Weekly Update #59
April 17
April 17
REFUGEE SITUATION
(as of 11 April 2023)
General Figures
Refugees from Ukraine recorded across Europe
8,167,986
Last updated April 11 2023
Refugees from Ukraine registered for Temporary Protection or similar national protection schemes in Europe
5,038,365
Last updated April 11 2023
Border crossings from Ukraine (since 24 February 2022)
20,421,761
Last updated April 11 2023
Border crossings to Ukraine (since 28 February 2022)
11,889,878
Last updated April 11 2023
THE STATE OF THE CONFLICT
Situation Update
1 - 7 April2023
Fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces continued in and around Bakhmut, Marinka,and Avdiivka in the Donetsk region, as well as along the Kupiansk-Kreminna-Svatove line in the Kharkiv and Luhansk regions. Russian forces continued to advance their positions in Bakhmut and around Avdiivka. though no significant territorial gains were reported during the week. Separately, a suspected Ukrainian partisan group blew up the car of an alleged senior Russian occupation official in Mariupol in the Donetsk region on 27 March.
Russian forces continued to shell frontline areas, killing nearly a dozen civilians in the Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhia regions. Russian forces also launched drone strikes targeting other areas last week, including Kyiv city and the Sumy and Dnipropetrovsk regions. Meanwhile, at least seven civilians were killed and nine wounded in landmine explosions in the Kharkiv, Kherson, and Mykolaiv regions.
Key Takeaways
A senior Ukrainian official warned that Russia can reconstitute itself as a serious threat to Ukraine in the long run despite facing severe force generation problems at this time.
The Kremlin has not yet undertaken the necessary reorganization of its war effort to effectively leverage economies of scale to support large Russian force generation.
Ukrainian assessments confirm ISW’s longstanding assessment that Russia cannot conduct multiple offensive operations simultaneously at this time.
Russian President Vladimir Putin reportedly personally approved the arrest of Wall Street Journal correspondent Evan Gershkovich.
Russian forces continued limited ground attacks along the Svatove-Kreminna line.
Russian forces continued to make gains in Bakhmut, and continued ground attacks along the Avdiivka-Donetsk City line.
Russian forces continue to reinforce and strengthen their positions in southern Ukraine in preparation for a potential Ukrainian counteroffensive.
Wagner Group financier Yevgeny Prigozhin and his supporters continue to feud with St. Petersburg authorities and advertising companies allegedly obstructing Wagner Group recruitment efforts.
Wagner Group are reportedly training Ukrainian children to use weapons as part of the Russian Young Army Cadets National Movement (Yunarmiya) in occupied Ukraine.
Dozens of civilians have been killed or injured in the past week during attacks in eastern and southern Ukraine, including in Sloviansk in Donetska oblast. Authorities and humanitarian sources say an aid distribution point and a humanitarian facility in Khersonska oblast were hit by strikes on 25 March.
Sources: ACLED Conflict Update
UNHCR Operational Response, Delivery Updates (5 April 2023)
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What to watch for in 2023
While battles may have slightly subsided during the winter period, they are likely to intensify again in the spring as both Ukraine and Russia are reportedly preparing new military campaigns.
Ukraine will likely continue its counter-offensive in the Luhansk region and launch new offensive operations in the southern regions of Zaporizhia and Kherson in 2023. Ukrainian advances in the Zaporizhia region may aggravate the situation around the Zaporizhia Nuclear Power Plant in Enerhodar, which has been mined by the Russian forces controlling it, increasing the risk of a nuclear disaster. The success of Ukrainian offensive operations largely depends on the provision of international military aid, with Ukrainian officials requesting more weapons and ammunition from Western allies.5 Ukrainian government forces and underground partisan groups are also likely to continue or intensify attacks in Russia’s deep rear areas, targeting Russian military personnel, ammunition depots, and communication lines, with a high probability of continued strikes on Russian territory.
Russia will likely maintain focus on the Donetsk region for its offensive operations, particularly in the area of Bakhmut, but also Avdiivka, Marinka, and Vuhledar. Russian forces may also attempt an offensive in the Zaporizhia region to reduce Ukrainian long-range strikes in the area. Russia’s continued military build-up in Belarus could indicate plans for a renewed offensive on Kyiv; however, this currently remains unlikely.
To secure its future military operations in Ukraine, Russia will likely be attempting to mobilize additional troops in 2023. Russia is also likely seeking to strike new weapon deals with other countries. Iran is expected to remain the most notable external provider of weapons, having already reportedly sent Russia thousands of drones, and may agree to send missiles in the future. North Korea, which reportedly supplied the Wagner Group with weapons last year, may also emerge as a more important weapons supplier. There remains the risk that if it fails to buy and produce enough arms, Russia will start using its arsenal of tactical nuclear weapons; however, this risk remains low as it is unlikely to help Russia achieve its goals.
Should Ukraine step up offensive operations in spring 2023, Russia may also stage new provocations, similar to the explosion at a prison in Olenivka, attacks on nuclear power plants, or disruption of grain exports from Ukraine, with the hope that Ukraine’s international partners will compel Ukraine to resume negotiations. While negotiations between Ukraine and Russia are unlikely to effectively end the war at this stage, they may benefit Russia by giving it the chance to regroup and open dialogue on potential Ukrainian territorial concessions.11
Civilians in Ukraine remain at high risk of continued targeting by Russian forces. Russia continues to launch missile and drone strikes at critical infrastructure across the country. However, as the weather gets warmer and civilians become less dependent on heating and power supply, these strikes may be redirected toward other targets. Regardless of the availability of missiles and drones, Russia will likely continue the intense shelling of civilian infrastructure in the frontline areas that, to date, has caused the majority of reported civilian fatalities. Large parts of the Ukrainian territory also remain contaminated by mines, unexploded ordnance, and explosive remnants of war – especially in the recently de-occupied regions – which may lead to further civilian casualties as more people begin returning to their homes.
Russian oppression of the civilian population in the occupied regions is also likely to continue amid the ongoing partisan movement, and Russia’s forced displacement of residents in occupied areas. Should Russia occupy new territories in 2023, more civilians will be at risk of war crimes, including abductions, forced displacement, forced mobilization, torture, sexual violence, and execution.
Source: ACLED
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Russian Torture Center in Kherson
Russian forces unlawfully detained and tortured residents of the city of Kherson and its vicinity during their occupation of the area between March and November 2022, Human Rights Watch said Friday.
Victims and their family members told Human Rights Watch about torture and other ill-treatment at a pretrial detention center on Teploenerhetykiv Street in Kherson that local residents referred to as a “hole,” as well as a detention facility on Perekopska Street and makeshift facilities at the municipal administration building, a village school, and an airport hangar. Former detainees consistently reported similar forms of abuse, including severe beatings with sticks and rubber batons, electric shocks, threats of death or mutilation, and use of painful stress positions. No adequate medical care was provided to detainees.
“Russian occupying forces carried out terrifying torture and other abuses against Kherson residents in the torture center on Teploenerhetykiv Street and numerous other detention facilities,” said Yulia Gorbunova, senior Ukraine researcher at Human Rights Watch. “Those responsible for these horrific acts should not go unpunished and the victims and their families need to receive redress for their suffering and information about those still missing.”
Human Rights Watch interviewed 34 people about the abusive treatment of civilians during the Russian occupation of the Khersonska region, from March 2, 2022 until the withdrawal of Russian forces from much of the area on November 11. Twelve former detainees and 10 family members described detainees being tortured or witnessing the torture of other detainees, which in three reported cases resulted in their deaths. These interviews about torture build on dozens of others about torture that Human Rights Watch conducted with Khersonska region residents during earlier months of the occupation, for a July 2022 report.
Russian forces in Kherson appeared to adopt a similar pattern in their treatment of civilians throughout the occupation. They would aggressively search a residence and then detain one or more people living there on a variety of accusations. Several detainees reported that the Russian forces beat and threatened them or their relatives, including older people. Russian soldiers would then cover the eyes or head of those being taken into custody with a hat or bag and force them into a vehicle. They would then be taken to one of the 20 or more detention centers in and around Kherson.
Nearly all of the torture cases documented recently in Kherson involved people held in the pretrial detention center at Teploenerhetykiv Street. One person was also held in makeshift detention facilities at the Kherson International Airport and in the Kherson municipal administration building. Another said that her cellmate had previously been previously held in a pretrial detention center on at 10 Perekopska Street, where the BBC and others reported that Russian occupation forces tortured people. Another former detainee, taken about 120 kilometers from Kherson, said he was held in a 2-by-3 meter storage room of a village school.
Human Rights Watch previously documented cases of torture of detainees, including Ukrainian prisoners of war from the Territorial Defense Forces, at the former National Police Directorate building on 4 Liuteranska Street (formerly Kirova Street).
Most relatives interviewed said they were provided no information about the location of their loved ones, which is required by the international law of occupation. Many desperately searched and attempted to deliver packages of food and other essentials without knowing whether they reached the intended recipient.
Detainees and families said that Russian occupying authorities took them and their loved ones into custody for engaging in actual or suspected volunteer activities, providing or expressing support for Ukrainian forces or the government, or for being a veteran of the 2014 Ukrainian security force operations in the Donbas region.
Ukrainian authorities have been investigating cases of unlawful detention, torture, and other mistreatment in Kherson and the surrounding region during the Russian occupation. Eugen Tereshenko, a prosecutor with the war crimes unit for the Khersonska region, estimates that there were 4,000 to 5,000 registered cases of civilians detained during this period, but the actual number may have been much higher.
It is a war crime to willfully mistreat, torture, or kill civilians or captured combatants in custody, to willfully cause great suffering or serious injury to body or health, or to carry out unlawful deportations or transfers.
More details, including victims’ recounts, are found in the link below.
Source: HRW
CIVILIAN CASUALTIES
(As of April 10, 2023)
Total civilian casualties from 24 Feb 2022 - 10 April 2023
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has recorded
22,734 civilian casualties in the country. This included 8,490 killed and 14,244 injured.
18,280 casualties (6,596 killed and 11,684 injured) in territory controlled by the Government when casualties occurred)
4,454 casualties (1,894 killed and 2,560 injured) in territory occupied by the Russian Federation when casualties occurred:
Civilian casualties from 1 to 9 April 2023
OHCHR recorded 163 civilian casualties in Ukraine:
44 killed (22 men, 11 women, as well as 11 adults whose sex is not yet known);
119 injured (34 men, 26 women, 2 boys, 1 girl, as well as 56 adults whose sex is not yet known).
Source: OHCHR
THE HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE
Investigation Launches into Forcible Transfer of Children in Ukraine
On April 13, the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE) initiated an investigation into the forcible transfer of children within parts of Ukraine temporarily controlled by Russia, and deportations to the Russian Federation.
Thousands of Ukrainian children may be in Russian hands, including children from residential institutions that fell under Russian occupation, and children who were sent to Russian children’s camps but not returned. Russian personnel have reportedly lied to some Ukrainian children, telling them, “Your parents have abandoned you.”
Human Rights Watch has documented how Russian-proxy authorities prevented the evacuation to Ukrainian-held territory of 17 Ukrainian children from an institution in Mariupol and instead sent them to Russian-controlled territory. Ukrainian doctors and institution directors have resorted to hiding children to prevent their removal.
Russian officials have stated that hundreds of Ukrainian children have been placed in Russian families and assigned Russian nationality, even though this violates international law.
The OSCE expert investigators will use the information collected to formulate recommendations, and make it available for courts and tribunals that may wish to use it in future proceedings. On March 17, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Russian President Putin and the Russian government’s children’s rights commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, for the war crimes of unlawful transfer and deportation of children.
Meanwhile, Russian officials have trumpeted the deportations. At a press conference in Moscow this week, Lvova-Belova dismissed the ICC case. Russian officials claim to be saving “orphans” but are actually splitting families apart: 9 out of 10 children in Ukrainian institutions have parents. While portraying transfers of children as “evacuations,” officials have not granted safe passage to areas under Ukrainian government control.
Ukrainian authorities have collected nearly 20,000 complaints of missing children, but no system exists to verify and consolidate these cases. Human Rights Watch and dozens of civil society groups have called on the United Nations to ramp up efforts to locate missing children and ensure their return.
Several hundred Ukrainian children have been allowed to leave Russian-controlled territory if a relative came to meet them in person. Others have escaped. But the burden is falling on children and their families.
The OSCE experts’ report will be due three weeks after their mission this month. Time is of the essence to ensure forcible transfers of children stop and missing children are reunited with their families.
Source: HRW
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Canada Supports Efforts to Locate Missing and Disappeared Persons from the War in Ukraine
The International Commission on Missing Persons and the Government of Canada signed an agreement under which ICMP will support Ukraine in locating missing and disappeared persons following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Global Affairs Canada will provide 1.8 million Canadian dollars (roughly 1,345,000 USD) for a one-year project.
The ongoing war in Ukraine has resulted in tens of thousands of missing and disappeared persons. Circumstances in which people go missing in Ukraine include forcible deportations, summary executions, incommunicado detention, kidnapping, abduction and family separation, including unlawful adoptions and trafficking in human beings. ICMP is working with the authorities to develop an effective long-term process to account for the missing and, where missing persons cases are a result of war crimes, to bring perpetrators to justice.
Lisa Helfand, Canada’s Ambassador to the Kingdom of the Netherlands, said Canadian support for ICMP in Ukraine, which will help the authorities find upwards of 15,000 missing persons, is consistent with the country’s foreign policy objectives. “We believe that helping the authorities to address this issue can make a significant contribution to resolving the challenge to Ukrainian sovereignty and the wider challenge to global stability.”
ICMP Director-General Kathryne Bomberger expressed gratitude to the government of Canada. She said ICMP’s program will help ICMP to increase the capacity of families and civil society organizations to gather and share information about missing persons cases.
“The direct beneficiaries will be families of the missing,” Ms Bomberger said. “Ukrainian institutions such as the Ministry of Justice, the Office of the Prosecutor General, National Police, the State Scientific Forensic Centre and the State Security Service will also benefit in terms of receiving relevant information on missing persons cases that will strengthen the investigation into war crimes and facilitate the location and identification of missing persons.”
At the invitation of the Government of Ukraine, ICMP is helping the authorities to develop a sustainable missing persons process based on the rule of law. This includes providing access to high-volume, DNA-led identification capabilities, ensuring that evidence collected during the process, including evidence from mass and clandestine graves, is admissible in criminal trials, supporting laboratory operations, data collection, and mass grave investigations, providing Ukrainian institutions (including the police) and the Ukrainian public with access to secure and large-scale missing persons data processing, and ensuring participation of civil society and families in the missing persons process.
Source: ICMP
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IFRC reports on one-year operation in Ukraine
This document summarizes twelve months of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Cress Societies (IFRC) Network’s collective response to the humanitarian crisis that has been affecting millions of people both inside and outside of Ukraine.
Following the immediate response to the needs generated by the conflict and the subsequent mass displacement, operations continue to scale up, while adapting to the changing context and new scenarios, such as continued energy crisis, inflation, civilian casualties and damage to residential areas, new influx of displaced people from Ukraine, as well as gearing up for sustained, targeted and impactful long-term activities both inside and outside Ukraine. To help people affected survive the cold winter, the Red Cross Red Crescent (RCRC) Movement scaled up its support with cash and voucher assistance as the principal modality of assistance, as well as essential household items distribution and reinforcing safe spaces provision in close coordination with national authorities.
The geographical extension of the intervention includes supporting, as part of a Federation-wide approach, 18 National Societies in Ukraine, Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Estonia, Georgia, Hungary, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Turkey, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, while coordinating with Partner National Societies (PNS) and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Due to the dynamic and protracted nature of the armed conflict and the ongoing displacement of people from Ukraine, it is expected that additional National Societies will request IFRC for support during the timeframe of implementation.
Revised National Society Response Plans will be available on IFRC GO in April 2023 to support the formulation of a regional harmonized Operational Strategy and Emergency Appeal, extending the timeframe of the operation until 31 December 2025.
A Federation-wide response has been the key approach from the IFRC network. A total of 58 National Societies have been mobilized, offering on-the-ground, remote, financial, and in-kind support to those impacted. In Ukraine, the Ukrainian Red Cross Society, supported by the IFRC, National Societies, and the ICRC, remains at the forefront of the response. Out of 17.6 million people in need in Ukraine, including 6.3 million IDPs and 4.3 million returnees, the National Societie has provided assistance to 13 million people. Beyond Ukraine’s borders, 41 National Societies have supported 3.4 million people domestically, offering critical shelter, protection, health services, and cash assistance with the IFRC providing strategic and operational coordination.
As this far-reaching humanitarian crisis stretches into its second year, the RCRC Movement will continue to adapt its support to meet the evolving and varying needs of people.
Source: IFRC
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New IDP housing opened in Chernivtsi with support by the European Union and the German Government
A new modular settlement was inaugurated in Chernivtsi on 13 April 2023. Ambassador Matti Maasikas, Head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine and Ambassador of Germany to Ukraine Anka Feldhusen officially handed over the housing to the city in the presence of Mayor Klichuk.
This modular settlement was constructed within the framework of the project “EU4ResilientRegions - Special Assistance Programme Ukraine” which is co-financed by the EU and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ). The settlement features uninterrupted energy supply materials, such as solar panels and batteries, to keep it operating in case of emergencies.
“Forced displacement is a big part of the suffering that Russia’s war has brought to Ukraine since 2014. Housing is among the vital needs of internally displaced persons that EU assistance responds to”. The EU Ambassador to Ukraine noted the partnership with Germany/GIZ for this initiative.
Overall, up to 250 internally displaced persons can get their new accommodation in the modular settlement. The modular settlement is family-friendly: half of the modules were designed for families, there are gazebos for families and a playground for children on the territory of the settlement.
The Mayor of Chernivtsi Roman Klichuk announced that the first 100 contracts have been signed, with the first residents comprising large families, people with disabilities, and women with husbands in the military, in line with requirements determined by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine
The project “EU4ResilientRegions - Special Assistance Programme Ukraine” is co-financed by the European Union and the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and is implemented by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH. This project is cooperating with communities in 10 southern and eastern regions of Ukrainian to make sure their residents can access high-quality local administrative, medical, and social services comfortably and efficiently. With the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion, the project has been providing emergency response aid to its partner municipalities, as well as assisting municipalities in western Ukraine to support internally displaced persons.
Source: EC
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Christian Aid urges inclusionary approaches in Ukraine humanitarian response
Programming approaches, such as survivor- and community-led response (sclr), were highlighted as essential to ensure power is not taken away from communities and community groups who are already responding. Such approaches ensure that local communities and individuals have access to microgrants, rather than being dictated or influenced by externally led actors, such as international or even national NGOs.
This was the key message of a report issued by Christian Aid, as the humanitarian response in Ukraine is expanded to reach the growing needs of refugees and internally displaced populations. Their paper aims to provide a window into transformative community-led approaches, describing two detailed case studies of the experiences of partners, reviews challenges and lessons, and provides recommendations for practitioners and donors.
The following recommendations were offered:
Donors and intermediaries should live up to Grand Bargain commitments and increase direct funding at scale to local actors, including mechanisms and incentives to support sclr for a real participatory revolution.
The humanitarian sector, including donors and international and national NGOs, need to overcome the instinct to maintain tight control of local organisations’ and groups’ work. They need a mindset shift to let go of power and tolerate more flexibility and unpredictability.
Donors – both institutional donors and NGOs providing grants – must shift the center of accountability to people implementing the response, by minimizing compliance and eliminating due diligence at the lowest level for a more inclusive and effective crisis response. The current structures of compliance and due diligence are both fragmented and structured around the donor as the center of accountability because they put up the money. A more people-centered response would employ a compliance and accountability structure that says affected populations will feel the impact of misuse of funds today more than auditors several years down the line.
Humanitarian architecture needs to be reformed to center community-led responses that do not fit neatly into sector boxes. Area-based coordination facilitates the inclusion of local actors and gives them a voice and decision-making power. Their agency is key to building back better. These community initiatives cut across multiple sectors and do not fit into sectoral boxes. To avoid overlooking or undermining spontaneous local responses it is important to acknowledge their existence, create inclusive spaces for participation, and capture the work in reporting
The full report can be accessed in the link below.
Source: Christian Aid - Letting go of control: Empowering locally led action in Ukraine
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Ukraine seeks UNESCO support for post-war cultural renaissance
Nearly $7 billion will be required over the next decade to rebuild the cultural sector in war-ravaged Ukraine, the head of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) said during a visit to the country this week.
Director-General Audrey Azoulay was in Ukraine to reaffirm support to the Ukraine people, amid the continuing full-scale Russian invasion, which began on 24 February last year.
Throughout the conflict, where Russia has frequently targeted civilian areas, UNESCO has reiterated that the targeting of cultural sites and schools violates international law. The agency has also deployed a $30 million emergency plan in Ukraine which ranges from protective equipment for monuments and works of art, to the distribution of more than 50,000 computers so that teachers can continue remote education, to the provision of dozens of helmets and bullet-proof vests to journalists working in combat zones.
“This support will continue and increase in 2023,” Ms. Azoulay announced during a meeting with teachers in a school in Chernihiv.
She said that in the coming weeks, UNESCO is mobilizing more than $10 million in additional funding to respond to the education emergency, noting that strengthening of psychosocial support for students is a priority.
“In order to rebuild but also to redress the situation, it will be necessary to invest $6.9 billion in the cultural sector in Ukraine over the next 10 years,” she said on the sidelines of a working meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. At the meeting, the President welcomed measures already implemented by the UN agency. “Sometimes there are only words. With UNESCO, there are concrete results,” he said.
Mr. Zelenskyy requested UNESCO to support the Government’s development of a recovery plan for the cultural sector, while continuing to coordinate and mobilize international partners.
Source: UN News
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Child deaths hit ‘tragic milestone’ in Ukraine
Child casualties in Ukraine have hit a “tragic milestone”, the head of the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said on Monday, as the UN human rights office (OHCHR) released its latest report on rising numbers of deaths and injuries in the country since Russia launched a full-scale invasion in February 2022.
“Since the escalation of the war, at least 501 children have been killed,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. “This is another tragic milestone for Ukraine’s children and families. She stressed UNICEF’s response which provides children with critical assistance, including psychosocial care and support. UNICEF analysis suggests the percentage of children living in poverty has almost doubled from 43 per cent to 82 per cent. The situation is especially acute for the 5.9 million people who are currently displaced within Ukraine.
Meanwhile, children and families’ access to basic services have been severely curtailed. An estimated 1.5 million children are at risk of depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and other mental health issues, with potential long-term effects and implications.
More than 800 health facilities are reported to have been damaged or destroyed by shelling and airstrikes.
Thousands of children fleeing the conflict across Ukraine are missing vital vaccines to protect them from polio, measles, diphtheria, and other life-threatening diseases, UNICEF said.
Since the start of the war, the agency, with the international community’s support, has provided learning supplies to 1.8 million children and engaged over 2.5 million children in education programmes.
UNICEF has also provided such assistance as mental health and psychosocial support to 4.6 million children and caregivers, gender-based violence response services to 725,000 women and children, access to safe water for 5.6 million people, healthcare services to 5.4 million, and multi-purpose cash assistance to 277,000 households inside Ukraine and in refugee-hosting countries.
Source: UN News
HOLY FATHER ON UKRAINE
General Audience - April 12, 2023
E perseveriamo nella preghiera per la martoriata Ucraina. Preghiamo per quanto soffre l’Ucraina.
Links to the full text in ITALIANRegina Caeli- April 16, 2023
And I am thinking of our brothers and sisters both in Russia and in Ukraine who are celebrating Easter. May the Lord be near to them and help them to make peace!
E penso anche ai nostri fratelli e sorelle che in Russia e in Ucraina oggi celebrano la Pasqua. Che il Signore sia loro vicino e li aiuti a fare la pace!
Links to the full text in ITALIAN and ENGLISH
VATICAN RADIO PODCAST
Ukraine: Healing from the trauma of war
As the psychological trauma from Russia’s war weighs on increasing numbers of Ukrainians, many people are turning to Catholic priests for healing, and the Church is seeking to train them to respond correctly to that pain, according to Msgr. Robert Vitillo.
German Commission for Justice and Peace and the Central Committee of German Catholics
NEWS
Pope: Wars continue to sow death in stark contrast with the Easter message
Leader of Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church: Pope Francis offers unique voice for peace
Shevchuk: "Neither Kiev nor Moscow are accepting the Pope's proposal for dialogue" (Italian original)
Head of the UGCC: The Risen Christ is the source of our stability (Google translate)
Cardinal Czerny: Peace requires effort and dedication
A Japanese journalist was baptized in the "Mariupol" chaplaincy battalion
IMAGES FROM CR4U MEMBERS
Malteser Ukraine – the Order of Malta’s Relief Corps in Ukraine – has inaugurated a house for displaced persons in Sambir, near Lviv. The structure, a former clinic, covers almost 800 square metres, has three floors and can accommodate some 100 people. (Courtesy of Malteser Ukraine)