Weekly Update #18
June 28

This update covers one weeks from June 21 to June 27, 2022.

UNITED NATIONS REPORTS

Individual refugees from Ukraine recorded across Europe

5,261,278

Last updated 21 Jun 2022

Refugees from Ukraine registered for Temporary Protection or similar national protection schemes in Europe

3,514,970

Last updated 21 Jun 2022

Border crossings from Ukraine (since 24 February 2022)*

8,007,014

Last updated 21 Jun 2022

Border crossings to Ukraine (since 28 February 2022)**

2,836,563

Last updated 21 Jun 2022

UNHCR

Since the onset of the Russian invasion, nearly one-third of Ukrainians have been forced from their homes. This is the largest human displacement crisis in the world today. Within Ukraine, over 7.1 million people remain displaced by the war. As of today, UNHCR estimates there are over 5.2 million refugees present across Europe, and over 3.5 million refugees from Ukraine have registered for temporary protection or similar national protection schemes in Europe. More than 8 million refugee movements out of Ukraine have been recorded since 24 February, while more than 2.8 million movements back into the country have been recorded since 28 February.

Inside Ukraine, many people who are trapped are unable to meet their basic needs including for food, water and medicines. The delivery of life-saving aid remains challenging, with a lack of safe humanitarian access in areas where intense fighting is ongoing. UNHCR and partners continue striving to reach hard-hit areas with life-saving assistance as part of inter-agency humanitarian convoys.

THE HUMANITARIAN CRISIS

General security and humanitarian situation

The war in Ukraine, which has now reached the four-month mark, shows no signs of abating and continues to drive increasing humanitarian needs across the country, especially in eastern Donetska and Luhanska oblasts. There are serious concerns for the thousands of civilians, both in Government-controlled and non-Government-controlled areas (GCA and NGCA), trapped or otherwise directly impacted by the hostilities. The number of verified civilian casualties since the start of the war surpassed 10,000 this week and is only growing. The situation in the GCA of Luhanska oblast remains extremely alarming, including with thousands of civilians still sheltering in the administrative centre of Sievierodonetsk and hundreds more at the Azot chemical plant there. The situation is similar in the city of Lysychansk, where airstrikes, missile strikes, and shelling were reported throughout the week, along with civilian casualties. Similarly, reports were also received of intense and constant shelling leading to a large number of civilian casualties in both GCA and NGCA of Donetska oblast. Still in the east, daily reports on missile attacks and shelling in and around Kharkiv (Kharkivska oblast) continue. And in other parts of Ukraine, hostilities continue in the south, especially in Khersonska oblast, while air attacks and shelling were also reported neighbouring Mykolaivska and Odeska oblasts and in Sumska oblast in the north.

Human rights violations, including civilian casualties

Human rights violations, including civilian casualties More than 50 civilian casualties were reported in the NGCA and 35 in the GCA of Donetska oblast on 17-19 June. Even just in one 24-hour-period 21-22 June, more than 20 casualties were reported in GCA of Donetska oblast, including in Sloviansk, where an inter-agency convoy had managed to deliver assistance just a day earlier. Some 40 casualties were also reported in Kharkivska oblast in two days. On 21 June, one civilian was reportedly killed and 19 injured in Chasiv Yar, south-east of Kramatorsk. In the NGCA of Donetska oblast, it was reported that one civilian man was killed and 13 other people, including three children, were injured in Donetsk city, Makiivka and Yasynuvata. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights had verified, as of 22 June, more than 10,465 civilian causalities in the country, including 4,662 killed and 5,803 injured. However, the actual number is likely considerably higher. Donetska and Luhanska oblasts bear the brunt with the highest civilian casualties. The UN Human Rights Council’s Commission of Inquiry for Ukraine held a press conference on 15 June to report on the results of its first visit to Ukraine1. The Commission, set up to investigate alleged human rights abuses, international humanitarian law violations, and related crimes in the context of the aggression against Ukraine, reported that it had gone to Bucha and Irpin (Kyivska oblast, north), where it received information about the arbitrary killing of civilians, destruction and looting of property as well as attacks on civilian infrastructure, including schools. In Kharkivska (east) and Sumska (north-east) oblasts, the Commission observed the destruction of large urban areas, allegedly resulting from aerial bombings, shelling or missile strikes against civilian targets. The Commission also received reports from IDPs of other alleged crimes, including the confinement, mistreatment and disappearances of civilians, rape, and other forms of sexual abuse. The Commission is to examine all the allegations further and, meanwhile, it expressed particular concern for the impact of the war on Ukrainian children, including reports of displaced children having been separated from their families and, in some cases, the transfer of children to the Russian Federation to receive citizenship and be adopted there.

On 20 June, following the International Day for the Elimination of Sexual Violence in Conflict, the Ukrainian Government announced having ratified the Council of Europe’s “Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence,” also known as the Istanbul Convention. The move was widely welcomed …

Humanitarian access and safe passage

Meanwhile, the ongoing fighting and bureaucratic obstacles have continued to severely restrict humanitarian access to people in need across Ukraine and people’s ability to flee the fighting. Safe passage is required for people who decide to evacuate from areas of active fighting, and there were relatively fewer reports this week of individuals or groups of people being evacuated from GCA of Donetska and Luhanska oblasts. Though the authorities in south-east Zaporizka oblast reported that, on 22 June, 1,388 residents, including 306 children, had been evacuated from NGCA of the oblast. At the same time, people continue to be reported to be moving to the Russian Federation. And Russia reported that, as of 22 June, over 2 million people, including more than 320,000 children, had entered the country from Ukraine after 24 February. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) estimated that, as of 21 June, over 1.3 million people had crossed into the Russian Federation. Separately, the Government of Ukraine reported on 17 June having established a “Coordination Centre for Protecting the Rights of People Deported or Forcibly Relocated Due to the Armed Aggression Against Ukraine.” Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Reintegration Iryna Vereshchuk was appointed chair of the coordination centre.

THE UNITED NATIONS RESPONSE

UNHCR - The UN Refugee Agency

Key figures - UKRAINE - a total of 1.6 million people reached with assistance to date

As of 21 June:

• 554,395 people reached with essential food and non-food items, winter clothes

and shelter materials

• 532,840 people enrolled for multipurpose cash assistance. 362,436 have received

their first payment

• 337,232 people received protection assistance, advice and referrals at border crossing

points, transit and reception centres and through hotlines

• 98,250 people received assistance through humanitarian convoys delivered to hard-hit areas

• 71,892 sleeping spaces created / improved in 192 reception centres and collective centres

UNHCR Response in Ukraine

Protection

• 337,232 people received protection assistance, advice and referrals at border crossing points, transit and reception centres and through hotlines.

• This includes protection counselling and services, including psychosocial support and legal aid. 142,462 people have received protection information, support or counselling; 98,868 people received information and counselling through hotlines; 40,432 people received legal counselling or assistance; 32,353 people received psychosocial support or psychological first aid; 8,315 received social support. In addition, 4,060 protection monitoring missions were carried out.

• The UN Special Coordinator on improving the UN’s response to sexual exploitation and abuse, Jane Holl Lute, travelled to Moldova, Poland and Ukraine from 14 to 19 June to assess how the UN and its partners are managing the prevention and response to sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA) across the context of the Ukraine crisis. In all the locations she visited (Chisinau, Warsaw, Rzeszów and Lviv), USG Lute met with PSEA Network members, Child protection and GBV actors as well as local authorities and refugees from Ukraine. From the onset of the Ukraine emergency, SEA risk mitigation was integrated into UNHCR’s response in its operations, including at blue dots, border crossing points and cash enrolment sites.

Shelter

• UNHCR, together with seven partners is delivering a multi-pronged shelter response to support families whose homes have been damaged by hostilities or who cannot return home. Acute Emergency Shelter Kits, with items such as tarpaulin, wood and nails are being delivered to households to carry out provisional repairs. As of 21 June, 24,318 people have been reached with these kits.

• UNHCR is complementing government shelter repair programmes, by carrying out light and medium repairs in areas where the security situation has stabilized, namely in the Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy and Kharkiv oblasts with the goal of reaching 4,900 homes in the initial phase.

• In order to expand medium-term accommodation options for IDPs who are unable to return to their former homes, UNHCR is working with the local authorities to identify and refurbish reception and collective centres. The refurbishment works include structural repairs as well as the adaptation of spaces for older persons and people with disabilities. Water, sanitization and hygiene conditions are also being improved as part of UNHCR’s winterization strategy, which involves the improvement and installation of heating systems and insulation. 104 assessments of collective centres have been conducted with local authorities and 8 buildings are already undergoing the initial stages of refurbishment and support. In addition, UNHCR partners are carrying out small refurbishment works in six centres in Zakarpattia.

Multipurpose Cash Assistance

• Since the beginning of cash enrolment in Ukraine on 17 March, 532,840 people have been enrolled by UNHCR to receive cash assistance and 362,436 of them have received their first payments.

• An interactive Cash Working Group dashboard showing overall progress can be accessed here. A cumulative 1.76 million people have received cash assistance through all 24 Cash Working Group partners.

Core Relief Items

• To date, 554,395 people have benefitted from core relief items and food assistance across eastern, central and western Ukraine. This includes 121,279 people who received food assistance, 24,285 who received shelter kits and 408,831 who received core relief items, such as clothes and hygiene kits.

• UNHCR, as part of inter-agency humanitarian convoys, has reached 98,250 people in the hardest hit areas with life-saving assistance since the beginning of the war. Access to the hardest hit areas remains extremely challenging with continuing security risks, both for affected civilians as well as humanitarian actors.

• So far, UNHCR has supported 192 reception centres and collective centres run by the Government to increase their capacity to host IDPs. A total of 71,892 additional sleeping spaces at these centres have so far been created.

UNHCR Regional assistance

Key figures - REGIONAL UNHCR KEY FIGURES

• 342,100 people enrolled for cash assistance in Moldova, Poland, Romania and Slovakia as of 22 June

• 40 Blue Dots established with UNICEF in Bulgaria, Hungary, Italy, Moldova, Poland, Romania and Slovakia

• Over 2.5 million page visits to UNHCR Help websites in Hungary, Moldova, Poland, Romania and Slovakia

Specific country-level assistance are shown below:

Country Highlights

Hungary

• 25,297 refugees have applied for temporary protection

• Over 13,700 people provided with protection support by UNHCR and partners, including legal information provision, counselling and psychosocial support (since 21 March)

• 1 Blue Dot operational in Záhony

• Over 1,400 people trained on core humanitarian principles, gender-based violence (GBV), safe disclosure and referrals, and protection from sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA)

• 64,939 visits to the UNHCR Hungary Help page

Moldova

• 63,063 people have received multipurpose cash assistance

• Over 1,600 refugees departed by air to Austria, France, Germany, Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Switzerland as part of the Solidarity Platform

• 7 Blue Dots are now operational. Overall, more than 14,300 people have been supported at the Blue Dots between 14 March and 21 June.

• 41,512 refugees received protection information or counselling through UNHCR and partners • 16,943 people received protection support via the UNHCR-managed ‘Green Line’ helpline

• 197,368 visits to the UNHCR Moldova Help page

Poland

• 1,180,677 refugees have applied for temporary protection

• 225,568 refugees enrolled for multipurpose cash assistance as of 21 June

• 12 Blue Dots operating with some 20,000 people supported as of 22 June

• 2.2 million visits to the UNHCR Poland Help Page

• 702 people trained on protection issues, including anti-trafficking and the prevention of sexual exploitation and abuse (PSEA)

Romania

• 40,202 refugees registered for temporary protection

• Some 7,514 refugees enrolled for cash assistance as of 21 June

• Over 22,400 refugees provided with information and counselling in person or over the phone

• 11 Blue Dots operating in Romania

• 11,200 people supported to travel to Romania from Moldova through fast-track transfers

• 51,189 visits to the UNHCR Romania Help page

Slovakia

• 78,782 refugees registered for temporary protection

• 45,955 refugees enrolled for cash assistance as of 20 June from an enrolment target of 57,500 people

• 2 Blue Dots operating in Slovakia

• Over 85,931 visits to the UNHCR Slovakia Help page

WFP - WORLD FOOD PROGRAMME

UKRAINE Assistance Overview

Food Assistance

WFP has distributed 160 mt of complementary fortified cereals to approximately 80,000 children aged 6-23 months to date, through NGO partners working with local government administration. Nutritional supplementation is fed to children as an instant porridge, prepared from fortified complementary cereal specifically targeted for this age group, to support their growth and development. WFP also combines nutritional support with promotion of Infant and Young Child Feeding optimal practices and nutrition awareness. WFP nutritional assistance is provided through an integrated approach, whereby the age-appropriate formula for children complements cash or food assistance to vulnerable families. The nutritional needs of vulnerable, pregnant women in maternity clinics are also being considered for WFP support.

Partnerships and collaborations

WFP works in coordination with other humanitarian actors in country through the inter-agency Cash Working Group (CWG) facilitating de-duplications of registration for cash transfers (CBT). WFP co-leads a Task Team linking humanitarian CBT and Social Protection (SP) to ensure complementarity and efficiency of humanitarian response.

Ukraine: Rapid Needs Assessment of Displaced Older People Lvivska, Chernivetska and Dnipropetrovska Oblasts - June 2022

HelpAge recently conducted a Rapid Needs Assessment in three regions of Ukraine to provide a snapshot of the situation for displaced older people. Ukraine has the largest percentage of older people affected by conflict of any single country in the world. One quarter of the country’s population are over 60. Many of them have disabilities. Please find the report here.

• • Older people continue to face obstacles meeting their basic needs. Less than 50% of older people reported receiving assistance from humanitarian organizations, and those with a disability are less likely to receive support. Collective centers often do not have sufficient supplies to support the large numbers of people arriving. Some collective centers are in remote areas. People living in private residences may not have information about how and where to access support, or cannot travel to centralized distribution points.

  • As of early April, Dnipropetrovsk region had 500,000 IDPs, 50% of them older people, who overwhelmingly did not plan to travel onward. The IDP population in the region is growing due to increased fighting in the Donbas.

  • 43% of older people interviewed had at least one disability. The most common disabilities identified related to mobility, sight, memory, and communication. This is significantly higher than the 11% who reported having a disability among those 30 to 59 years old.

  • 74% of older people reported that their greatest need is cash. They often face severe financial pressures, having been forced to leave their jobs or other sources of livelihood and facing added expenses in displacement.

  • Medicine and healthcare ranked as the second highest priority. 89% had at least one health condition, and 70% had more than one. 45% reported that they could only partly access medication. 12% said they could not access their medication at all.

FAITH AND INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY RESPONSE

Depaul International and Depaul Ukraine Update Report: Friday 24th June 2022

Depaul Ukraine continues to help people across the country from Uzhhorod in the west, to Kharkiv in the east, and Kyiv and Odesa in between (see right). We are now providing nutritionally balanced food baskets or meals to over 10,000 people a day. In May, we sent 11,000 hygiene packs to Ukraine, containing soap, sanitary towels, toothpaste, nappies and other essential items.

HOLY FATHER ON UKRAINE

Pope: 'The drama of Cain and Abel unfolding in Ukraine'

Pope Francis addresses representatives of ROACO, a church organization providing aid and assistance to Christians across the Middle East, and invites them to not stop praying, fasting, helping, and working so that the paths of peace may find space in the jungle of conflicts.