Over the past few weeks, “we have witnessed appalling human suffering and destruction in towns and villages. Systematic bombardments that terrorize civilians. The bombing of hospitals, schools, apartment buildings and shelters,” the UN chief stressed during a press briefing at the United Nations headquarters in New York.
“And all of this is escalating, becoming more destructive and unpredictable by the hour,” he added, noting that ten million Ukrainians have been driven from their homes.
The Secretary-General felt that this war was going “nowhere, fast”.
“For more than two weeks, Mariupol has been surrounded by the Russian army, shelled and attacked relentlessly. Why? he wondered. “Even if Mariupol falls, Ukraine cannot be conquered city by city, street by street, house by house.”
According to Mr. Guterres, “the only result of all this is more suffering, more destruction and more horrors as far as the eye can see”. “The people of Ukraine are enduring hell – and the repercussions are being felt around the world with soaring food, energy and fertilizer prices threatening to escalate into a global hunger crisis,” he said. warned.
don’t lose hope
The Secretary-General, however, felt that “hope should not be lost” and underlined that elements of diplomatic progress are emerging on several key issues.
Continuing the war in Ukraine is morally unacceptable, politically indefensible and militarily absurd – Antonio Guterres
“There is enough on the table to cease hostilities – now… and to negotiate seriously – now. This war is unwinnable. Sooner or later, we will have to move from the battlefield to the table of peace. It’s inevitable,” he said.
According to the UN chief, the only question is: How many more lives have to be lost? How many more bombs have to drop? How many Mariupols should be destroyed? How many Ukrainians and Russians will be killed before everyone realizes that this war has no winners, only losers?
“To continue the war in Ukraine is morally unacceptable, politically indefensible and militarily absurd,” he added. “It’s time to stop the fighting now and give peace a chance.”
At least 62 attacks on health facilities, says WHO
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, the World Health Organization (WHO) has authenticated 62 attacks against the healthcare system. These can be attacks on medical facilities or healthcare workers.
This is 20 more attacks than those reported less than a week ago. At least 15 people were killed and around 40 injured in these attacks. The UN World Health Agency stresses that this is of course unacceptable and that health care must always be protected.
The regions and names of health facilities attacked and their locations are not disclosed for security reasons, WHO said. The identities of the sources are also withheld in order to avoid “any further harm to the survivors or the surrounding population”, WHO spokesperson Margaret Harris told a press conference in Geneva.
“We have witnessed numerous attacks against health workers and sanitary facilities, as well as against patients. This happens daily, and it is unacceptable,” said Jarno Habich, WHO Representative in Ukraine, in an interview with WHO-Europe. “So if you ask me how to describe the situation, it’s getting worse every day, which means health care is getting harder every day,” he added, noting that some hospitals sometimes don’t have electricity.
Civilians still trapped by fighting in Mariupol
In a context of severe shortage, the WHO has sent oxygen tanks and cryogenic cylinders to western Ukraine, notably to Kyivska and Zaparpatska. In addition, WHO donated 40 chemical protection suits to the authorities of Kyivska region and an automatic blood analyzer capable of performing around 100 tests per hour in Kyiv.
Moreover, in Mariupol, despite a “slow multiplication of evacuations”, hundreds of thousands of people have remained trapped inside the encircled city for several weeks, without access to basic necessities to survive. Between March 18 and March 20, the Ukrainian government says more than 23,000 people were evacuated from the hardest hit areas of the country, including more than 13,000 evacuees from Mariupol via Berdyansk en route to Zaporizhzhia (Zaporizka, southeast).
According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), more than 12 million people remain stranded in affected areas across Ukraine. “They are unable to leave due to ongoing clashes, destruction of bridges and roads, and lack of resources or information on where to find safety and suitable accommodation,” OCHA said in a statement. his latest status report.
“These people are among the most vulnerable in Ukraine, directly exposed to heightened insecurity and almost completely cut off from basic necessities, including food, water and medicine,” OCHA added.
© WHO/Marta Soszynska
Ukrainians at Lviv train station prepare to leave their country.
UNHCR counts more than 3.5 million refugees who have fled Ukraine
With regard to population movements, more than 10 million people have been forced to leave their homes in search of safety and security, almost a quarter of Ukraine’s population. This includes an estimated 6.5 million displaced men, women and children, according to the International Organization for Migration (OIM), and nearly 3.5 million people who have crossed international borders out of Ukraine as refugees, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (HCR).
The UNHCR listed exactly 3,557,245 Ukrainian refugees on its dedicated website around 1200 GMT on Tuesday. These are more than 67,000 more than during the previous count on Monday. “This is truly another tragic milestone for the people of Ukraine, and it has been achieved in just under a month,” UNHCR spokesman Matthew Saltmarsh told a press briefing in Geneva. .
Poland alone hosts more than half of all refugees who have fled since the start of the Russian invasion – around six out of every 10 refugees. Since February 24, 2,113,554 people fleeing the conflict in Ukraine have entered Poland . At the same time, the number of people who have found refuge in Russia rises to nearly 252,376 as of March 21, according to the UNHCR count.
Given the scale and direction of the ongoing military operation, OCHA estimates that 18 million people are expected to be affected by the conflict, including 6.7 million newly internally displaced people. Among the affected population, 12 million people are expected to require humanitarian assistance, and 6 million people with the most urgent humanitarian needs will require urgent assistance.