Ukraine: Russian strike on village kills over 20, mostly pensioners

This article is published in association with United Nations.

A Russian airstrike on a Ukrainian village in the frontline region of Donetsk on Tuesday has reportedly killed more than 20 – including many elderly civilians who were lining up to collect pension payments.

The attack on Yarova injured nearly 20 others. Many elderly civilians have decided to stay at home in frontline communities, despite the escalating danger from Russia’s continuing offensive, said Assistant Secretary-General Matthias Schmale, the UN’s top humanitarian official in the country.

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“This lasting violence continues to tear lives apart. In recent days, the Donetsk region has seen a rise in civilian casualties and damage as hostilities have intensified,” he said in a statement.

“On behalf of the United Nations and the humanitarian community, we stand with all families grieving their loved ones and with all those injured. Attacks affecting civilians as they go about their daily lives are unconscionable.”

‘Relentless’ attacks on healthcare

Ambulances attacked, chronically ill patients lacking care and no peace in sight: for millions of Ukrainians, the run-up to another winter of war is just the latest life-or-death challenge they face, the UN health agency (WHO) said on Tuesday.

Speaking from Kyiv in the wake of deadly strikes on the Ukrainian capital by Russia on Sunday, WHO’s representative in the country, Dr. Jarno Habicht, told reporters in Geneva that more than 800 drones and missiles were involved in the latest attack, making it one of the biggest since the start of the war in February 2022.

“This is a reality [which] many aid workers, humanitarians, but most importantly, millions of Ukrainians are living day and night,” he said.

Mission to the frontline

Dr. Habicht described his recent mission to the frontline Zaporizhzhia region which he said had suffered “relentless” attacks, including on healthcare.

“The strikes are continuous,” he insisted, explaining that WHO is constantly delivering medical kits to the facilities where patients with trauma injuries receive care. “We have daily injuries, unfortunately, across Ukraine,” he said.

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The WHO official pointed to a concerning 12 per cent year-on-year increase in attacks affecting health infrastructure in the country. One in four attacks is against an ambulance, he said.

“If we think about non-war environments, when anybody calls an ambulance, this is for a reason…This is for a reason of life and death,” he said. “But in Ukraine, the ambulances are under attack.”

According to UN humanitarian affairs coordination office, OCHA, on Monday, casualties from the latest attacks were reported in a number of other cities including Odesa, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Kremenchuk, Kryvyi Rih and Kherson. Strikes also targeted energy infrastructure, disrupting power and water supplies ahead of the winter season, OCHA said.

“We need to prepare for a winter in war because we don’t see peace in sight,” Dr. Habicht insisted.

Following his Zaporizhzhia visit and discussion with the authorities and health workers there, he highlighted the need to keep heating stations open as the cold season approaches and ensure that clean water is available in healthcare facilities.

Dr. Habicht also underscored the magnitude of the mental health burden of the conflict, which will “stay for generations”.

Urgent needs

According to WHO’s latest Health Needs Assessment conducted in Ukraine in April, seven in 10 people reported mental health issues, anxiety, depression and severe stress over the last 12 months, “directly linked to attacks on civilian infrastructure”.

The WHO representative added that as he visited hospital wards on Monday in Zaporizhzhia he saw a number of men and women over 60 needing rehabilitation support after suffering a stroke. “All the other diseases are continuing at the time of war,” he said, stressing that “recovery cannot wait” for patients with chronic diseases such as cancer and heart conditions.

Increased funding is needed for the humanitarian response in Ukraine and to support recovery and restoration efforts. But only 35.5 per cent of the required resources (around $46 million) have been made available for humanitarian partners, allowing WHO and its partners to reach one million people out of its three million target.