Note: Full coverage of today’s meeting of the Security Council will be available after its conclusion.
MAINTENANCE OF INTERNATIONAL PEACE AND SECURITY
Briefings
JOYCE MSUYA, Acting Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, said that, since June, “there has been no respite for civilians in Ukraine” amid continuing waves of attacks across the entire country. “I was particularly shocked by yesterday’s deadly missile strikes on Kyiv, Kryvi Rih, Pokrovsk, Dnipro and other urban centres”, she stated. These attacks struck vital energy infrastructure, as well as two of the country’s leading specialist hospitals for children and women. In Kyiv, the intensive care, surgical and oncology wards of Ukraine’s largest children’s hospital were severely damaged. Its toxicology department – where children receive dialysis – was destroyed. First responders attending the scene immediately after the attack found children receiving treatment for cancer in hospital beds set up in parks and on the street, where medical workers had quickly established triage areas among the chaos, dust and debris.
Reportedly, 27 civilians, including four children, were killed, and 117, including seven children, were injured, she continued. The Office for the High Commissioner of Human Rights (OHCHR) is verifying figures while rescue workers, hospital staff and volunteers continue to clear rubble in search of people trapped under debris. Health officials report that what remains of the children’s hospital is without electricity, preventing the use of ventilators and other urgent care. UN Human Rights staff has helped move child patients to other facilities while providing psychosocial support and assisting with other urgent needs. She also highlighted “a massive outpouring of solidarity” from local residents, who rushed to the scene to help remove rubble and provide blankets, water and food for patients and medical staff. Furthermore, at least seven civilians were killed at the ISIDA medical centre in Kyiv – one of Ukraine’s largest women’s health and family planning centres – when debris from an intercepted missile hit the facility.
“Intentionally directing attacks against a protected hospital is a war crime, and perpetrators must be held to account”, she asserted, adding that these incidents are part of a deeply concerning pattern of systematic attacks harming health care and other civilian infrastructure across Ukraine. Attacks have intensified since the spring of 2024. The World Health Organization (WHO) has verified 1,878 attacks affecting health-care facilities, personnel, transport, supplies and patients since February 2022. Attacks have also significantly impacted homes, education facilities, office buildings and public transport. And they have disrupted millions of households’ electricity, gas and water supplies. Energy production capacity across the country is significantly reduced. As a result, over 14.6 million people – about 40 per cent of Ukraine’s population – require humanitarian assistance. These attacks are also impacting aid operations: just last week a strike destroyed an apartment block immediately in front of the United Nations offices in Dnipro City.
Despite the challenges, in the first four months of 2024, the UN and its partners – many of them local organizations – still managed to provide life-saving assistance to 4.4 million people across Ukraine. She urged donors to accelerate funding for the humanitarian response to sustain operations in an increasingly complex and dangerous environment. All the more so as another winter approaches amid no sign of an easing of hostilities or their impact on civilians and civilian infrastructure. “Yesterday’s attacks and their impacts are a reminder of the deplorable human toll of this war, particularly on the most vulnerable members of society – tragedies we will see again and again as long as this conflict continues and the rules of war are defied”, she stated, urging respect for international law and underscoring the need to bring an end to the suffering and destruction.
…
