Weekly Update #79
September 4

General Figures

Refugees from Ukraine recorded across Europe 

5,834,100

Last updated August 29 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

369,200

Last updated August 19 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

6,203,300

Last updated August 29 2023

Source: UNHCR collation of statistics made available by the authorities

REFUGEES FROM UKRAINE ACROSS EUROPE

Continuing conflict

Ukraine's forces have made "notable progress" in their push against heavily fortified Russian positions in the south, the US government says.

White House security spokesman John Kirby said those gains were made in the past 72 hours south of Zaporizhzhia.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told CNN that Kyiv's forces were advancing, but "it's a tough fight".

Ukraine’s military celebrated a tactical victory earlier this week when its forces retook the southern village of Robotyne. Days later, Ukrainian assault units moved east toward Verbove, where several lines of defense converge.

• Ukrainian military officers offered notably frank and direct commentary about the prospects of further Ukrainian advances in western Zaporizhia Oblast and indicated that the series of prepared Russian defensive positions immediately ahead and further south of the Ukrainian advance may be less challenging to Ukrainian forces.

• Ukrainian military officials particularly noted that advancing Ukrainian forces can operate more freely in areas with sparser Russian minefields. 

• Ukrainian military officials noted that the strength of the next series of Russian defensive positions around Robotyne will likely depend on Russian force composition in the area.

• Ukrainian forces continued counteroffensive operations and advanced near Bakhmut and in western Zaporizhia Oblast on September 3. 

• Russian forces conducted a series of drone strikes targeting Ukrainian port infrastructure in Odesa Oblast on September 3. 

Relentless fighting and hostilities continue to drive increasing humanitarian needs across Ukraine, particularly impacting hundreds of thousands of people who remain in communities close to the front line. In the first six months of the year, a further escalation of hostilities and major incidents, including the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam in early June, has deteriorated the already dire situation, increasing challenges for people struggling to access water, food, health services, materials to repair homes, among others. Children’s vaccination has been impacted and coverage has steadily dropped to reach levels below COVID-19 times while their right to go to school cannot be taken for granted.

Humanitarian organizations have continued efforts to support people in Ukraine and reached nearly 7.3 million people with vital aid and protection services. By the end of June, 5 million people had received health services and 3 million people had access to clean water and hygiene products amidst increased shortages. Humanitarian partners have also provided food to over 3.7 million people and reached 3.3 million people with emergency shelter or critical household items. Around 1 million children who fled their homes and whose schools are not fully functional have received support to continue their education and around 1 million people received protection services, including counselling, legal services, mine awareness campaigns and services to prevent gender-based violence and support survivors. In addition, 2.5 million people including nearly 20,000 people affected by the destruction of the Kakhovka Dam – have received multipurpose cash assistance.

Only 4 per cent of people reached, however, live in areas under the control of the Russian Federation. Insecurity, access impediments and interferences continued to hamper assistance in these areas, despite extensive efforts and ongoing engagements to enable humanitarian operations in all parts of the Ukrainian territory.

Lack of funding, however, is hampering operations, adding to the challenges imposed by insecurity and other obstacles. Humanitarians in Ukraine had received, at the end of June, less than 30 per cent of the $3.9 billion requested for the response. In some parts of the south, east and north of the country, the humanitarian response could not reach more than 25 per cent of people targeted, due to a combination of funding shortages and other operational challenges. With escalating hostilities, international support will be critical to ensure that humanitarians in Ukraine can continue their work to assist people whose lives have been upended by the war.

Source: OCHA Ukraine Humanitarian Response 2023: Situation Report, 3 August 2023

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WHO Ukraine crisis strategic response plan for January–December 2023

This WHO Strategic Response Plan (SRP) will be implemented in collaboration with partners providing life-saving support to people affected by the war in Ukraine, whether they are inside or outside Ukraine.

It is an overarching framework built on the Ukraine Flash Appeal 2023, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs led Humanitarian Response Plan 2023 in Ukraine and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) led Regional Refugee Response Plan 2023, to guide priorities and work, according to access and location, in support of national and local authorities who are leading the preparedness, readiness, response and early recovery activities. The SRP has been developed to strengthen national health systems and services, so that they are resilient and have the capacity to adapt to context changes – instead of only putting parallel systems in place – and closely linked to recovery efforts. It is based on the foundation of universal health coverage to ensure that all people have access to the full range of quality health services they need, when and where they need them, without financial hardship and aims to protect gains in the health-related Sustainable Development Goals. The timeframe of this SRP is 12 months, January–December 2023, to reflect the protracted nature of the crisis.

• To date, almost half of Ukraine’s entire population has been displaced: 5.4 million people have been internally displaced and, as of April 2023 over 19.7 million people – the vast majority women and children – have fled across the border to neighboring countries, with the UNHCR reporting 8.2 million people from Ukraine registered across Europe.