Ukraine: Situation Report, 21 Sep 2022 [EN/UK/RU]

HIGHLIGHTS

• As active fighting continued in the east and south of the country, partial mobilization was announced in the Russian Federation.

• The so-called referendums on joining the Russian Federation were scheduled to take place in nonGovernment-controlled areas of Donetska, Khersonska, Luhanska & Zaporizka oblasts.

• In a village in Kharkivska oblast back under the Government’s control, four health workers were reportedly killed while evacuating patients of a psychiatric hospital.

• Also in the areas of Kharkivska oblast back under Ukraine’s control, humanitarians have delivered two convoys with critical supplies.

• Across Ukraine, nearly 580 humanitarian partners have provided life-critical aid and protection services to 13.4 million people.

ANALYSIS

General security and humanitarian situation

During the reporting period, the fighting and shelling continued in the east and south of Ukraine, with multiple civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure reported. Meanwhile, in the Russian Federation, the partial mobilization was announced on 21 September, and the so-called referendums on joining Russia were scheduled to take place between 23 and 27 September in the non-Government-controlled areas (NGCA) of Luhanska and Donetska oblasts, as well as in parts of Zaporizka and Khersonska oblast invaded after 24 February. At the same time, humanitarian access in the areas of Kharkivska oblast back under the Government of Ukraine’s control has notably improved, allowing humanitarian organizations to organize several aid convoys.

The most-intensive fighting continued to take place in Donetska oblast, where nearly 100 civilian casualties were reported just over the three-day period (16, 17 and 18 September)– 47 in Government-controlled areas (GCA) of the oblast, including in Bakhmut, Kostiantynivka and Kramatorsk, and 51 in NGCA, including in the cities of Donetsk, Horlivka and Makiivka. More civilian buildings, such as houses and schools, were also reportedly damaged by shelling, including the Kramatorsk Hotel in the centre of the Government-controlled city. And on 19 September, shelling in the centre of Donetsk city and in two other settlements was reported to have resulted in the deaths of 10 people and injuries of 13 more.

Still in eastern Ukraine, deadly shelling was reported in the newly accessible areas of Kharkivska oblast, including north of Kharkiv and along the international border with the Russian Federation. Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported that four healthcare workers were killed in shelling on 18 September while evacuating patients and residents of a psychiatric hospital in the village of Strilecha, located at the border with the Russian Federation. Before the shelling began, some 30 people had been reportedly evacuated, with 600 more waiting to be evacuated when the security situation permitted. Later, on 21 September, the Governor updated that all the patients and residents of a hospital were evacuated to Kharkiv, including with the support of the Ukrainian Red Cross Society. Separately, on 20 September, the Governor reported that two civilians had been killed and nine more, including four children, injured in Hrushivka, south-east of Kharkiv. And, also in the east, there were reports of renewed fighting and shelling in Luhanska oblast, such as on 19 September when seven civilians, including three children, were reported to have been killed in Krasnorichenske, just east of the borders with Kharkivska and Donetska oblasts.

Hostilities continued to be reported elsewhere, also resulting in civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure – including energy infrastructure. Four civilians, including two children, were reported to have been killed on 16 September in Kherson, located in the NGCA of the southern Khersonska oblast. It was reported that missile strikes on 19 September in and around Government-controlled Zaporizhzhia, in the south-eastern Zaporizka oblast, caused damage that included electricity infrastructure and resulted in power disruptions.

On 19 September it was reported that hostilities had affected one of Ukraine’s four nuclear power plants (NPPs), when operator Energoatom said that there had been a missile strike just 300 metres from the South Ukraine NPP in GCA of the southern Mykolaivska oblast. Meanwhile, regarding Zaporizhzhia NPP (ZNPP) in NGCA of Zaporizka oblast, on 15 September, the 35-nation Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) adopted a resolution highly critical of the ongoing presence of the Russian Federation Armed Forces and Russian authorities at the plant – and calling for “the competent Ukrainian authorities to regain full control over all nuclear facilities within Ukraine’s internationally recognized borders, including ZNPP, to ensure their safe and secure operation.” In a separate update on 19 September, IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossisaid the situation at ZNPP remained “fragile and precarious” while adding that “today’s explosion near the South Ukraine NPP all too clearly demonstrates the potential dangers also at other nuclear facilities in the country – any military action that threatens nuclear safety and security is unacceptable and must stop immediately.”Two days later, on 21 September, Energoatom reported that shelling had again directly impacted the Zaporizhzhia plant – damaging communication equipment and causing the emergency start-up of safety systems.