1,000 days of war in Ukraine: UN support remains steadfast

At a collective site in Kharkiv, UN Deputy High Commissioner for Refugees Kelly T. Clements (right) meets Svitlana, a pensioner whose home was destroyed by a glide bomb.

As Russia’s assault on Ukraine reaches its 1000th day, the UN continues to provide much-needed assistance, in areas ranging from humanitarian aid, to healthcare, sanitation and ensuring the safety and security of Europe’s largest nuclear power plant.

From February 2023, civilian areas in Ukraine’s cities have been targeted, including the capital Kyiv. Civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure continue to be reported daily. ie

The World Food Programme is providing food assistance for people fleeing the conflict inside Ukraine and in neighbouring countries.

In the first nine months of 2024, the humanitarian community provided assistance to 7.2 million people in Ukraine.

Many people in Ukraine rely on food provided by the UN and other agencies.

This includes Kherson on the frontline of the fighting, which is under constant shelling. The UN can reach the Ukrainian controlled parts of the country, but access to Russian-controlled areas is “almost impossible.”

A 4-year-old girl in Izium, Ukraine, tries on a jacket provided by UNICEF and partners.

Around 65 per cent of Ukraine’s energy generation capacity is damaged or destroyed. With Winter approaching, the attacks are disrupting electricity, heating and water supplies.

IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi visits the Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant and its surrounding area with his team during an official visit to Ukraine.

Zaporizhzhya Nuclear Power Plant has been under Russian control since March 2022. Expert teams from the UN nuclear watchdog, IAEA, monitor the safety of the plant. Drone attacks and fighting in the vicinity remain a cause for concern.

The MV Brave Commander berthed in Hodeidah port in Yemen carrying Ukrainian wheat flour milled in Turkiye. (Oct 2022)

Early in the war, the UN brokered a deal to keep grain shipments flowing from Ukrainian ports, to lower prices that hurt developing countries. The efforts initially succeeded but the deal has now fallen apart: Russian attacks have resumed and prices are on the rise.

A doctor visits a woman who has just given birth at a hospital in Kharkiv during the conflict in Ukraine.

More than 2,000 children have been killed or injured in the war, according to humanitarian estimates. The UN children’s agency, UNICEF, continues to provide life-saving support, including access to education, psychosocial support and mine risk education.

Refugees entering Poland from Ukraine at the Medyka border crossing point.

Around 6.7 million people have sought refuge outside the country. The UN refugee and migration agencies (UNHCR and IOM) play an important part in helping them to reach safety.

Baba Nina, at the Mezhova transit centre after her evacuation from the conflict zone in the Donetsk region.

“I don’t like the term, but we use it a lot and that’s the resilience of Ukraine’s citizens. It’s remarkable how people continue to cope, with smiles on their faces, to support their own people.” Matthias Schmale, the senior UN official in Ukraine