Attachments
CONTEXT & RATIONALE
The escalation of the war in Ukraine on 24 February 2022 has resulted in wide-scale displacement, with an estimated 5.1 million people displaced internally across Ukraine as of 23 May 2023.1 Furthermore, wide-scale destruction of civilian infrastructure across the country continues to limit people’s access to essential items and services, including access to food, healthcare services, and education. Recent and ongoing escalations, such as the breach of the dam of the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant on 6 June 2023 reportedly created additional access constraints for essential services. The developments after the escalation of the war particularly exacerbated challenges in areas closer to the front line that were found to be experiencing higher levels of overall needs and in some of which the highest numbers of people in need were registered.
REACH’s Humanitarian Situation Monitoring (HSM) aims to provide updated, multisectoral information on the needs across Ukraine, and particularly in conflict-affected areas. The current situation overview provides key indicative findings on settlements in Government-controlled areas (GCAs) with a focus on settlements within closer proximity to the front line. The findings are indicative and are based on the data collected through Round 11 of HSM in June/July 2023.
KEY MESSAGES
• Across the assessed areas, settlements in Donetska Oblast appeared to have comparatively higher levels of needs and service access constraints than in other oblasts, indicating a deteriorating humanitarian situation due to the ongoing hostilities.
• The main drivers of humanitarian need across the assessed settlements were safety concerns, disruptions to telecommunications, disruptions to utilities, access to medicines and healthcare services, as well as access to housing.
• In comparison to May 2023 (Round 10),4 findings showed a slight increase in the number of settlements where key informants (KIs) reported most people had access to cash, banking services, and ATMs. Nevertheless, the situation remained largely unchanged in Zone A.
• A ‘catastrophic’ level of need in relation to accessing healthcare services (corresponding to >50% of the population in the settlement being unable to access the needed healthcare services) was reported by KIs in Zvanivka,
Siversk, Zalizne, Chasiv Yar, Vulhedar, Avdiivka, Marinka, Krasnohorivka (Donetska Oblast), and Dvorichna (Kharkivska).
• In Zones A and B, the main safety and security concerns in the assessed settlements remained the threat of missile attacks, exposure to armed violence and shelling, lack of bomb shelters, and presence of landmines/ UXOs.