Weekly Update #82
 September 25

REFUGEE SITUATION

(as of 19 September 2023)

General Figures


Refugees from Ukraine recorded across Europe 

5,828,000

Last updated September 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 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

6,197,200

Last updated September 19 2023

 

Source: UNHCR collation of statistics made available by the authorities


STATUS OF THE CONFLICT

Continuing conflict

Moscow's forces launched airstrikes Sunday at a "number of settlements" in Kherson's Beryslav district, which borders the Dnipro River in southeastern Ukraine, according to a statement from Ukraine's Prosecutor General's Office. Officials said earlier Sunday that the attack left two dead and four wounded.

In addition, Elsewhere in southern Ukraine, Russia launched several artillery attacks on Nikopol region, In the northeast, Russia also attacked the Sumy region overnight, firing three times at two communities, the Sumy regional military administration said. 


Ukrainian forces carried out drone and cruise missile strikes on occupied Crimea and significantly damaged the Russian Black Sea Fleet (BSF) Command headquarters in Sevastopol on September 22. The Ukrainian Armed Forces Center for Strategic Communications (StratCom) stated that Ukrainian forces launched a successful strike on the Russian BSF Command headquarters in Sevastopol, Crimea on September 22. 

 

The country’s Special Operations Forces said Saturday that the strike was timed for when senior members of Russia's navy were convening and has left dozens dead and wounded, “including senior leadership.” Ukrainian officials have commented on the strike, with the chairman of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar People in Ukraine.   Hitting Russian facilities on occupied Crimea is a display of Ukraine's confidence — and the vulnerability of said vital infrastructure. There are plenty of reasons for Ukraine to target Crimea. It’s a sign that despite the slow progress on the front lines in its counteroffensive, Ukraine can still inflict serious damage on the Russian military. Targets such as the Crimea bridge have considerable symbolic value as well as strategic purpose. 

Ukrainian forces advanced south of Bakhmut and reportedly advanced in western Zaporizhia Oblast on September 22. Geolocated footage published on September 22 indicates that Ukrainian forces advanced southeast of Klishchiivka (7km southwest of Bakhmut). The Ukrainian General Staff reported that Ukrainian forces continued to conduct offensive operations in the Melitopol (western Zaporizhia Oblast) direction and offensive actions in the Bakhmut direction, exhausting and inflicting losses on Russian forces along the entire front.

 

 Ukrainian forces have broken through Russian field fortifications west of Verbove in western Zaporizhia Oblast. These fortifications are not the final defensive line in Russia’s defense in depth in western Zaporizhia Oblast, but rather a specific series of the best-prepared field fortifications 

 

The Russian deputy prime minister, Alexander Novak, held a meeting with Russian oil company managers on Friday to discuss the domestic fuel market, the government said. Russia temporarily banned exports of petrolium and diesel to all countries outside a circle of four ex-Soviet states with immediate effect, the government said on Thursday, without a specified end date.

 

Ukrainian cities from east to west were hit overnight in Russia’s largest wave of missile attacks in more than a month, as at least two were killed and dozens wounded on United Nations World Peace Day.

The strikes, the biggest since 15 August, came a day after reports of sabotage at a Russian military airfield in Chkalovsk, near Moscow, and in the week the Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, presented a Ukrainian “peace formula” to the UN general assembly summit in New York.

 

The Ukrainian army chief said Ukraine’s air defence successfully shot down 36 out of 43 Russian cruise missiles launched from 10 warplanes in multiple waves.

 

Kharkiv also experienced several strikes, damaging civilian infrastructure and injuring two individuals, according to the regional governor, Oleh Syniehubov. In Lviv an industrial area was hit, resulting in building damage and a fire.

 

Officials in Kyiv on Thursday warned of another hard winter after the attacks caused power cuts in almost 400 locations. “Difficult months are ahead: soon Russia will attack again energy and critically important facilities,” said Oleksiy Kuleba, the deputy head of Kyiv’s presidential office.

 

Three more ships passed through humanitarian corridors in the Black Sea to load at Ukrainian ports this week.  The US Ambassador to Ukraine announced two outbound ships carrying grain destined for ports in Africa, Asia and the Middle East are now on their way to the Bosphorus

 

However, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov indicated there was little hope of resuming a Black Sea grain deal brokered by Turkey and the United Nations to export grain by sea from Ukraine. Following a speech at the United Nations, he described proposals to revive the deal as “not realistic.”


Sources: The Guardian (September 23)

The Guardian (September 21)

CNN

Washington Post


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Children arrive in Belarus after being illegally removed from Ukraine

Ukrainian children who had been illegally deported to Russia have arrived in Belarus, where state media published photographs showing them waving Belarusian flags and flanked by riot police.

 

The 48 children come from the occupied Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia, which Moscow claims it has annexed.

In photos published on Tuesday, the children were shown holding the red and green state flag of Belarus, surrounded by police and riot police. According to the state news agency Belta, the children “thanked” the Belarusian authorities.

Thousands of children have been kidnapped and taken to Russia since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February last year.

 

16,226 children have been deported to Russia, of whom 10,513 have been located, and more than 300 have returned. Some fear the numbers of missing could be an underestimate.


 Officials in Belarus have previously denied allegations that the country was involved in the illegal removal of children from Ukraine.  But on Tuesday, Belta reported that the removal of the children from Ukraine was organised by a Belarusian charity – supported by the president, Alexander Lukashenko – that has previously organised health programmes for Ukrainian children in Belarus.

 

In June, Belarusian opposition figures gave the international criminal court (ICC) materials that they said showed more than 2,100 Ukrainian children from at least 15 Russian-occupied Ukrainian cities had been forcibly removed to Belarus with Lukashenko’s approval.

 

In March, the ICC in The Hague indicted Putin and the Russian children’s commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, for the mass abduction of Ukrainian children.

The alleged abductees include children taken from Ukrainian state institutions in the occupied areas, children whose parents had sent them to Russian-run “summer camps” from which they never returned, children whose parents were arrested by the Russian occupying authorities, and children who were orphaned by the fighting.


Source: The Guardian

THE HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE


Withholding weapons is turning Ukrainians into martyrs, Pope says

Pope Francis on Saturday told journalists that the withholding of weapons to Ukraine is turning the Ukrainian people into "martyrs."


The Pope made the comments during a press conference on a flight back to Rome's Fiumicino airport following a two-day trip to Marseille. 


The Pope told journalists: "Now we are seeing that some countries are pulling back, they're not giving weapons, a process is starting where the martyrs will be the Ukrainian people, and this is an ugly thing."


The pontiff was possibly referring to the recent decision by Poland to stop providing weapons to Ukraine, amid a growing dispute between the two countries over a temporary ban on Ukrainian grain imports. 


Pope Francis also spoke of the "paradox" of countries supplying Ukraine with weapons before taking them away, which was keeping Ukrainians a "martyred people." 


"Those who traffic in arms never have to pay the consequences of their choices, but leave them to be paid by martyred peoples, such as the Ukrainian people," he said. 


When asked for clarification, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said the Pope was not taking a stand on whether countries should continue to send weapons to Ukraine or stop sending them, according to Reuters. 


Rather, his comments were a "reflection on the consequences of the arms industry: the pope, with a paradox, was saying that those who traffic in weapons never pay the consequences of their choices but leave them to be paid by people, like the Ukrainians, who have been martyred," Bruni said.


Source: CNN

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Humanitarian Access At-a-glance

July-August 2023


OVERVIEW

Humanitarian access during July and August 2023 continued to be heavily impacted by hostilities along the front line and the international border with the Russian Federation, creating both physical and administrative impediments for humanitarians assisting people in these areas. During the period, a total of 33 incidents impacting humanitarian access were reported, which is the same number recorded during the previous two months, highlighting persistent challenges to the humanitarian operation. Most of these incidents had a moderate or severe impact on the delivery of aid. 13 incidents were characterized as acts of violence involving humanitarian personnel and assets, resulting in the suspension of humanitarian operations. One humanitarian worker was killed, and eight others were injured in the line of duty during the period. In comparison, during the previous two months, two humanitarian workers were injured. This deterioration of the security situation poses a serious threat to the safety and security of humanitarian workers operating in Ukraine.


The impact of shelling on humanitarian distribution sites has impeded relief efforts, with at least six infrastructure facilities designated for the storage and distribution of humanitarian aid having sustained partial or severe damage. On 25 August 2023, while conducting an inter-agency humanitarian convoy to Stepnohirsk in Zaporizka Oblast, shelling damaged two trucks provided by the Logistic Cluster, which were transporting multi-sectoral aid to support 1,250 people.


Due to the security situation in areas with increased hostilities, authorities in some areas established requirements for humanitarian and civilian movement.

Evacuation orders and stricter access permit conditions affected access in areas along the Russian Federation border in Sumska and Kharkivska oblasts (especially in Kupianskyi Raion).


Military conscription of humanitarian personnel and bureaucratic impediments have also been reported. Between July and August, at least 13 aid workers were conscripted into military service. Engagement with the Government to set up effective legal and procedural instruments enabling the reservation of humanitarian staff is underway. Moreover, at least six bureaucratic access-related incidents have been reported, encompassing limitations on personnel movement into and within the country, as well as operational interference in humanitarian activities. These factors add further layers of complexity to the efficient delivery of aid.


Humanitarian organizations continue to explore the most effective means to reach people in these areas and provide assistance, despite the challenges faced, and 15 inter-agency convoys successfully delivered critical life-saving supplies to approximately 22,000 people residing in 19 hromadas near the front line during July and August.



July-August Access Snapshot

Source: OCHA Ukraine: Humanitarian Access Snapshot (July - August 2023)


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Canada reaffirms unwavering support for Ukraine for as long as it takes

The Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, today welcomed the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, to Canada to showcase Canada’s ongoing solidarity and unwavering support for Ukraine as it continues to defend itself against Russia’s war of aggression.

The Prime Minister and the President held a bilateral meeting where they discussed Ukraine’s military, financial, development, humanitarian, and other needs, now and into the future. Both leaders reaffirmed the two countries’ partnership and advanced the development of shared long-term security commitments, discussed efforts to rebuild Ukraine, and highlighted the close ties between our peoples and shared values that unite our countries.

The Prime Minister announced Canada is shifting our approach to provide multi-year assistance and ensure Ukraine has the predictable support it needs for long-term success. He announced new military, economic, peace and security, and development assistance and investments for Ukraine, and the leaders signed agreements to strengthen our economic ties.

As part of this new multi-year approach, and to continue building on military support for Ukraine, Prime Minister Trudeau announced:

He also announced the following allocation as part of the $500 million in funding for military assistance to Ukraine announced while he was in Kyiv in June 2023:

To support Ukraine’s economy so it can withstand Russia’s unjustifiable invasion and continue supporting the people of Ukraine, now and into a future beyond Ukrainian victory:

To maintain pressure on the Russian regime and those responsible for its war of aggression:

To support peace, security, and stabilization for Ukraine, the Prime Minister announced an additional $8.3 million as follows:

In line with the priority needs of Ukraine, Prime Minister Trudeau announced an additional $34 million in development assistance for four multi-year initiatives supporting:

Today’s announcements bring Canada’s total committed support to more than $9.5 billion in multifaceted assistance to Ukraine since the beginning of 2022, as well as the recent announcements made by the Prime Minister in July to renew and expand Operation REASSURANCE, part of NATO’s defence and deterrence measures in Eastern Europe.

Source:   Canadian Government

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Zelensky visit bolsters Canadian-Ukraine relationship

Zelenskiy thanked Canada for its military support, and hailed the historic and communal ties between the two countries, in an impassioned speech at the Canadian parliament on Friday.

It is Zelenskiy’s first visit to Canada since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022. He previously addressed the Canadian parliament virtually after the war started.

Zelenskiy and Trudeau are also scheduled to go to Toronto to meet with the local Ukrainian community. Canada is home to about 1.4 million people of Ukrainian descent, close to 4% of the population.

More than 175,000 Ukrainians have come to Canada since the war started and an additional 700,000 have received approval to come as part of an initiative that supports temporary relocation of those fleeing the war. The initiative allows for an open work permit for three years with pathways to permanent residency and citizenship.

Considering the reluctance of many Republicans in US Congress to further support Ukraine and the tensions between Ukraine and some of its key allies like Poland, Canada is seen as a reliable supporter of Ukraine so Zelenskiy will be in friendly territory during his visit to Canada,” said Daniel Béland, a political science professor at McGill University in Montreal.

Source: The Guardian

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Human rights in Russia have ‘significantly’ worsened since Ukraine war began, UN-backed expert says

The rights situation in Russia has “significantly deteriorated” since President Vladimir Putin launched his war against Ukraine in February last year, an expert commissioned by the U.N.’s top human rights body said in her first report on the country on Monday.

Mariana Katzarova, the special rapporteur on Russia’s rights situation mandated by the Human Rights Council, chronicled the domestic crackdown that has largely targeted critics of Putin’s war as well as other opposition voices in Russia.

Her report, made public on Monday, is separate from another probe by U.N.-backed investigators that has accused Russia of war crimes in Ukraine.

Never before has the council authorized a rights expert to examine rights issues in one of the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council: Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States.

The report cited figures last month from OVD-Info, which tracks human rights violations, indicating that more than 20,000 people were detained between February last year and June for participating in anti-war protests. More than 600 criminal lawsuits were initiated against “anti-war activity,” it said.  The report said over half of all protesters who were arrested for what it called “peaceful anti-war activism” were women.

Katzarova said she had received “credible reports” of a litany of rights violations including torture, allegations of rape and sexual violence, and threats of sexual abuse by law enforcement officers against both men and women. None of those cases had been officially investigated, she said.

The Russian Justice Ministry’s registry of “foreign agents” contained 649 organizations and individuals by the end of July — an increase of more than 25% in six months, the report said. More than 100 organizations were declared as “undesirable” at the end of July, meaning they could be banned.

Last April, barely six weeks after Russia’s armed invasion of Ukraine, the U.N. General Assembly suspended Russia’s seat in the 47-member-country rights council in Geneva.

Rights in Russia have been on a “steady decline” over the last two decades, the report said, but Katzarova found the situation has “significantly deteriorated since its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.”

The report was built on consultations with over 60 Russian and international rights organizations and individuals, and nearly 100 written submissions, including from rights advocates and witnesses of rights violations. The rights council is set to discuss it Thursday.

Since the start of the war, the Kremlin has claimed that the vast majority of Russians support its “special military operation” in Ukraine, while also insisting that those who disagree are free to do so.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has noted, however, that those willing to criticize the government must do it in compliance with the existing laws.

Putin himself has said that he is “not judging” those “who behaved not like patriots.” He also said last week that one “can disagree” with the Russian authorities “and live here, speak out about it -- no one is prohibiting it.”

Source: AP News

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Ukraine to receive US long-range ATACMS missiles

United States President Joe Biden has informed his Ukrainian counterpart, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, that Washington will provide Kyiv with ATACMS long-range missiles,

Ukraine has repeatedly asked the Biden administration for the long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS) to help hit supply lines, airbases and rail networks deep behind Russia’s front lines in occupied regions of Ukraine.

But the White House has not announced a decision to provide Ukraine with the ATACMS system and the missiles were not publicly discussed when Zelenskyy visited Washington, DC on Thursday for talks with Biden, even as the US announced a new $325m military aid package for Kyiv.

The White House and the Pentagon declined to comment on the NBC report on Friday.

The Pentagon also declined to say whether any promise of ATACMS was given to Zelenskyy during his meetings on Thursday at the Department of Defense, saying: “In regards to ATACMS, we have nothing to announce.

A date for delivery of the ATACMS was not revealed, according to NBC.

Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs warned earlier this month that the supply of longer-range missiles to Kyiv would cross a “red line” and the US would be viewed as “a party to the conflict” in Ukraine if it did provide such weapons.

Zelenskyy did not answer directly when asked about the NBC reports on ATACMS, but he noted that the US was the biggest single supplier of weaponry to Ukraine.

Source: Al Jazeera

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WHO releases Emergency Situation Report on health sector situation and actions

The Emergency Situation Report released by the World Health Organization highlighted key and critical actions to address the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.

Amidst an escalating humanitarian crisis that began on 24 February 2022, health-care facilities in Ukraine have been perilously impacted, sustaining over 1100 attacks as recorded by WHO. 

The broad context of the health sector response involved the following key figures:

Critical assistance was provided ensure health care was available in frontline areas and in those affected by the conflict.  Highlights of this assistance included the following:

1.  Installation of pre-fabricated health care units

Currently, installation is under way in the Sumy and Kharkiv oblasts, with units expected to be operational within a week, fully furnished, and equipped to receive patients.

2.   WHO winterization and infrastructural support: generator installation

As part of winterization planning, WHO has completed the installation of a power generator in a 500-bed hospital in Kyiv, ensuring that all donated equipment is fully functional and safely installed.

3.   Launch of the “Underground shelters and services in hospitals” workshop

To ensure uninterrupted delivery of essential medical services to affected communities,  health-care  providers and administrators have turned to the innovative use of underground shelters, converting them into functional health- care units, some needing specialized infrastructural modifications to support medical operations.

To harmonize and elevate these life-saving efforts, WHO, in partnership with Ukraine’s Ministry of Health (MoH), is organizing a pivotal workshop entitled “Underground shelters and services in hospitals”. This platform seeks to assemble stakeholders from different oblasts to exchange vital know-how, establish best practices, and identify challenges inherent to the makeshift health-care environment under conflict conditions.

The overarching objective is to produce a consensus-driven set of “Guiding principles for underground shelters and services in hospitals”, complemented by practical, user-friendly tools designed for expeditious implementation.

4.   Monitoring visit of European humanitarian operations to Ukraine

Since April 2021, the Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO) has contributed €35.5 million to WHO, initially for the COVID-19 response, but later expanding to broader health-care services such as primary care, mental health support, and cluster coordination. This collaboration enabled WHO to provide essential health care to 2.6 million people across 25 Ukrainian oblasts. A total of 316 metric tonnes of medical supplies were distributed to 383 facilities, supported by a US$ 19 million procurement initiative. Emergency capabilities were also enhanced, with the deployment of 61 ambulances and 59 generators geared for winter.


To date, the following results have been achieved:

Source: WHO Situation report from WHO Ukraine country office. Issue No. 60, 20 September 2023


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Nearly 9 in 10 people in Ukraine do not have enough money to cover their living expenses, new report finds

A new report from global homelessness charity, Depaul International, shows 88 per cent of people surveyed in Ukraine do not have enough money to cover their living expenses. Only a third reported being satisfied with their current living conditions, with 31 per cent being forced to share a bedroom with another family and 43 per cent not knowing how long they will be able to stay in their current accommodation.

Respondents included a high proportion of Internally Displaced People (IDPs), with just under half of respondents stating they had been displaced twice during the war. Support and connection with others helps people to cope with the change and trauma, however a third reported having no friends or family in their new area.

As the war shows no sign of abating, Ukrainians are relying on humanitarian assistance, government support and savings to supplement lost or irregular income. With people coping with trauma, living in precarious circumstances and unable to afford adequate housing, the charity warns of a significant risk of a rise in homelessness and people sleeping rough in Ukraine this winter.

DPU conducted this multi-sectoral needs assessment with a focus on the situation in Kharkiv, Kherson, Kyiv, Mykolaiv and Odesa oblasts in May 2023. The purpose was to identify the priority needs of affected communities and existing clients (Depaul refers to aid recipients as clients) in Depaul’s operating areas, and enhance understanding of complex issues and dynamics affecting different groups nationally. 


Highlights of Findings

1. Cash is overwhelmingly identified as a high priority by 73 percent of the predominantly female IDP respondents.  The following areas were cited as their other areas of need:

2. Displaced people are focused on establishing themselves in their new locations.  The vast majority of displaced people interviewed are focused on making a life for themselves in their new location; priorities include finding accommodation, work, meeting their children’s needs, making friends and establishing a community.

3.   Emerging categories of need and vulnerability do not fit with standard targeting criteria.  The war in Ukraine is unique. Consequently, there are emerging categories of vulnerability that do not fit cleanly within typical criteria for assessing need. Surveyed clients recommended that aid actors give more attention to these groups. This is in line with other studies of community perception: “Focus on emerging vulnerable groups and people who are missed by eligibility criteria, such as people who are officially registered as employed but lost their income, and relatives of veterans and military.”

4.   The conflict is intensifying existing vulnerabilities.  According to Depaul’s online survey a high proportion of households are vulnerable. Many households have children and/or elderly people, and people with disabilities. In the survey, common vulnerabilities included members with a chronic health condition (32 percent), a disability (22 percent), and/or an elderly household member (32 percent). Single headed families with children are also common (26 percent), often owing to the deployment of men to the frontline.


Recommendations

1.    Globally, housing first and housing-led approaches have proven that secure,   adequate accommodation is a prerequisite for recovery and achievement of sustained outcomes among vulnerable populations. People cannot be expected to process trauma and plan for the future if they do not have a certain or adequate roof over their head. The sector should prioritise programmes which include support for households to access adequate, secure and affordable accommodation.

2.   Whilst cash interventions have been rightly celebrated within the response by both beneficiaries and the sector, there is a widespread dependency on various time-limited state or NGO cash initiatives.  As the war moves beyond its eighteenth month, alongside continued need for flexible emergency programmes in areas by the contact line and under shelling, there should be greater focus in the majority of oblasts.

3.   Many IDPs who have moved into a new area asked for support with integration into their new community. Material support is not sufficient on its own. Community and social networks are vital to providing a sustainable support structure around a household, and facilitating the development of such networks can be provided at relatively low cost.

4.    Flexible, personalised, longer-term support is vital.  The overall situation remains fluid, and organisations must be sensitive to the differences in each community’s local context; for example, the disparities in urban and rural locations, or the needs of IDPs versus people living in de-occupied areas. Similarly, organisations need to consider the complex nature of additional risk factors, potential vulnerabilities and barriers to accessing support that may be faced by individuals. When designing programmes, careful thought should be given to the influence of gender dynamics, the needs of families, as well as existing capacities and resilience within communities. The flexibility offered by cash assistance should continue to form part of the solution, given its popularity among beneficiaries and evidenced efficacy.

Source: Depaul International


HOLY FATHER ON UKRAINE

Angelus - September 24, 2023 (Sunday)

Let us recall beleaguered Ukraine, and pray for this people that is suffering so much.

Ricordiamo la martoriata Ucraina e preghiamo per questo popolo che soffre tanto.

Links to the full text in  ITALIAN and ENGLISH

General Audience - September 20, 2023

Restiamo uniti nella vicinanza e nella preghiera per la cara e martoriata Ucraina. A tutti voi la mia Benedizione.

Links to the full text in  ITALIAN and ENGLISH

MEMBER PHOTOS

During his visit to Ukraine, Caritas Europa’s President Msgr. Michael Landau brought a message of solidarity to civilians whose houses have been destroyed and paid tribute to the victims of the war, visiting the site of mass graves in Bucha (photo courtesy of Caritas Europa)