Top official says 2024 begins with ‘loss, pain, anguish’ after intense Russian strikes in Ukraine
Anjali Sharma
GG News Bureau
UNITED NATIONS, 03rd Jan. UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine Denise Brown on Tuesday said that major aerial attacks caused widespread death and destruction of homes and civilian infrastructure have rained down on Ukraine in the first days of 2024 due to an intense offensive by Russia.
Denise Brown in a statement on Tuesday strongly condemned the assaults targeted Ukrainian cities.
Ms. Brown stated “For the people of Ukraine, the new year started with loss, pain, and anguish. For the third day in a row, vast aerial assaults by the Russian Federation have caused death including several children and destruction of homes”.
She emphasized that the situation is alarming as many parts of the capital, Kyiv, have been left without electricity or water, which is particularly dangerous as temperatures are forecast to drop to -20 degrees Celsius later this week.
The humanitarian crisis is harsh in the Donetsk Region, where hostilities have left hundreds of thousands of people without any power, exacerbating the dire situation, she said
Ms. Brown reiterated the commitment of humanitarians to continue supporting the people of Ukraine In the face of this devastation.
“Today, my thoughts are with the families and friends of those killed or injured, and with those who fear for the missing”, Ms. Brown said.
She stressed the need to aid those “suffering the devastation caused by Russia’s invasion.”
UNICEF in a tweet on X posted that many children in the capital were forced to spend the night sheltering in the city’s metro stations.
UN political affairs official condemned attacks against the Russian city of Belgorod, located near the Ukrainian border at the UNSC meeting on Saturday.
Khaled Khiari, Assistant Secretary-General with the UN Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs said that some 18 civilians were killed and over 100 injured there.
Ms. Brown reminded the Russian Federation that ‘indiscriminate attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure are strictly forbidden under international humanitarian law’.
