Ukraine: Humanitarian Impact Situation Report (As of 3:00 p.m. (EET) on 17 March 2022) [EN/RU/UK]

This report is produced by OCHA Ukraine in collaboration with humanitarian partners. It covers the period from 3 p.m. (EET) 16 March to 3 p.m. (EET) 17 March.

KEY FIGURES (FLASH APPEAL 2022)

12M people in need
(Source: 2022 Flash Appeal)

6M people targeted
(Source: 2022 Flash Appeal)

$1.1B funding required (US$)
(Source: 2022 Flash Appeal)

36% funded
(Source: FTS)

HIGHLIGHTS

• After three weeks of active hostilities, civilian casualties have risen to 2,032, including 780 killed, according to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).

• On 16 March, Mariupol’s Drama Theatre and Neptune sports centre (Donetska oblast, east) – where more than 1,000 people have reportedly sought shelter amid ongoing hostilities, including pregnant women and children – suffered extensive damages after allegedly being hit by a bomb. Unconfirmed preliminary reports suggest that the bomb shelter withstood the powerful blast, as people are now being pulled out of the rubble.

• As of 17 March, in Luhanska oblast (east), active hostilities continue in the city of Rubizhne, where around 20 homes were destroyed overnight. Across the oblast, authorities report that around 35,000 users have been cut off from gas supplies, while nearly 104,000 remain without electricity.

• As millions of people are now on the move, forced to shelter in crowded spaces with limited sanitation facilities and access to health services, the risk of infectious disease outbreaks continues to rise. The World Health Organization (WHO) says that nearly half of all attacks on health systems across the globe so far this year –43 out of 89 – have occurred in Ukraine.

• In eastern Ukraine, shortages in safe drinking water have long been a problem that ongoing hostilities have only exacerbated. Damaged water infrastructure remains unrepaired as constant shelling and growing insecurity make it virtually impossible to carry out vital repair works, forcing people with limited or no access to water to resort to catching rainwater or melted snow.

SITUATION OVERVIEW

After three weeks of active hostilities, civilian casualties and damage to critical infrastructure continue to accumulate as intense clashes reach new localities across the country. In traditional hotspots, like eastern Ukraine, fighting continues to escalate, leaving affected people with little respite.

As of 16 March, OHCHR reports 2,032 civilian casualties, including 780 killed, figures that are likely much higher than officially reported and will only continue to grow as fighting rages on. These include854 reported casualties in Donetska and Luhanska oblasts (162 killed and 472 injured in Government-controlled areas (GCA), and 46 killed and 174 injured in nonGovernment-controlled areas (NGCA) and 1,178 civilian casualties in other regions of Ukraine.

The rapidly deteriorating humanitarian crisis in the southern city of Mariupol continues to be the biggest concern. Yesterday, 16 March, brought some respite to the city ravaged by hostilities as nearly 6,500 people, including more than 2,000 children, safely evacuated to Zaporizhzhia (Zaporizka oblast, south-east). However, according to authorities, private cars attempting to evacuate Mariupol came under fire, injuring at least five civilians, including a child. This incident reinforces the need for safe and secure evacuation corridors for civilians and humanitarian goods to be agreed to and respected by both sides.

Meanwhile, the Russian Federation reported it has so far evacuated 283,000 people from Ukraine towards Russia, including 12,000 persons during the past 24 hours. The UN does not have means to verify the actual numbers of people evacuated.

Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister/Minister for Reintegration Iryna Vereshchuk announced that humanitarian convoys stalled outside Mariupol have yet again failed to reach the encircled city with the life-saving relief supplies that hundreds of thousands of people still trapped there desperately need. Ms. Vereshchuk added that the relief supplies were unloaded in Berdiansk (Zaporizka oblast) to provide much-needed support to people fleeing Mariupol. Inside the city, however, the situation continues to worsen. People still lack access to the most basic supplies, including safe water, food and essential medicines.

On 16 March, Mariupol’s Drama Theatre and Neptune sports centre – where more than 1,000 people reportedly sought shelter amid ongoing hostilities, including pregnant women and children – suffered extensive damages after allegedly being hit by a bomb. As intense clashes persisted, search-and-rescue crews were unable to reach affected people in the immediate aftermath, with the entrance to the theatre’s bomb shelter blocked by piles of rubble. Unconfirmed preliminary reports suggest that the bomb shelter withstood the powerful blast, as people are now being pulled out of the rubble. At the time of writing, however, the civilian toll has yet to be confirmed by oblast authorities.

In neighbouring Luhanska oblast, active hostilities continue in the city of Rubizhne, where around 20 homes were destroyed overnight. Across the oblast, authorities report that around 35,000 users have been cut off from gas supplies in more than 20 settlements, while nearly 104,000 users remain without electricity in nearly 40 settlements. In Popasna and Zolote (Luhanska oblast), water supplies have been partially disrupted, while the settlements of Novotoshkivka, Nyzhne and Nyzhne-1 (also in Luhanska oblast) remain completely cut off from access to safe water. Due to the lack of electricity and limited water supplies, centralized heating has been interrupted in Lysychansk (Luhanska oblast) – where more than 10 boiler houses are no longer operational – and in at least 180 multi-apartment buildings in Sievierodonetsk (Luhanska oblast), as temperatures dip below freezing.

In eastern Ukraine, shortages of safe drinking water have long been a problem that has only been exacerbated by ongoing hostilities. In many localities, damaged water infrastructure remains unrepaired as constant shelling and growing insecurity make it virtually impossible to carry out vital repair works, forcing people with limited or no access to water to resort to catching rainwater or melted snow. International non-governmental organization (INGO) People in Need (PIN) continues to provide safe drinking water by tanker to villages and towns whose water supply systems have been damaged while also providing jerry cans filled with water and containers for people with access to wells and reservoirs to store water.

The recent escalation in hostilities across Ukraine has forcibly displaced nearly 4.9 million people, with 1.85 million new internally displaced persons (IDPs) and more than 3 million people fleeing across international borders. As millions are now on the move, forced to shelter in crowded spaces with limited sanitation facilities and access to health services, the risk of infectious disease outbreaks, including tuberculosis and diarrheal diseases, continues to rise. The prevalence of HIV and tuberculosis in Ukraine ranks among the highest across Europe, while last year’s polio outbreak in western Ukraine highlighted the risk of outbreaks of vaccine-preventable diseases in the country.

With only 37 per cent of the population having received two jabs of the COVID-19 vaccine – one of the lowest rates in Europe – Doctors Without Borders warns of the possibility of a new wave of COVID-19 potentially overwhelming the health system. The continuation and expansion of vaccination campaigns, including for polio, measles and COVID-19, and strengthened surveillance for priority infectious diseases, will be critical to prevent outbreaks that could bring an alreadystrained health care system to its knees at a time when needs are greatest.

WHO says that nearly half of all attacks on health systems across the globe so far this year –43 out of 89 – have occurred in Ukraine. More than 300 health facilities are located in areas experiencing active hostilities or with a significant presence of the Russian Federation forces, while 600 facilities are within 10 km of ongoing clashes, leaving the health system particularly vulnerable to infrastructural damages and severe interruptions in critical services.