Ukraine: Humanitarian Access Snapshot (March to April 2024) [EN/UK]

The reporting period featured the contraction of humanitarian space as a result of the deterioration of the security situation along the front line in Donetska Oblast; the spike in attacks in Kharkiv City and the northern hromadas of Kharkivska Oblast; as well as the introduction of a movement coordination mechanism for humanitarian actors in Khersonska Oblast.

Nineteen humanitarian access incidents were reported to the Humanitarian Access Working Group in March and April, dropping from 32 logged over the first two months of 2024 and compared to 52 incidents in March-April 2023. No casualties among aid workers were reported. Several humanitarian actors enhanced their risk mitigation measures, and local authorities also introduced stricter coordination requirements. Khersonska Oblast established a Commandant’s Office whose responsibilities, among other tasks, include the authorization of some humanitarian movement in areas with the highest security risks and, subsequently, closing traffic for the road along the Dnipro River’s right bank.

Active hostilities also continued to disrupt humanitarian operations across the country, impacting relief efforts. Ten out of 11 incidents involving violence against humanitarian assets and facilities occurred in the front-line oblasts – Donetska, Kharkivska, Khersonska and Zaporizka. In addition to incidents in areas close to the front line, such as Khersonska Oblast, humanitarian infrastructure in towns (Chuhuiv, Dobropilla, Pokrovsk) and oblast centres (Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia) also sustained damage. For instance, a missile strike on Kharkiv City damaged an office of an international non-governmental organization (INGO), and as many as 17 vehicles, also impacting another INGO’s guesthouse. A strike on Pokrovsk destroyed an INGO’s guesthouse/office, and an INGO’s warehouse in Dobropillia with humanitarian aid was also destroyed in a missile strike.

Additionally, hostilities resulted in four incidents in which humanitarian operations had to be suspended for security reasons, including the destruction of a pontoon bridge in Kupianskyi Raion that caused the postponement of an inter-agency convoy and a strike that hit a hotel in Mykolaiv, which was used by various humanitarian actors. As the result, their operational presence and planned activities had to be reviewed.

On 11 April, the Parliament passed law 3633-IX “on making changes to some legislative acts of Ukraine regarding certain issues of military service, mobilization and military accounting” which is due to come into effect on 18 May and likely to present more challenges to humanitarian operators. Incidents involving conscription of humanitarian workers and volunteers are believed to be underreported.

Protesters suspended the blockade of the Ukrainian-Polish border. An agreement between the Polish government and protesters put an end to the blockade of the border that had been in place since November 2023. While there have been no incidents directly impeding the transit of humanitarian cargo, the blockade resulted in an increase in transportation costs and delivery time for humanitarian organizations.