On Monday, the United Nations announced that more than 2,400 civilians have been killed in Ukraine since the start of the Russian offensive on the country on February 24.
This came in a press conference held by Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General of the United Nations, at the permanent headquarters of the International Organization in New York.
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“Since the start of the war, the World Health Organization has confirmed more than 160 attacks on health facilities,” Haq said.
The United Nations Human Rights Office has confirmed 2,400 civilians have been killed, and the actual numbers are likely to be much higher.
At the same level, the UN spokesman announced that the volume of the urgent humanitarian appeal launched by the United Nations in early March (worth $1.1 billion) in favor of Ukraine had been doubled, to $2.25 billion.
“The deteriorating situation has prompted our humanitarian colleagues to review the urgent humanitarian appeal as they continue to provide aid to people across Ukraine,” Haq said.
And he added, “We now need more than $2.25 billion to meet the needs inside Ukraine, and this is more than double the amount needed when we launched this appeal in early March, a few days after the start of the war.”
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The UN spokesperson stressed the “importance of continued international support to enable humanitarian workers in Ukraine to reach those whose lives have been turned upside down by the war.”
Haq added, “The United Nations Coordinator on the Ukraine Crisis (Amin Awad) called for an immediate cessation of the fighting in Mariupol (eastern Ukraine), to conduct the safe evacuation of civilians trapped in the city.”
And he added, “Mr. Awad warned that the lives of tens of thousands of people, including children and the elderly, are at risk in Mariupol.”
Haq explained that “the call of the UN coordinator comes in light of the escalation of hostilities in Ukraine, which has caused more civilian casualties.
It is also affecting key civilian infrastructure, impeding aid to people stranded in areas of heavy fighting, including Mariupol and Kherson.”
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“Our humanitarian colleagues told us that, according to security reports, this morning’s airstrikes destroyed several train stations in western and north-central Ukraine.
Over the weekend, the bombing affected several areas around Odessa, Mykolaiv and Kharkiv.”
And about the possibility of reaching a ceasefire agreement in light of the meeting of United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Ankara today.
As well as the first’s expected visit to Moscow on Tuesday to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv on Thursday.
“The Secretary-General believes there is an opportunity now, and we will make the most of what we can,” said Farhan Haq.
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Haq continued, “A lot of diplomacy is about timing, choosing the right time to talk to others, to travel to certain places, and to do certain things.”
And he added, “The Secretary-General is going on this trip with the expectation that there is a real opportunity available that will reveal itself now, and we will see what we can do.”
On February 24, Russia launched an attack on Ukraine, followed by international rejection and severe economic sanctions against Moscow.
Which requires the end of its operation for Kyiv to abandon plans to join military entities and to remain neutral, which the latter considers an “interference in its sovereignty.”
