Weekly Update #76
August 14
August 14
REFUGEE SITUATION
(as of 8 August 2023)
General Figures
Refugees from Ukraine recorded across Europe
5,882,100
Last updated August 8 2023
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
358,300
Last updated July 22 2023
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
6,240,000
Last updated August 8 2023
Source: UNHCR collation of statistics made available by the authorities
Refugees from Ukraine across Europe
(as of August 1, 20213)
Source: UNHCR
Oblast Profiles -- General Population Survey, Round 13
The Oblast profiles are based on the IOM General Population Survey Round 13 dataset, a highly representative assessment with over 20,000 random respondents interviewed nationwide. The survey provides population data as well as insights into the needs, situation and mobility intentions of IDPs, returnees and the non-displaced population in Ukraine. The data was collected between 11 May and 14 June 2023. The population estimates for each indicator have been extrapolated using the latest update to the UNFPA baseline population in Ukraine. The Oblast profiles serve as a valuable reference point to support evidence-based decision-making for stakeholders involved in response and recovery efforts in Ukraine, providing key definitions and data points related to population mobility, pathways to durable solutions, and vulnerabilities associated with displacement.
The tables below show the Dnipro and Kyiv Oblasts profiles as examples of these profiles. The full report shows all 21 Ukraine Oblasts. The report may be downloaded at: https://dtm.iom.int/reports/dtm-ukraine-oblast-profiles-general-population-survey-round-13-june-2023
DEFINITIONS
De facto IDPs
People who have been forced to flee or to leave their homes or who are staying outside their habitual residence due to the full- scale invasion in February 2022, regardless of whether they hold registered IDP status.
Returnees
People who have returned to their habitual residence after a significant period of displacement (minimum of two weeks since February 2022), whether from abroad or from internal displacement within Ukraine.
Non-displaced population
People residing in their habitual residence who have not left it due to the ongoing war for a period of two weeks or more, as well as people who are temporarily outside their place of habitual residence for reasons not in connection with the ongoing full-scale war.
STATUS OF THE CONFLICT
Continuing conflict
On the evening of Monday 7 August, two Iskander missiles hit Pokrovsk city centre within approximately 40 minutes of each other. According to regional authorities, “12 high-rise buildings, a hotel, the building of a local prosecutor’s office, a Pension Fund building, a pharmacy, two shops, two cafes, and two civilian cars were damaged in the attack.” Zelensky stated that the second strike hit as rescue operations were beginning.
As of Wednesday 9 August, the death toll is at nine, including at least five civilians, two first responders, and one soldier, while those reported injured rose to 88: at least 39 civilians (two children), seven first responders, and 35 police and military personnel.
Officials accused Russia of deliberately targeting first responders and emergency services using double tap airstrikes – a tactic both the Russian and Syrian governments have used extensively in Syria, according to a July 2022 report by the Syria Justice and Accountability Centre. In a further October 2022 report, the centre analysed the use of double tap strikes to target hospitals, “maximising damage to the wounded as well as medical personnel and facilities.”
Double-tap strikes target a particular location in two separate attacks: an initial strike hits the target, drawing out crowds and first responders, while the second targets “emergency responders, medical personnel, journalists, and bystanders who are drawn to the site to assist those affected by the initial strike.”
Overall, up to 09 August 2023, the organization, Action on Armed Violence (AOAV), has recorded 15,553 civilian casualties of explosive weapon use in Ukraine (4, 807 killed, 10, 746 injured) since Russia’s full-scale invasion of the country, including at least 565 children, 787 women, and 951 men. 95% (14, 721) of civilian casualties have occurred in populated areas, in particular urban residential areas (5, 343 civilian casualties), multiple urban locations (5, 125), and villages (1, 294).
Russian shelling in the Kharkiv region has intensified as Moscow's troops try to reclaim territory there, prompting Ukrainian officials to order mandatory evacuations in and around the northeastern city of Kupyansk. Ukrainian authorities issued a mandatory evacuation order for the Kupyansk area on Thursday, after Russia’s defense ministry claimed gains in the area. In July a Ukrainian official said Russia had amassed tens of thousands of troops and hundreds of tanks in the area, as it tries to reclaim the territory that Ukraine liberated last year.
Ukrainian forces are seemingly making small gains near the village of Robotyne on the southern front. A Ukrainian commander has claimed "movement forward," while Russian officials have reported heavy combat in the area. Ukrainian forces made tactically significant advances in western Zaporizhia Oblast amid continued counteroffensive operations on at least three sectors of the front on August 11, reaching the northern outskirts of Robotyne (10km south of Orikhiv) in western Zaporizhia Oblast
Ukrainian forces continued counteroffensive operations on at least three sectors of the front and advanced in the Donetsk-Zaporizhia Oblast border area on August 10. The Ukrainian General Staff reported that Ukrainian forces continued counteroffensive operations in the Bakhmut, Berdyansk (Donetsk-Zaporizhia Oblast border area), and Melitopol (western Zaporizhia Oblast) directions.
Ukrainian forces have recaptured the heights over Bakhmut and are successfully encircling Russian troops in the city, the deputy defence minister in Kyiv has said. A Russian missile struck a hotel in the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia on Thursday evening, leaving one dead and 16 injured, including four children. UN staff used the hotel when they worked in the town, said Denise Brown, the humanitarian coordinator for Ukraine. It was the second strike on Zaporizhzhia in as many days. Two young women and a man were killed and nine other people were wounded in a Russian missile attack on Wednesday.
Poland plans to move around 10,000 troops to the border with Belarus, as announced by Polish Defense Minister on Thursday. 4,000 will directly support the border guard, while the remaining 6,000 will be in reserve. The decision comes amid mounting tensions with Belarus, which announced it would hold joint military exercises with Wagner troops near the Polish border, and which Poland accused last week of violating its airspace.
Sources: The Guardian
CNN (August 11)
CNN (August 10)
ISW (August 10)
ISW (August 11)
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A Horrific Milestone: More Than 1,000 Attacks on Health Care in Ukraine Since Russia’s Full-scale Invasion
On August 10, 2023, Ukraine marked the grim milestone of more than 1,000 attacks on health care workers and infrastructure since Russia’s full-scale invasion began 17 months ago, according to documentation and monitoring by human rights and humanitarian organizations:
1014 total attacks on health care
414 attacks damaged or destroyed hospitals
79 ambulances attacked
148 health workers killed
106 health workers injured
57 attacks affecting children’s hospitals
40 attacks affecting maternal health facilities
This equates to approximately two attacks per day on health care facilities, workers, and other medical infrastructure since the first day of the full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022. These staggering statistics illustrate the devastating and far-reaching impact of both deliberate and indiscriminate attacks on Ukraine's health care system.
The findings come from a coalition of global and Ukrainian organizations, including eyeWitness to Atrocities, Insecurity Insight, the Media Initiative for Human Rights, Physicians for Human Rights, and the Ukrainian Healthcare Center. The organizations have been monitoring and documenting attacks on Ukraine’s health care system since the onset of the full-scale invasion, including in a landmark February 2023 report, which highlights the staggering toll of Russia’s war of aggression.
Based on an analysis of specific attacks, the report concluded that there is a reasonable basis to believe that attacks on Ukraine’s health care system constitute war crimes and potentially crimes against humanity as well.
This dataset uses the definitions of attacks on health care as defined by the World Health Organization and used by the Safeguarding Health in Conflict Coalition. Explore this interactive map (available in English and Ukrainian) to see incidents where health facilities were damaged or destroyed in Ukraine since February 2022.
Insecurity Insight and partners continue to call for an end to these illegal attacks on Ukraine’s health care system and for the Russian Federation to be held accountable for its violations of international law. Insecurity Insight also continues to call for enforcement of UN Security Council Resolution 2286, which protects health care in conflict.
Source: Insecurity Insight
THE HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE
The humanitarian access situation in Ukraine has deteriorated, from very high to extreme for the November 2022 to June 2023.
The humanitarian access situation in areas under Russian control (parts of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kharkiv, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts) primarily drive this deterioration. Humanitarian access to these territories is severely restricted, as there are no formal agreements for the facilitation of crossline humanitarian assistance. Russian forces have taken over civilian facilities, especially medical facilities, for their own use, cutting off civilians from essential services. At the same time, access to services such as pension payments, social assistance, public sector employment, and medical services in these territories is only available to people holding Russian passports. Russian authorities have removed the local currency, the Ukrainian hryvnia, from circulation, replacing it with the Russian rouble, potentially disrupting people’s access to cash transfers and financial assistance from family members and organisations in other parts of Ukraine. Crossing between territories under Russian control and other parts of Ukraine via the only recognised checkpoint, Vasylivka (in Zaporizhzhia oblast), has been severely limited since the start of February.
In other parts of Ukraine, access constraints are primarily attributable to shelling and the contamination with mines and UXO of oblasts located along the front lines, challenging humanitarian deliveries and the resumption of farming activities. In communities nearest active conflict, small shifts in the front lines and military operations keep changing the accessibility of certain localities from day to day. Away from the front lines, Chernihiv and Sumy oblasts near the Russian border also face heavy shelling from Russian forces, limiting access for the local population and responders to receiving or providing aid or assistance.
Map Showing Levels of Access
In Ukraine Oblasts (as of June 2023)
KEY DEVELOPMENTS
Attacks on humanitarian responders and their premises have increased, including in Odesa and Mykolaiv oblasts, away from the front lines.
Shifting front lines in areas of high conflict create a dynamic access situation, which candisrupt access small localities. Since the start of 2023, access to 60,000 people in 40 towns and villages in eastern Ukraine has been disrupted (OCHA 26/05/2023).
Requirements for Russian passports continue to restrict access to basic services in areas under Russian control. De facto authorities use threats, deny access to services, and promise benefits to pressure the population into acquiring Russian passports.
Shelling, air strikes, and the presence of mines and unexploded ordnance (UXO) remain the main drivers of access constraints, especially in oblasts along the front line. Safety and security concerns limit the movement of civilians and humanitarian responders. Damage to civilian infrastructure affects service delivery.
The destruction of the Kakhovka dam and power plant on 6 June 2023 caused flooding in Kherson and Mykolaiv oblasts. Humanitarian responders do not have access to the affected population in Russian-controlled areas, and floods have disrupted services, including piped water, in the affected areas.
The Ukrainian counteroffensive started in June 2023. A more dynamic access situation is expected in areas of heightened conflict activity, although the overall access situation remains unchanged, as Ukrainian forces have not yet retaken any major population centres.
Source: ACAPS
Distribution of Humanitarian Organizations
Present in Ukraine (n= 392 as of June 2023)
Source: OCHA
Biden asks Congress for $24 billion in more Ukraine assistance
President Joe Biden is asking Congress for more than $24 billion for Ukraine and other international needs as he works to sustain support for the war amid signs of softening support among Americans.
The request — which includes more than $13 billion in security assistance and $7.3 billion for economic and humanitarian assistance for Ukraine — sets up a potential battle with Republicans in Congress, some of whom voice skepticism about providing Ukraine any more money.
As a counteroffensive wears on and prospects of the war concluding soon appear slim, the funding will act as evidence of whether US support for Ukraine can be sustained.
The new funding request, which will be unveiled later Thursday, will be paired with a $12 billion request for new funding for disaster relief, potentially sweetening the package for skeptical Republicans who have voiced concern about approving more Ukraine aid.
It also includes $3.3 billion meant to fund infrastructure in countries affected by the Russian invasion, an attempt at preventing coercive Chinese lending from taking hold in those nations. And it includes $4 billion in funding for border security.
In total, the supplemental request adds up to roughly $40 billion.
The extra funds would push total supplemental funding allocated by the US defense department for Ukraine to around $60bn to date, comprised of $43.9bn for security assistance and $18.4bn for military, intelligence and other defense support. Within the latest request for supplemental funds to Ukraine, the US is asking for $200m to counter the Russian mercenary Wagner group in African countries.
Sources: CNN
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Ukrainian navy announces new Black Sea corridors
The Ukrainian navy has announced temporary corridors for civilian shipping in the Black Sea following the suspension of the Grain Initiative.
Russia withdrew from the arrangement last month.
The Ukrainian navy issued an order declaring "temporary corridors for merchant ships sailing to/from Ukrainian ports. At the same time, it is reported that the military threat and mine danger from the Russian Federation remains along all routes”.
Currently, merchant ships are not traveling to and from the Ukrainian port of Odesa or neighboring harbors, crippling the export of grain from those ports. The last ship with grain on board left Odesa on July 16.
It's unclear that the Ukrainian order will have much impact on the willingness of merchant shipping to travel much beyond the Danube ports in the western Black Sea.
The Ukrainian navy said the routes it had announced "will primarily be used to allow civilian vessels that have been in the Ukrainian ports of Chornomorsk, Odesa and Yuzhnyi since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion on February 24, 2022 to leave."
Source: CNN
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Russia’s new schoolbook aims to justify war on Ukraine
Authorities in Moscow have unveiled a new schoolbook which aims to justify the war on Ukraine and accuses the West of trying to destroy Russia. According to excerpts published by Russian media, schoolchildren will now be taught that human civilisation could have come to an end had Vladimir Putin not started his "special military operation" against Ukraine.
The textbook, called "Russian History, 1945 - early 21st century", was co-authored by presidential adviser Vladimir Medinsky, formerly Russian culture minister. This is the first officially approved history book to be used in Russian schools which mentions events as recent as the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which started in February 2022. From September, it will be studied in the last year of secondary education in Russia - the 11th year - which is attended by pupils aged 17-18.
The textbook claims that "the West is fixated on destabilising the situation within Russia" and to achieve this aim, Western powers spread "undisguised Russophobia". It repeats numerous clichés from Kremlin propaganda, portraying Ukraine as an aggressive state run by nationalist extremists and manipulated by the West, which allegedly uses the country as a "battering ram" against Russia.
According to the book, Ukraine is little more than a Western invention created to spite Russia, and even Ukraine's blue-and-yellow flag was supposedly invented by the Austrians keen to convince Ukrainians that they are different from Russians.
Source: BBC
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UNICEF delivers 240,000 doses of oral polio vaccine to Ukraine
UNICEF delivered 240,000 doses of the oral polio vaccine (OPV) to support Ukraine’s National Immunization Programme and protect more children across the country from the deadly disease. This vaccine is provided to Ukraine as humanitarian assistance.
The two types of vaccines used for protection against poliovirus are inactivated poliomyelitis vaccine (IPV) administered by injection, and oral polio vaccine (OPV) given as liquid drops via the mouth. The first two vaccinations are given with the IPV vaccine, and the OPV vaccine is usually applied in the remaining ones.
In April and June this year, UNICEF delivered 543,000 doses of oral polio vaccine (OPV) and more than 267,000 doses of inactivated polio vaccine (IPV) to protect Ukrainian children. Together with partners, UNICEF continues to support Ukraine’s National Immunization Programme to help ensure that children are immunized and protected against polio and other vaccine-preventable diseases. Over 650,000 doses of polio vaccine have already been delivered in 2023.
Furthermore, UNICEF bolstered the cold chain at all levels from national and regional stores to vaccination points:
UNICEF, under the COVAX initiative, purchased 26 freezers to be installed at the national and regional levels to strengthen the immunization chain.
Almost 5,200 vaccine refrigerators and freezers procured with the World Bank funds and under installation will support safe vaccine storage at vaccination points.
To ensure vaccines are available, including in the most affected regions, UNICEF, with its own funds and USAID funds, procured 36 refrigerator vans for vaccine transportation from national to oblast and from oblast to vaccination points.
In addition, vaccine carriers and cold boxes for vaccine storage and transportation for over 2,500 vaccination points and 800 mobile teams were distributed across Ukraine.
To ensure the vaccination process, UNICEF has already delivered almost 6.2 million syringes in 2023.
Source: UNICEF
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USCRI and Fellow Advocates Call for Ukraine TPS Redesignation
Today, the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants (USCRI), a non-governmental and non-profit international organization, and five leading organizations called on the Biden administration to immediately extend and redesignate Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Ukraine for 18-months.
Temporary Protected Status extends work authorization and protection from removal for nationals of designated countries experiencing conflict, an environmental disaster, or other extraordinary and temporary conditions.
“Given the worsening humanitarian situation, providing safe haven to Ukrainian nationals through TPS is of the utmost importance,” according to the letter drafted by USCRI, TPS-DED Administrative Advocacy Coalition (AAC), and Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service (LIRS).
The letter was endorsed by six lead advocacy organizations, including USCRI. It was addressed to President Biden, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and Secretary of State Antony Blinken. Click here to read the full letter.
The current designation of TPS for Ukraine is set to expire on October 19, 2023. The request highlights how conditions that originally prompted the designation have significantly escalated. This includes attacks on civilians – including children – destruction of civilian infrastructure, forced deportations, and other grave human rights abuses.
USCRI and advocates are urging the administration for the timely redesignation of TPS to ensure that more recent Ukrainian arrivals seeking refuge in the United States can access protection.
Advocates for TPS for Ukraine also emphasized the need for the administration to prioritize racial justice and equity in TPS determinations.
Source: USCRI
HOLY FATHER ON UKRAINE
General Audience - August 9, 2023
The young people of the world came to Lisbon in large numbers and with great enthusiasm. I met them in small groups and some had many problems. The group of young Ukrainians brought stories that were painful. It was not a holiday, a tourist trip and not even a spiritual event for its own sake. World Youth Day is an encounter with the living Christ through the Church: young people go to encounter Christ. It is true that where there are young people, there is joy, there is a bit of all these things!
While in Ukraine and other places in the world there is fighting, and while in certain hidden halls war is being planned — this is bad, war is being planned! — World Youth Day showed everyone that another world is possible, a world of brothers and sisters, where the flags of all peoples fly together, next to each other, without hatred, without fear, without closing up, without weapons! The message of the young people was clear: will the “mighty of the earth” listen to it, I wonder? Will they listen to this youthful enthusiasm that wants peace? It is a parable for our time, and even today Jesus says: “He who has ears, let him hear. He who has eyes, let him see!” Let us hope that the entire world will listen to this World Youth Day and watch this beauty of the young, going forward.
I turn my thoughts to young people, to the sick, to the elderly and to newlyweds, who are many! Today we celebrate the commemoration of Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), Virgin and Martyr, Co-Patroness of Europe. May her witness spur a commitment to dialogue and fraternity among people and against every form of violence and discrimination. Let us entrust the dear people of Ukraine to her intercession so that they may soon find peace.
I giovani del mondo sono venuti a Lisbona numerosi e con grande entusiasmo. Li ho incontrati anche in piccoli gruppi, e alcuni con tanti problemi; il gruppo dei giovani ucraini portavano storie che erano dolorose. Non era una vacanza, un viaggio turistico, e nemmeno un evento spirituale fine a sé stesso; la Giornata della Gioventù è un incontro con Cristo vivo attraverso la Chiesa. I giovani vanno a incontrare Cristo. È vero, dove ci sono i giovani c’è gioia e c’è un po’ di tutte queste cose.
Mentre in Ucraina e in altri luoghi del mondo si combatte, e mentre in certe sale nascoste si pianifica la guerra – è brutto questo, si pianifica la guerra! –, la GMG ha mostrato a tutti che è possibile un altro mondo: un mondo di fratelli e sorelle, dove le bandiere di tutti i popoli sventolano insieme, una accanto all’altra, senza odio, senza paura, senza chiusure, senza armi! Il messaggio dei giovani è stato chiaro: lo ascolteranno i “grandi della terra”? Mi domando, ascolteranno questo entusiasmo giovanile che vuole pace? È una parabola per il nostro tempo, e ancora oggi Gesù dice: “Chi ha orecchie, ascolti! Chi ha occhi, guardi!”. Speriamo che tutto il mondo ascolti questa Giornata della Gioventù e guardi questa bellezza dei giovani andando avanti.
[Saluto cordialmente i Polacchi, ringraziandovi per il sostegno della preghiera durante il mio viaggio in Portogallo. Questo mese molti di voi sono in pellegrinaggio a Jasna Góra e ad altri santuari mariani, per questo vi affido un desiderio che ho nel cuore: il desiderio della pace nel mondo. Presentatelo a Colei che è la Regina della Pace. Chiedete questo dono inestimabile, specialmente per la cara e martoriata Ucraina. Vi benedico di cuore.]
Rivolgo un particolare pensiero ai giovani, ai malati, agli anziani e agli sposi novelli, che sono tanti!. Oggi celebriamo la festa commemorazione di Santa Teresa Benedetta della Croce (Edith Stein), Vergine e Martire, Compatrona d’Europa: la sua testimonianza stimoli l’impegno a favore del dialogo e della fratellanza tra i popoli e contro ogni forma di violenza e di discriminazione. Alla sua intercessione affidiamo la cara popolazione Ucraina, perché possa presto ritrovare la pace.
Links to the full text in ITALIAN and ENGLISHAngelus - August 13, 2023 (Sunday)
E preghiamo anche per la martoriata Ucraina, che soffre tanto per questa guerra.
Links to the full text in ITALIANNEWS
Card. Zuppi met the Ukrainian bishops; planning a visit to Beijing (Google translate)
Australian bishops visit war ravaged Kyiv, Irpin and Bucha
Ukrainian priest: Fear of not helping, is greater than of missiles
Ukraine: A tiny church that became a soup kitchen
Chaplains bring comfort and solidarity in Ukraine
Church initiatives care for children displaced by war in Ukraine
Italian dioceses accept children from Ukraine for summer vacation (Google translate)
IMAGES FROM CR4U MEMBERS
In Lviv, JRS and the Jesuit community created a safe space for women and children. JRS provides psychological support and a place to call home, while families wait to either go back or continue their journey (Sergi Camara).