The UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine, Denise Brown, was in Kharkiv on Monday, and aid workers had begun making life-saving deliveries to the thousands in need, just days after Russian troops withdrew following the surprise Ukrainian counter-attack to secure the region around the country’s second largest city.

Kharkiv is located in northeastern Ukraine, just a few miles from the Russian border. Ukrainian authorities said they had recaptured around 6,000 square kilometres of territory from Russia during their September counter-offensive.

Food for more than 73,000

A statement issued by the Spokesperson for UN humanitarian affairs coordination office (OCHA) on Monday, said that “in the past 10 days, aid workers distributed food to more than 73,000 people, nearly half of the people living in these areas which, until a short while ago, were out of our reach.”   

“Our colleagues have also delivered hygiene kits to some 12,000 people, as well as kitchen sets, solar lamps, blankets and other critical household items to about 15,000”, OCHA’s Saviano Abreu continued. 

Medical supplies

“Health centres have been stocked with enough medicine, surgical kits and emergency health kits to treat 10,000 patients in the coming weeks.”  

Humanitarian Coordinator Ms. Brown met workers with local organizations and volunteers, and noted that there is “a dire humanitarian situation” across the region.

She visited some cities that since mid-September, are back under Government control, and saw the level of destruction of civilian infrastructure, including homes, schools, and hospitals.

Expanding aid effort

“The humanitarian community is working closely with national and local authorities, as well as with volunteer groups, to expand assistance even further and help people who have endured the horrors of seven months of war without adequate access to vital items”, Mr. Abreu concluded.