In addition to basic services, the UN Aid Coordination Office (OCHA) noted that mobile communications and public electronic transportation were also affected, prompting the mayor of Dnieper to declare a state of emergency.
Ukraine has seen dozens of civilian deaths or injuries, damaged infrastructure and disrupted heating systems in recent weeks amid freezing temperatures.
One of the greatest combined attacks.
In his statement, Schmale highlighted that the strikes have put the most vulnerable at risk: the elderly, people with health problems and families with children.
Attacks on energy facilities have left some two million people in the Dnipro and Zaporizhzhia regions with limited supplies of electricity, heat and water.
“Civilians and civilian infrastructure are protected by international humanitarian law. People must be safe and secure in their homes,” Schmale wrote.
The attacks in the cities of Kryvyi Rih and Dnipro are among the largest combined attacks since the outbreak of the conflict in 2022, UN spokesman Stéphane Dujarric told reporters on Thursday.
What is the UN doing in Ukraine?
Currently, more than 20 UN programs and agencies are active in Ukraine, collaborating with partners to distribute emergency assistance, winter supplies and warm blankets, provide heating points and monitor conditions in the country.
One of the contingents most at stake is the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which is working to help stabilize the security situation and prevent an accident affecting Ukraine’s nuclear facilities, including Europe’s largest nuclear power plant in war-torn Zaporizhzhia.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) helps support Ukrainians’ access to education, maternal and child health, and psychosocial support, among other services.
And earlier this week, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) published its emergency response and early recovery plan. to help rural families, including smallholder farmers, develop sustainable food production and support Ukraine’s agricultural sector in general.
OCHA coordinates the entire humanitarian response and also provides daily updates on the situation on the ground.