Ukraine: Humanitarian Impact Situation Report (As of 3:00 p.m. (EET), 9 March 2022)

HIGHLIGHTS

• As the situation enters its second week, the human cost of the conflict continues to mount. Between 4 a.m. on 24 February and midnight on 8 March, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) reports at least 1,424 civilian casualties, including 516 killed. The number of civilians killed since 24 February already surpasses the 353 conflict-related civilian deaths recorded by OHCHR during six years of conflict in eastern Ukraine combined.
• The humanitarian situation in Ukraine becomes increasingly more dire with each passing day. While the roll-out of assessments is greatly restricted by lack of access and growing insecurity, the Humanitarian Country Team estimates that around 12 million people – nearly 30 per cent of the population – require life-saving humanitarian assistance.
• In order to ease human suffering and prevent the needless loss of human life, an immediate ceasefire must be negotiated. In the meantime, reliable and predictable windows of silence and safe passage are urgently needed to safely relocate affected people and deliver life-saving humanitarian assistance.
• Recent safe passage for the evacuation of civilians and the delivery of humanitarian relief supplies to military encircled cities, like Mariupol (Donetska oblast, east), have been repeatedly postponed or even come under attack.
• Early on 9 March, the Ukrainian Ministry of Reintegration confirmed that the Russian Federation agreed on six humanitarian safe passage routes to evacuate people from the hardest-hit areas. At the time of writing, it remains unclear if the security conditions will permit these evacuations to take place.
• OCHA and the United Nations Department of Safety and Security (UNDSS) have established an inter-agency operations cell, under the leadership of the UN Resident Coordinator/Humanitarian Coordinator and the recently appointed Crisis Coordinator, to facilitate the safe passage of humanitarian personnel and goods delivered by the humanitarian community into the hardest-hit areas.

SITUATION OVERVIEW

As the situation enters its second week, the human cost of the conflict continues to mount. Between 4 a.m. on 24 February and midnight on 8 March, OHCHR reports at least 1,424 civilian casualties, including 516 killed.

The steady, yet sharp increase witnessed in civilian casualties in the last two weeks is alarming. The number of civilians killed since 24 February already surpasses the 353 conflict-related civilian deaths recorded by OHCHR during six years of conflict in eastern Ukraine combined.

In Donetska and Luhanska oblasts, OHCHR reports 573 casualties (87 killed and 349 injured in Government-controlled areas, GCA, and 24 killed and 113 injured in non-Government-controlled areas, NGCA), while 851 civilian casualties have been confirmed in other regions of Ukraine. However, it is presumed that the actual numbers are likely much higher. OHCHR reports that the civilian toll remains incomplete pending corroboration of reports, adding that in cities and towns like Volnovakha, Mariupol (Donetska oblast, east), Izium (Kharkivska oblast, east) and other hard-hit areas, where there are allegations of hundreds of civilian casualties.

The humanitarian situation in Ukraine becomes increasingly more dire with each passing day. While the roll-out of assessments is greatly restricted by lack of access and growing insecurity, the Humanitarian Country Team estimates that around 12 million people – nearly 30 per cent of the population – require life-saving humanitarian assistance.

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reports that more than two million people have been forced to flee to neighbouring countries for safety, while the most vulnerable people, those lacking the means to escape the conflict remain in Ukraine. Their unmet needs continue to accumulate and worsen by the hour. UNHCR further estimates that around 1 million people are newly displaced in Ukraine, although it is difficult to have an accurate estimate due to the ongoing situation.

To ease human suffering and prevent the needless loss of human life, an immediate ceasefire must be negotiated. In the meantime, reliable and predictable windows of silence and safe passage are urgently needed to safely relocate conflictaffected people and deliver life-saving humanitarian assistance. So far, some 600,000 people have reportedly been evacuated from Kharkiv (east) by railway, according to the Kharkivska Oblast Administration. Additionally, the State Emergency Service of Ukraine reportedly evacuated more than 292,000 people, including over 61,000 children and nearly 1,300 people living with disabilities, to different parts of the country. Meanwhile, the Russian Federation reported it has so far evacuated around 179,000 people from Ukraine towards Russia.

Early on 9 March, the Ukrainian Ministry of Reintegration confirmed that the Russian Federation agreed on six humanitarian safe passage routes to evacuate people from Enerhodar to Zaporizhzhia (Zaporizka oblast, south-east); Mariupol (Donetska oblast) to Zaporizhzhia (Zaporizka oblast, south-east); Volnovakha (Donetska oblast) to Pokrovsk (Donetska oblast); Izium to Lozova (Kharkivska oblast, south-west); from Sumy to Poltava (Poltavska oblast, central Ukraine); and the Kyiv oblast (Borodianka, Bucha, Hostomel, Irpin and Vorzel) to the city of Kyiv through Stoianka and Bilhorodka. At the time of writing, it remains unclear if the security conditions will permit these evacuations to take place, as police in the Kyivska oblast reported earlier today that a police officer was killed and two civilians injured by active hostilities during an evacuation in the town of Demydiv located north of the capital.

On 8 March, around 5,000 civilians were reportedly evacuated from Sumy to Poltavska oblast. The Administration of Sumska Oblast says that safe passage for the evacuation of civilians will continue through 9 March, as the city and oblast of the same name, come under attack. Overnight on 8 March, nearly two dozen people were reportedly killed, including three children, after airstrikes rained down on the north-eastern city of Sumy – home to around 267,000 people.

In Mariupol (Donetska oblast), humanitarian needs continue to accumulate as hundreds of thousands of people remain trapped in dire conditions for more than 10 days. On 8 March, the Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister announced that eight trucks and 30 buses were sent from Zaporizhzhya to Mariupol with humanitarian aid; however, at the time of writing, it remains unclear if the delivery arrived as shelling continued unabated. On 9 March, a children’s hospital in Mariupol reportedly came under direct attack resulting in severe damages; the number of casualties is yet to be confirmed.

Recent safe passage for the evacuation of civilians and the delivery of humanitarian relief supplies to military encircled cities, like Mariupol, have been repeatedly postponed or even come under attack. Humanitarian organizations may attempt to reach affected people as fast as possible, however, uncoordinated humanitarian convoys hastily deployed are more likely to be to put civilians, humanitarian staff and relief goods at risk.

On 8 March, a non-governmental organizations (NGO) convoy carrying life-saving humanitarian aid was reportedly destroyed after being caught in crossfire. OCHA and UNDSS have established an inter-agency operations cell, under the leadership of the UN Resident Coordinator/Humanitarian Coordinator and the recently appointed Crisis Coordinator, to facilitate the safe passage of humanitarian personnel and goods delivered by the humanitarian community into the hardesthit areas.