of the expected freezing temperatures. Other priorities include education in emergencies, health, and protection assistance.
This brings the total humanitarian funding for Ukraine to €485 and Moldova to €38 million.
September 2022
New EU Medevac hub in Rzeszów, Poland
The EU Medevac hub, financed through the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, offers 24/7 nursing care, screening for diseases, vaccination and mental health support before patients are transferred to another European country. The medical evacuation scheme includes 2 medevac flights a week offered by Norway.
30 August 2022
EU donates 5 million potassium iodide tablets to protect Ukrainians from potential radiation exposure
The EU will provide 5.5 million potassium iodide tablets via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism for Ukraine, including 5 million from the rescEU emergency reserves and 500,000 from Austria.
This will bring the total of tablets delivered to Ukraine to 8.5 million, including the 3 million procured by the rescEU reserve with the help of France and Spain in April.
9 June 2022
The EU announces additional €205 million in humanitarian aid
During a visit to Ukraine, Commissioner Lenarčič announces new humanitarian funding bringing the total EU humanitarian aid in response to the war in Ukraine to €348 million.
19 April 2022
Additional €50 million in humanitarian aid
The EU allocates a further €50 million to support the people affected by Russia’s war on Ukraine, with €45 million for humanitarian projects in Ukraine and €5 million for Moldova.
12 April 2022
European Humanitarian Response Capacity
A humanitarian operation in Moldova sets up a warehouse in Chisinau for humanitarian partners and the delivery of over EU-owned 1,200 tents and 4,000 blankets for people displaced by the conflict. Another humanitarian warehouse is being set up in Vinnytsia, Ukraine.
29 March 2022
New channel for private donations to Ukraine created by the European Commission
In kind donations will supply vital items such as medicines, vaccines, medical equipment, tents, beds and emergency blankets through this extension of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.
13 March 2022
EU's first medical evacuation operation in Ukraine crisis
The EU coordinated its first medical evacuation in the Ukraine crisis, helping to transfer 3 chronically ill Ukrainian children with their relatives from Poland to Italy.
2 March 2022
More emergency assistance and Commissioner visits Poland
Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič, and Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, visit Poland to assess the situation on the ground and coordination needs for providing protection to people fleeing the war in Ukraine.
28 February 2022
€90 million in EU humanitarian funding for Ukraine
European Commission announces its first humanitarian aid funding of €90 million in response to the full-scale war to help civilians affected.
25 – 28 February 2022
Slovakia, Moldova and Poland request assistance via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism
Slovakia, Moldova and Poland request to better cope with the refugee inflows from Ukraine.
15 February 2022
Ukraine requests assistance due to the threat of further escalation
Following a request from the Government of Ukraine for emergency assistance before the invasion, the EU started delivering essential supplies via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism to support the civilian population.
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EU hosts high-level meeting on Ukraine to address the humanitarian response
EU hosts high-level meeting on Ukraine to address the humanitarian response
On April 16, the EU hosted the Fourth Humanitarian Senior Officials Meeting in Brussels to take stock of the most pressing humanitarian challenges in war-torn Ukraine.
The meeting was opened by Commissioner for Crisis Management, Janez Lenarčič, and the Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine and Minister of Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Area, Iryna Vereshchuk.
This high-level meeting brought together key humanitarian actors and donors, but also local Ukrainian institutions, to assess how to ensure effective aid delivery in the given circumstances. Among the challenges discussed was the funding for the current year as well as how to best work with local humanitarian responders.
The participants also addressed more sustainable solutions needed for communities affected to progressively transition away from relief aid.
Since Russia’s full scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the European Commission has allocated €860 million for humanitarian aid programmes in Ukraine, and €66 million to support refugees who have fled to neighbouring Moldova. In addition, more than 146,000 tonnes of in-kind assistance has been sent to Ukraine via the EU Civil Protection Mechanism, including medical supplies, mobile hospitals, shelters, vehicles, school buses, firefighting equipment, and much more.
Source: European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations
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Germany will support rebuilding Ukraine with the help of 'international skilled labor'
Germany will support rebuilding Ukraine with the help of 'international skilled labor'
"The reconstruction of Ukraine is already beginning" and Germany will support Ukraine on this path through an international initiative for skilled labor, German Development Minister Svenja Schulze said on Friday.
The minister said that together with international organizations and other states Germany is working on an international initiative called "SkillsAlliance for Ukraine."
The initiative aims to address the shortage of labor in the health sector, in reconstruction and home building. In the energy sector, approximately 8,000 workers have been trained since the start of the war, Schulze said.
The project targets the education of young people, women and internally displaced people within the country. Ukrainians who are currently living abroad as refugees can also join the initiative by completing special training outside Ukraine.
The cost of Ukraine's reconstruction is €150 billion ($161 billion), the European Commission has estimated.
Ukrainian Ambassador to Germany Oleksiy Makeev said support for Ukrainian specialists within the country is "very welcome."
"The Russians' goal is clearly to destroy Ukraine and create conditions so that people can no longer live there," he said, adding that it is not just about weapons, financing or generators but about people who "immediately rebuild what has been destroyed by Russia."
Source: DW
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Spain to send 'small number' of Patriot missiles to Ukraine, Spanish newspaper says
Spain to send 'small number' of Patriot missiles to Ukraine, Spanish newspaper says
Spain will send a small number of Patriot missiles to Ukraine, El Pais reported.
The Spanish newspaper quoted unnamed government sources as saying the country ruled out sending launchers for the surface-to-air systems and will only provide missiles for the Patriot defense system.
"The transfer of a small number of missiles has come after the defence ministry refused to hand over to Ukraine the battery it has had deployed since 2013 on the Turkish-Syrian border," the report read.
"It will be a very limited number, as the Spanish war reserve is around 50 units and interceptors are very expensive," the report The Patriot is a guided missile system that can target aircraft, cruise missiles and shorter-range ballistic missiles.
A key advantage of the US-made systems, apart from their effectiveness, is that Ukrainian troops are already trained to use them.
Source: DW
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Pentagon set to send $1 billion in new military aid to Ukraine once Biden signs bill
Pentagon set to send $1 billion in new military aid to Ukraine once Biden signs bill
The Senate has passed $95 billion in war aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan, sending the legislation to President Joe Biden after months of delays and contentious debate over how involved the United States should be in foreign.
The Pentagon is poised to send $1 billion in new military aid to Ukraine, U.S. officials said Tuesday as the Senate moved ahead on long-awaited legislation to fund the weapons Kyiv desperately needs to stall gains being made by Russian forces in the war.
The decision comes after months of frustration, as bitterly divided members of Congress deadlocked over the funding, forcing House Speaker Mike Johnson to cobble together a bipartisan coalition to pass the bill. The $95 billion foreign aid package, including billions for Israel and Taiwan, passed the House on Saturday, and the Senate approved it Tuesday.
President Joe Biden said he would sign it Wednesday.
The votes are the result of weeks of high-voltage debate, including threats from Johnson’s hard-right faction to oust him as speaker. About $61 billion of the aid is for Ukraine.
The package includes an array of ammunition, including air defense munitions and large amounts of artillery rounds that are much in demand by Ukrainian forces, as well as armored vehicles and other weapons. The U.S. officials said some of the weapons will be delivered very quickly to the battlefront — at times within days — but it could take longer for other items to arrive. They spoke on condition of anonymity because the aid had not yet been publicly announced.
Source: AP News
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Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder, Pentagon press secretary, would not confirm the package or details, but said the U.S. has a robust logistical system in place, built over the past two years of weapons’ deliveries to Ukraine, and is “doing everything we can to be poised to respond quickly” once the bill is signed. He said the U.S. has storehouses of military equipment in Europe and — as it’s done in the past — can tap those to get aid into Ukraine within days.
America’s infusion of weapons comes on the heels of an announcement by the U.K. on Tuesday, pledging an additional $620 million in new military supplies for Ukraine, including long-range missiles and 4 million rounds of ammunition.
The announcement reflects Biden’s promise Monday in a call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that the U.S. would send the badly needed air defense weapons once the Senate approved the bill. Zelensky said in a posting on X, formerly Twitter, that Biden also assured him that a coming package of aid would include long-range and artillery capabilities.
The latest tranche of weapons will be provided through presidential drawdown authority, or PDA, which pulls systems and munitions from existing U.S. stockpiles and sends them quickly to the war front. Some of the munitions are already in Europe, so could move within days to Ukrainian forces.
Last week, an array of U.S. leaders described how urgently Ukraine needs the infusion of aid. Without it, said CIA Director Bill Burns, Ukraine could lose the war to Russia by the end of this year. And Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin told House members that conditions on the battlefield were shifting and Russian forces were making incremental gains.
Gen. CQ Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, bluntly describe the situation to the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee, saying Ukraine is facing ” dire battlefield conditions.” Desperate Ukrainian troops are rationing or running out of ammunition on the front lines.
During a virtual meeting last Friday of defense ministers in the NATO-Ukraine Council, Austin underscored the need for “immediate, concerted action” on air defense weapons for Kyiv, the Pentagon said. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Zelenskyy attended the meeting, along with other NATO allies.
Pentagon leaders were preparing to meet with defense officials from Europe and around the world on Friday to discuss international aid for Ukraine. The gathering — created by Austin and known as the Ukraine Defense Contact Group — has been meeting about monthly for the past two years, but in recent sessions officials have expressed growing consternation over the U.S. gridlock.
More than $20 billion in the aid bill is earmarked to replenish U.S. military stocks that have been depleted because they were sent to Ukraine.
Since Russia’s February 2022 invasion, the U.S. has sent more than $44 billion worth of weapons, maintenance, training and spare parts to Ukraine. For the bulk of that time, the aid packages were moving routinely every few weeks. But the money was drying up by the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30. And by mid-December, the Pentagon said it had run out of money and had to stop sending weapons because, without the funding package stalled in Congress, it could no longer afford to replace them.
Source: AP News
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Australia pledges $100m in military assistance to Ukraine
Australia pledges $100m in military assistance to Ukraine
Deputy prime minister Richard Marles says Australia remains committed to Ukraine’s war effort as it struggles to hold back Russian advances.
The Australian government has announced a new $100m assistance package for Ukraine, which includes munitions and military equipment, during a visit to the country by the deputy prime minister, Richard Marles.
Australia’s package will include $50m in military assistance, including $30m towards uncrewed aerial systems, and $15m towards other high-priority equipment such as combat helmets, rigid hull inflatable boats, boots, fire masks and generators.
It will also include the delivery of air-to-ground precision munitions and $50m in short-range air defence systems.
As part of his visit, Marles met members of the armed forces of Ukraine during training exercises and had the opportunity to tour the local defence industry, which has been integral in Ukraine’s defence against Russia. Marles also reaffirmed Australia’s commitment to the multinational program to train Ukrainian armed forces personnel in the UK, through Operation Kudu.
He also visited Poland, and met with the deputy prime minister and minister of defence, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz.
Source: The Guardian
HOLY FATHER ON UKRAINE
HOLY FATHER ON UKRAINE
Angelus - April 28, 2024 (Sunday)
Angelus - April 28, 2024 (Sunday)
I think of beleaguered Ukraine, Palestine and Israel, of the Rohingya and the many populations who suffer because of war and violence. May the God of Peace enlighten hearts so that the will for dialogue and reconciliation may grow in everyone.
Penso alla martoriata Ucraina, alla Palestina e a Israele, ai Rohingya e a tante popolazioni che soffrono a causa di guerre e violenze. Il Dio della pace illumini i cuori perché cresca in tutti la volontà di dialogo e di riconciliazione.
Links to the full text in ENGLISH and ITALIANGeneral Audience - April 24, 2024
General Audience - April 24, 2024
My thoughts then turn to martyred Ukraine, to Palestine, Israel and Myanmar, which are at war, and to many other countries. War is always a defeat, and the arms manufacturers are the ones who profit the most.
Please, let us pray for peace! Let us pray for martyred Ukraine: it is suffering so, so much. Young soldiers go to die. Let us pray. And let us also pray for the Middle East, for Gaza: there is so much suffering there, in the war. For peace between Palestine and Israel, that they may be two states, free and with good relations. Let us pray for peace.
E poi il pensiero va alla martoriata Ucraina, alla Palestina, a Israele, al Myanmar che sono in guerra, e a tanti altri Paesi. La guerra sempre è una sconfitta, e quelli che guadagnano di più sono i fabbricatori di armi. Per favore, preghiamo per la pace! Preghiamo per la martoriata Ucraina: soffre tanto, tanto. I soldati giovani vanno a morire. Preghiamo. E preghiamo anche per il Medio Oriente, per Gaza: si soffre tanto lì, nella guerra. Per la pace tra Palestina e Israele, che siano due Stati, liberi e con buoni rapporti. Preghiamo per la pace.
Links to the full text in ENGLISH and ITALIANNEWS
NEWS
Pope Francis to Vladimir Putin: A negotiated peace is better than an endless war
War in Ukraine: More and more children killed in deadly attacks
Archbishop Shevchuk: let's get our brothers out of the hell of Russian captivity (Google translate)
Harvard Medical School Director: Healing the Invisible Wounds of War (Google translate)
MEMBER PHOTOS
MEMBER PHOTOS
Psychosocial support with the Nexus approach
The project launched in 2023, supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and the German Federal Foreign Office (AA, combines urgently needed humanitarian aid with sustainable solutions for structural support (“nexus approach”). The aim is to improve both the physical and psychosocial well-being of Ukrainian people affected by the war. (courtesy of Malteser International)
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