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Ukraine

Ukraine: Health Cluster Bulletin #12 (December 2024)

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HIGHLIGHTS

  • Throughout December, large-scale attacks persisted with devastating intensity. ACLED reported 14,727 air and drone strikes over the past 12 months. These attacks caused widespread destruction of homes and civilian infrastructure, including hospitals, leading to increased civilian casualties and trauma cases needing support from Health Cluster partners. On 25 December, the year’s 13th large-scale coordinated assault on critical energy infrastructure caused significant damage to power facilities. This resulted in one of the hospitals in Dnipro experiencing a complete power cut, losing water, and heating, which prompted the evacuation of over 100 patients with the support of health partners.
  • The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) reported 105 civilians were killed and 514 injured in December 2024 alone. Over the entire year, HRMMU verified 2,064 civilians killed and 9,089 injured. Aerial bombings accounted for 360 deaths and 1,861 injuries in 2024, reflecting a significant increase: fatalities tripled, and injuries surged sixfold compared to 2023. Throughout the year, 27 health partners engaged with national authorities to complement the rapid emergency response efforts, delivering lifesaving assistance to more than 9,500 people affected by the attacks.
  • At least 12 attacks on health care were verified in December. Notably, on 10 December, an airstrike on two medical facilities in Zaporizhzhia city resulted in 11 deaths, including several health care workers. Since the beginning of the year, the Health Cluster, through the WHO SSA, verified 470 attacks on health care in 2024—a 31% increase from the 354 attacks verified in 2023. Casualties among health care workers and patients doubled compared to the previous year, with Ukraine’s health transport workers facing triple the risk of harm compared to other health care staff.
  • Following the recommendations from the August Joint Health and Protection Cluster Workshop, the Health Cluster organized an operational oriented workshop in Kharkiv in December for health and protection partners. The follow-up initiative brought together 23 partner organizations with the aim of improving referral pathways between health and protection actors.
  • In December, the Cash and Voucher assistance (CVA) Task Team published an analysis from 16 health partners, comparing CVA implementation in 2023 and 2024. The report highlighted significant growth in the scale of CVA, improved targeting, and actionable recommendations to guide 2025 priorities