UN experts: “War is savagery” “War is savagery”: the UN celebrates the grim anniversary – two years since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine Peace and Security
Over the last two years of the war, children in Ukraine’s frontline cities were forced to spend between three and five thousand hours underground, the equivalent of four to seven months. This was reported on Friday from the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). On the eve of the second anniversary of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russian troops, the UN called on the international community to do more to end this war in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.
Independent UN experts made a corresponding statement on Friday. “The lives of millions of civilians continue to be at risk,” the document says. – For them, the world is not an empty phrase or an abstract concept. Peace is a necessary condition for the restoration of normal daily life.”
There can be no normal life when people are killed, tortured, forcibly disappeared, sexually assaulted, displaced, deported, arbitrarily detained or exposed to toxic or radiological substances, experts noted.
“War is Savagery”
To date, Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has resulted in the deaths of more than 10,000 civilians, the injury of approximately 20,000 civilians and an unknown number casualties among the military. About 18 million people—almost 40 percent of Ukraine’s population—are in need of humanitarian assistance. More than three million of them live in front-line settlements that experience an acute shortage of resources and are subject to constant shelling.
War is savagery and cruelty, everywhere and under any circumstances
“War is savagery and cruelty, everywhere and under any circumstances,” experts said. – War affects everyone. The trauma of war deepens, leading to even greater suffering and destruction.”
200 days in hiding
By The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimates that over the last two years of the war, children in the front-line cities of Ukraine were forced to spend three to five thousand hours underground, which is equivalent to four to seven months.
According to surveys, half of teenagers 13-15 years old experience problems with sleep, and one in five experience obsessive thoughts and “flashbacks” – typical manifestations of post-traumatic stress disorder. Three quarters of children and young people aged 14 to 34 recently reported needing emotional or psychological support.
War in Ukraine is devastating childhood
The winter months were especially difficult for the children of Ukraine: thousands of them took refuge in cold, damp basements as many families were left behind as a result of shelling without electricity and heating.
“The war in Ukraine is destroying childhoods and seriously damaging children’s mental health and their ability to learn,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. “The children endured two years of violence, isolation, separation from families, loss of loved ones, displacement, disruption of schooling and health care. They need this nightmare to end.”
Gaps in education
For 40 percent of children worldwide The country lacks the opportunity to receive continuous education due to a lack of premises. In areas located near the front line, half of school-age children cannot study at all. Latest data shows that the size of the learning gap in 2022 compared to 2018 is equivalent to two years behind in reading and one year behind in math.
Two years after the start of the war ago UNICEF expanded the scope of its activities in Ukraine; its staff are currently working in Kyiv, Lviv, Odessa, Dnipro, Poltava, Nikolaev and Kharkov, providing humanitarian aid and vital support to children and families.
“Children need to be given a chance to recover, and the best way to do that is to stop the war,” Russell said.
1500 attacks on medical facilities
To date, the World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed more than 1,500 attacks on health facilities, infrastructure and medical personnel in Ukraine – an average of two attacks per day, with the number of such incidents increasing in recent weeks. WHO chief Hans Kluge provided such data in a statement released on Friday.
The number of internally displaced people is currently estimated at 3.5 million people; more than six million Ukrainian refugees are registered; Almost eight million people require medical care in the territory controlled by the Ukrainian authorities.
Living in uncertainty
Speaking from Kiev, the head of the delegation of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies in Ukraine, David Fisher, said that despite two years of war, Ukrainians continue to live, but all this happens in conditions of uncertainty, continuous bombing and lack of access to basic services in the most affected areas. Air raids have become common even far from the front lines.
Since the Russian invasion, the Ukrainian Red Cross has tripled the number of its staff and volunteers. In Nikolaev, the organization provides a third of all drinking water supplies. David Fisher.
The greatest needs and the most difficult access to people, according to him, are now in the east of the country, near the contact line, but there are also power outages in Kiev.