Ukraine: Top official underscores need to protect civilians amid ‘massive’ attacks

Since the weekend, parts of Ukraine including the eastern city of Kharkiv, the Sumy and Donetsk regions and Kyiv, Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia areas, have suffered deadly strikes.  

WHO Ukraine said the  “cruel attack” in Lviv “claimed the lives of at least 7 people, including children, and injured 47 others”, while a health facility was also affected.

Separately, the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) posted on X that “indiscriminate attacks impacting children and their schools have marred the start of the new school year.”

Buildings were damaged in Lviv following drone and missile attacks in the western Ukrainian city on Wednesday.

Strikes in central Ukraine

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that Kryvyi Rih, in the centre of the country, was also affected by strikes on Wednesday. Dozens of civilians were injured, including children, and six schools were damaged, according to local authorities.

“Immediately after the attacks, aid workers started providing medical and psychological support to affected people,” the agency said.

Humanitarians organized meals and drinks for affected residents and rescuers. They also delivered and distributed materials to cover the damage, and people also received legal aid and registered for cash assistance.

Humanitarian Coordinator’s visit

The latest attacks came a day after a missile strike on a military academy and nearby hospital in the central city of Poltava left at least 50 people dead and more than 270 injured – among the deadliest single attacks since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022.

The UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine, Matthias Schmale, was in Poltava on Wednesday where he witnessed the impact.

Speaking in a video posted on X, he said that “massive” attacks have been occurring across Ukraine since Friday.

“These attacks have resulted in destruction of civilian infrastructure, including a lot of educational institutions and health institutions, and that is utterly despicable that civilian infrastructure is destroyed,” he said.

Respect international humanitarian law

He also pointed to the human toll, as civilians have been killed and seriously injured, expressing shock and outrage.

“No one should die.  No one should be injured,” he said.  “And I repeat the calls the UN has made many times to respect international humanitarian law and to do whatever it takes to keep civilians safe and to protect critical civilian infrastructure.”

Mr. Schmale also mentioned that his thoughts were with the families of those killed in the Poltava attack on Tuesday.

“Young people going to the institution here were killed,” he said, adding that it was “utterly deplorable that young lives are taken far too early from this planet”, before expressing solidarity with affected families across the country.

Concern for displaced people

The UN refugee agency UNHCR called on Wednesday for an immediate end to atacks on civilians in Ukraine.

Spokesperson Matthew Saltmarsh recalled that the war has produced over six million refugees in Europe alone to date, while an estimated 3.6 million people back home are internally displaced.

“For us at UNHCR, the focus on responding to these attacks has been providing immediate support that could be around shelter, around support, with evacuations, documentation, psychological support, helping families that have been separated, and so on,” he said.

Mr. Saltmarsh added that aside from the increase in attacks, UNHCR’s top concern now is the coming winter months, warning that “the needs are going to rise, certainly in terms of providing  fuel, energy, shelter, warm clothing and so on.”

An IAEA expert mission team tours Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant and its surrounding area. (file)

Nuclear safety efforts continue

Meanwhile, a new report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) highlights its efforts to ensure nuclear safety and security amid the ongoing conflict  in Ukraine.

The report outlines challenges and achievements to protect the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP), and help prevent a nuclear accident, since launching a mission there in September 2022.

Located in southern Ukraine, Zaporizhzhya is Europe’s largest nuclear power plant and is on the frontline of the conflict. It has been under Russian control since the early days of the full-scale invasion.  

Precarious and very fragile

IAEA teams stationed there have reported on incidents including shelling and drone strikes at the facility, which has also suffered repeated loss of off-site power events.  

Writing in the report’s forward, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi noted that the situation at the Zaporizhzhya plant remains precarious and very fragile.

“Two years into the IAEA’s continued presence at the occupied Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant, our commitment to helping prevent a nuclear accident remains resolute,” he said. 

“Amid the significant challenges and risks to nuclear safety and security, we are steadfast in our mission to assess the situation and keep the international community informed.”

Supporting nuclear safety

The report was issued as Mr. Grossi travelled to the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant, his fifth time during the conflict. Since he last went in February, it has been hit by drone strikes and experienced loss of power lines, while a fire last month caused significant damage to one of the two cooling towers.

He said that “the objective and impartial assessments of the situation provided by our teams have made a significant contribution to maintaining nuclear safety, security and safeguards” at the plant.

The IAEA has experts stationed at Ukraine’s four other nuclear sites, and the report also summarizes developments, activities and assistance at these locations since missions were set up there in early 2023.

Reassuring the international community

In total, the IAEA has conducted 139 Support and Assistance Missions to the nuclear sites in Ukraine. Additionally, its comprehensive assistance to Ukraine has facilitated 61 deliveries of equipment to the country, with a total value of over €10 million. 

The agency has also continued its vital safeguards verification activities across Ukraine, ensuring that there is no diversion of nuclear material for military purposes.

“As I conduct my fifth visit to the ZNPP, and my tenth to Ukraine since the beginning of the conflict, I want to reassure the international community that the IAEA, and I as Director General, will continue to do everything possible within our mandate to assist in averting a nuclear or radiological accident at any of Ukraine’s nuclear facilities,” Mr. Grossi said.