Ukraine: Humanitarian Access Snapshot (July to August 2024) [EN/UK]

In July and August, humanitarian relief efforts faced mounting challenges, including the safety of humanitarian personnel. Partners reported 16 incidents involving violence against humanitarian facilities and personnel. Two humanitarian workers were killed in the line of duty, and four more were injured in three separate incidents in Khersonska Oblast, south of Ukraine.

Incidents with casualties all occurred within 5 km of the front line, and 13 incidents damaged humanitarian facilities and assets, including further afield. Among the incidents, there was a strike in Sumska Oblast on 17 August, which damaged two vehicles of a humanitarian organisation. Additionally, a strike damaged a Transit Centre in Pokrovsk on 20 August. Other challenges included the impact on key humanitarian infrastructure (such as storage facilities), extended curfew hours and closure of roads due to the shifting front line.

Pokrovsk Town saw a sharp decrease in the population and increasing risks to humanitarian operations as military activity intensified. The town had an estimated population of 52,000 as of 1 July and served as a strategic location for humanitarians working in Donetska Oblast. Over the past two months, the distance to the front line reduced from 23 km to 8 km, and the population almost halved to about 26,000 residents as of 1 September. This situation has prompted the relocation of humanitarian actors as well as public service providers. As the authorities enforced stricter requirements, the evacuations for families with children have become increasingly dangerous amidst an escalation in military activity

Humanitarian operations in locations near the front line in Donetska and Khersonska oblasts also continued to face restrictions due to increased military activity, changes in control in Pokrovskyi Raion and the risks of operating along the Dnipro River in Khersonska Oblast. The spike in hostilities observed in Sumska Oblast did not significantly affect access but required adjustments to a different security context.

The spill-over effect of increasing hostilities in the border areas of Sumska Oblast also resulted to movement restrictions for civilians entering the area, stretching for 20 km from the international border with the Russian Federation. However, humanitarian actors have not reported access restrictions to reach these areas in the Humanitarian Access Working Group through the Access Monitoring and Reporting Framework (AMRF).

July and August saw fewer cases involving military mobilization reported in AMRF — 13 in July and 4 in August, compared to 31 in June and 15 in May. The impact of conscription on the humanitarian response goes beyond the physical mobilisation of humanitarian staff, but it is also reflected in vacancy rates, delays in project implementations, less coverage of humanitarian response and the overall impaired capacity to implement programmes. In recent months, more national NGOs have received “critical entity” status from the Government making these organizations eligible to initiate the process to reserve staff.