SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
UN: Humanitarian Situation Worsening in Ukraine
Violence intensifying as food and water supplies dwindle
Aug 06, 2014
The humanitarian situation in eastern Ukraine is getting worse, as violence intensifies, supplies dwindle, and more than a thousand people flee their homes every day, a UN official said Tuesday.
At an emergency Security Council meeting called by Russia on Tuesday, director of UN humanitarian operations John Ging called for "immediate action" to quell the violence and devastation. He noted that drinking water, food, and power supplies have sustained serious damage, an estimated 70 percent of health workers have fled, and hundreds of houses and buildings have been destroyed.
According to the Associated Press, Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said the situation in the east, particularly in Luhansk and Donetsk, is "disastrous." He accused the Ukrainian military of indiscriminate shelling of housing and said Russia wants to send a humanitarian convoy to Luhansk and Donetsk under the auspices of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Even as the Ukrainian army encircled the separatist-held cities, authorities denied there was a humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.
The UN was critical of Ukraine's response to the crisis, with Vincent Cochetel, the Director for the European Bureau at the UN Refugee Agency, noting that "the current lack of a systematic and uniform system hampers the coordination and implementation of relief efforts. This is also important as the Ukrainian authorities make their preparations for winter. Most of the current shelters in use are not suitable for the cold winter months."
Heavy fighting--including air strikes and rocket fire--hit the region Tuesday and continued on Wednesday, amidst reports of Russian troops massing on Ukraine's eastern border.
For the first time, shelling hit the city center of rebel-held Donetsk overnight, reportedly killing three people. Civilians and separatists blamed Ukrainian forces for the attack. Kiev denied the accusations.
The Wall Street Journal described the scene:
"But they told us they wouldn't bomb Donetsk, they told us!" one woman said, in reference to Kiev's pledge to avoid using heavy weaponry in residential areas. "It's a total nightmare," said another neighbor as she emerged from the mangled entryway to the apartment blocks. Many of its windows had been shattered in the blast.
The whistling of shells around noon local time pierced the summer silence that has descended on the city, which tens of thousands of people have fled in recent weeks.
There was no immediate confirmation of who had fired the shells, but neighbors and rebels blamed Ukrainian forces, speculating that their intended target was the separatist compound right next door.
Last week, the Office of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said "a total breakdown of law and order and a reign of fear and terror have been inflicted by armed groups on the population of eastern Ukraine." Just over 4,000 people have been wounded in eastern Ukraine since April, and more than 1,300 have been killed.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Deirdre Fulton
Deirdre Fulton is a former Common Dreams senior editor and staff writer. Previously she worked as an editor and writer for the Portland Phoenix and the Boston Phoenix, where she was honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. A Boston University graduate, Deirdre is a co-founder of the Maine-based Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective and the PortFringe theater festival. She writes young adult fiction in her spare time.
The humanitarian situation in eastern Ukraine is getting worse, as violence intensifies, supplies dwindle, and more than a thousand people flee their homes every day, a UN official said Tuesday.
At an emergency Security Council meeting called by Russia on Tuesday, director of UN humanitarian operations John Ging called for "immediate action" to quell the violence and devastation. He noted that drinking water, food, and power supplies have sustained serious damage, an estimated 70 percent of health workers have fled, and hundreds of houses and buildings have been destroyed.
According to the Associated Press, Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said the situation in the east, particularly in Luhansk and Donetsk, is "disastrous." He accused the Ukrainian military of indiscriminate shelling of housing and said Russia wants to send a humanitarian convoy to Luhansk and Donetsk under the auspices of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Even as the Ukrainian army encircled the separatist-held cities, authorities denied there was a humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.
The UN was critical of Ukraine's response to the crisis, with Vincent Cochetel, the Director for the European Bureau at the UN Refugee Agency, noting that "the current lack of a systematic and uniform system hampers the coordination and implementation of relief efforts. This is also important as the Ukrainian authorities make their preparations for winter. Most of the current shelters in use are not suitable for the cold winter months."
Heavy fighting--including air strikes and rocket fire--hit the region Tuesday and continued on Wednesday, amidst reports of Russian troops massing on Ukraine's eastern border.
For the first time, shelling hit the city center of rebel-held Donetsk overnight, reportedly killing three people. Civilians and separatists blamed Ukrainian forces for the attack. Kiev denied the accusations.
The Wall Street Journal described the scene:
"But they told us they wouldn't bomb Donetsk, they told us!" one woman said, in reference to Kiev's pledge to avoid using heavy weaponry in residential areas. "It's a total nightmare," said another neighbor as she emerged from the mangled entryway to the apartment blocks. Many of its windows had been shattered in the blast.
The whistling of shells around noon local time pierced the summer silence that has descended on the city, which tens of thousands of people have fled in recent weeks.
There was no immediate confirmation of who had fired the shells, but neighbors and rebels blamed Ukrainian forces, speculating that their intended target was the separatist compound right next door.
Last week, the Office of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said "a total breakdown of law and order and a reign of fear and terror have been inflicted by armed groups on the population of eastern Ukraine." Just over 4,000 people have been wounded in eastern Ukraine since April, and more than 1,300 have been killed.
Deirdre Fulton
Deirdre Fulton is a former Common Dreams senior editor and staff writer. Previously she worked as an editor and writer for the Portland Phoenix and the Boston Phoenix, where she was honored by the New England Press Association and the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies. A Boston University graduate, Deirdre is a co-founder of the Maine-based Lorem Ipsum Theater Collective and the PortFringe theater festival. She writes young adult fiction in her spare time.
The humanitarian situation in eastern Ukraine is getting worse, as violence intensifies, supplies dwindle, and more than a thousand people flee their homes every day, a UN official said Tuesday.
At an emergency Security Council meeting called by Russia on Tuesday, director of UN humanitarian operations John Ging called for "immediate action" to quell the violence and devastation. He noted that drinking water, food, and power supplies have sustained serious damage, an estimated 70 percent of health workers have fled, and hundreds of houses and buildings have been destroyed.
According to the Associated Press, Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said the situation in the east, particularly in Luhansk and Donetsk, is "disastrous." He accused the Ukrainian military of indiscriminate shelling of housing and said Russia wants to send a humanitarian convoy to Luhansk and Donetsk under the auspices of the International Committee of the Red Cross.
Even as the Ukrainian army encircled the separatist-held cities, authorities denied there was a humanitarian crisis in Ukraine.
The UN was critical of Ukraine's response to the crisis, with Vincent Cochetel, the Director for the European Bureau at the UN Refugee Agency, noting that "the current lack of a systematic and uniform system hampers the coordination and implementation of relief efforts. This is also important as the Ukrainian authorities make their preparations for winter. Most of the current shelters in use are not suitable for the cold winter months."
Heavy fighting--including air strikes and rocket fire--hit the region Tuesday and continued on Wednesday, amidst reports of Russian troops massing on Ukraine's eastern border.
For the first time, shelling hit the city center of rebel-held Donetsk overnight, reportedly killing three people. Civilians and separatists blamed Ukrainian forces for the attack. Kiev denied the accusations.
The Wall Street Journal described the scene:
"But they told us they wouldn't bomb Donetsk, they told us!" one woman said, in reference to Kiev's pledge to avoid using heavy weaponry in residential areas. "It's a total nightmare," said another neighbor as she emerged from the mangled entryway to the apartment blocks. Many of its windows had been shattered in the blast.
The whistling of shells around noon local time pierced the summer silence that has descended on the city, which tens of thousands of people have fled in recent weeks.
There was no immediate confirmation of who had fired the shells, but neighbors and rebels blamed Ukrainian forces, speculating that their intended target was the separatist compound right next door.
Last week, the Office of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said "a total breakdown of law and order and a reign of fear and terror have been inflicted by armed groups on the population of eastern Ukraine." Just over 4,000 people have been wounded in eastern Ukraine since April, and more than 1,300 have been killed.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.