By Anjali Sharma
UNITED NATIONS – UN Emergency relief head Tom Fletcher and Filippo Grandi, head of the UNHCR on Thursday stated that the people of Ukraine and those forced abroad need $3.32 billion in lifesaving and sustained humanitarian assistance to help them cope in the 4th year of war after Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Tom Fletcher and Filippo Grandi in a joint appeal from Kyiv, said that millions of civilians inside Ukraine and abroad depend on the international community’s support, amid ongoing Russian attacks.
“The Ukrainian people have shown incredible courage over these years and we have to respond by showing a real, genuine, sustained international engagement, we have to respond with heart,” said Mr. Fletcher.
“We will be here with the Ukrainian people for as long as it takes to meet these needs and to support them…We must not forget those Ukrainians who are in the occupied territories whose needs are extreme. And we must continue to be creative and brave about getting our support to those who most need it.”
The appeals are designed to support critical assistance to 6 million people inside Ukraine where overall needs are more than twice that number and abroad, where more than 6.8 million Ukrainian refugees live.
They noted that 2.62 billion is designated for response teams inside the country, while UNHCR has requested $690 million in 2025 and $1.2 billion for 2025-2026 to assist governments hosting refugees in 11 countries.
Mr. Filippo Grandi said “The objective, of course, is not to make sure that these people are refugees forever.”
“The objective is for this to create the conditions for these people to return to Ukraine. This is what Ukraine needs
Mr. Grandi was speaking on his 6th visit to Ukraine highlighted the unrelented impact of bomb blasts on the frontline, day in, day out. Communities there continue to suffer destruction and deprivation in the cold of winter, he said.
“Here, Kyiv is a big city, but when you go out there in a small town, you see how people’s lives are completely devastated; almost everybody had to leave their houses.
“Very few people have access to heating in the bitter cold…This targeting by the Russian Federation of energy infrastructure, which is, of course, affecting civilian lives directly, is something that has to stop.”
Matthias Schmale, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine, emphasized that national NGO partners and the UN continue to deliver aid and evacuate the most vulnerable individuals, wherever access allows: “Inevitably, a big part of the needs are along the frontline,” he said.
“We are supporting in particular people who have chosen to stay near the frontline and amongst those, particularly people with disabilities and older people who find it difficult to move.”
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