The UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi, has appealed for urgent humanitarian assistance for Ukrainians, following a week-long visit to several areas affected by the war in the country.
Grandi said that the millions displaced by the war whose suffering is being worsened by the harsh winter were “in desperate need of humanitarian assistance”.
Grandi met with residents of the town of Odessa – which was recently attacked by drones – and said he was “struck” by the story he heard from a couple that had been at home that morning when the explosion occurred.
The couple, Hanna and Yuriy explained: “We didn’t have any windows or doors left, our clothes and our bed were covered in glass. We used cling film to block the holes because there was nothing else to use,” they said.
Speaking in Odessa, Grandi said: “UNHCR was able to immediately help the family by assisting them in putting glasses in windows”.
“It’s very, very cold here in Ukraine in winter,” he added, pointing out that the Agency helped them fix the ceilings and clean up the rubble: “all the things that people have to do immediately to be able to continue to live.”
The United Nations and its partners have requested €3.8 billion from the international community to cover the costs of aid operations in Ukraine this year – which is 26% lower than in 2023.
This would help almost 11 million people directly or indirectly affected by the military aggression launched by Russia on 24 February, 2022.
UNHCR put the latest figure of people who have been displaced from the war at 10 million. Some 3.7 million are considered to be internally displaced, while another 6.3 million are categorised as refugees.
Grandi also said he was worried that the war in Ukraine has been forgotten as the country prepares to mark two years since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion.
He urged the international community to remember that Ukrainians were living through a brutal war despite other global crises taking the spotlight, which continues to bring devastation to civilians with houses destroyed, health centres hit and many facilities not functioning.
“I think the big difference from last year to this year is that this year, this is not news any more in the world,” Grandi said. “There is somehow a trend towards getting used to Ukrainian suffering.”
“We made that choice because we are aware that there are so many crises in the world that that’s a factor and therefore we focused on the priority needs,” Grandi added.
