Two citizens of Ukraine were killed in a terrorist attack in the Israeli city of Bnei Brak on March 29, Spokesman for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry Oleh Nikolenko has said.
“Ukrainians lived in Israel for a long time, both residents of Chernivtsi region. The Embassy of Ukraine is currently taking measures to inform the relatives of the victims and provide them with consular assistance, and also interacting with the police as part of the investigation of the terrorist attack,” Nikolenko told Interfax-Ukraine on Wednesday.
Millions of Ukrainians in more than ten cities are deprived of access to drinking water due to the aggression of the Russian military, Commissioner for Human Rights of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Liudmyla Denisova has said.
“Due to the actions of the Russian occupiers, the right of millions of Ukrainians to access to drinking water is being violated. The war partially or completely deprived residents of Mariupol, Mykolaiv, Kharkiv, Okhtyrka, Izium, Makariv, Polohy, Vasylivka, Orikhiv, Huliaipole, Chernihiv, Trostianets and many other settlements,” the ombudsman said on Telegram channel on Thursday.
According to Denisova, 200,000 people in Donetsk region alone do not have access to drinking water.
“With the increase in the scale of the clashes, there is a threat that in the coming weeks the Donetsk region may be completely disconnected from the water supply,” her message said.
More than half (53%) of Ukrainians who worked before the war are currently unemployed, 22% work as usual, 21% work remotely or partially, and only 2% have found a new job, according to a nationwide survey “Adaptation of Ukrainians to the conditions of war”, conducted by the Rating sociological group on March 19.
As noted in the results of the study, most of all the loss of work affected the residents of the east of the country (74%), young people under 35 years old (60%) and those who left their city (66%).
The economic situation as a result of the war did not change only for 18% of citizens, for 52% it deteriorated significantly, for 28% it rather worsened.
Some 40% of respondents believe that their savings will last only a month. However, the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic taught Ukrainians how to save money and the percentage of those who increased their material security during the crisis grew: the Rating reminded that during the first quarantine in April 2020, 55% believed that they had enough savings just for a month.
In the course of the study, 1,000 respondents over the age of 18 were interviewed using the CATI (Computer Assisted Telephone Interviews) method in all regions, except for the temporarily occupied territories of Crimea and Donbas. The sample is representative in terms of age, gender, and type of settlement. The error of the representativeness of the study with a confidence probability of 0.95: no more than 3.1%.
Some 44% of Ukrainians were forced to temporarily separate from their families during Russia’s further invasion of Ukraine, according to the results of a nationwide survey “Adaptation of Ukrainians to the Conditions of War,” conducted by the Rating sociological group on March 19.
Most of these are in the east of the country (54%), the least – in the west (39%). Among young people, 50% is the largest indicator by age.
Some 72% of citizens now constantly communicate with relatives and friends, 48% with friends, 38% with neighbors and 28% with work colleagues.
In addition to separation from the family, 19% of citizens left their city/village for the duration of the war (most of them left from the east). At the same time, the vast majority (93%) of them plan to return home after the war. Only 58% of those who left know that everything is in order with their housing, 10% know that their housing is damaged, and 9% are destroyed. The rest do not know what their housing is.
In the course of the study, 1,000 respondents over the age of 18 were interviewed using the CATI (Computer Assisted Telephone Interviews) method in all regions, except for the temporarily occupied territories of Crimea and Donbas. The sample is representative in terms of age, gender, and type of settlement. The margin of error of the representativeness of the study with a confidence probability of 0.95 does not exceeding 3.1%.
All federal states of Germany will provide quick assistance to Ukrainians who are fleeing the war, and its procedure will be simple, Chancellor Olaf Scholz said.
“Overcoming this challenge is the common task of our entire state,” he tweeted on Wednesday evening.
Scholz thanked the many volunteers whose “tireless efforts allow us to help people fleeing the terrible war in Ukraine.”
The German chancellor also said that it is completely unacceptable when immigrants from Russia are insulted or even subjected to physical attack.
“Because this is Putin’s war. He, and only he, is responsible for this,” Scholz stressed.
Early data estimates suggest that 90% of the Ukrainian population could be facing poverty and extreme economic vulnerability should the war deepen, setting the country – and the region – back decades and leaving deep social and economic scars for generations to come, according to the early projection released today by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
“In the event of a continuing, protracted war in Ukraine, 18 years of socio-economic achievements could be lost, with almost one third of the population living below the poverty line and a further 62% at high risk of falling into poverty within the next twelve months, according to an early projection released today by the UNDP,” UNDP said in a press release on Wednesday.
UNDP Administrator Achim Steiner said that the war in Ukraine is causing unimaginable human suffering with a tragic loss of life and the displacement of millions of people.
“While the need for immediate humanitarian assistance to Ukrainians is of the utmost importance, the acute development impacts of a protracted war are now becoming more apparent. An alarming economic decline, and the suffering and hardship it will bring to an already traumatized population must now come into sharper focus. There is still time to halt this grim trajectory,” he said.
Based on its longstanding, trusted partnership with the Government of Ukraine, UNDP has been working in all 24 regions (administrative districts) of Ukraine with more than 332 municipalities, 15 civil society organizations hubs, and more than 17 business membership associations across the country. As part of the coordinated United Nations Country Team’s response, UNDP is now leveraging this extensive network for immediate and scaled up support to the people of Ukraine, focusing on immediate crisis response and maintaining core government functions for emergency response management and public service delivery.
“In order to avoid further suffering, destruction and impoverishment we need peace now. As part of the United Nations’ unwavering commitment to the Ukrainian people, UNDP’s primary focus is to help preserve hard-won development gains. That includes supporting the government to sustain critical governance structures and services, which constitute the bedrock of all societies,” Steiner said.
UNDP said that according to government estimates, at least $100 billion worth of infrastructure, buildings, roads, bridges, hospitals, schools, and other physical assets have been destroyed. The war has caused 50% of Ukrainian businesses to shut down completely, while the other half are forced to operate well below capacity.
Among the largest UN agencies on the ground in Ukraine, UNDP has remained operational throughout the conflict and is now boosting its presence with targeted, specialized deployments in key areas such as debris management, damage assessment and emergency livelihoods including cash-based assistance, and also offering operational entry points and platforms to development and humanitarian partners to channel and scale support to the Government and people of Ukraine.
UNDP said that a series of policy measures in the coming weeks could assist and mitigate a freefall into poverty as the conflict rages on. In view of the scale of the needs and priorities, and of the country’s strong banking and financial services infrastructure, UNDP joins the UN Crisis Coordinator in promoting the use of multi-purpose cash assistance which could help reach the largest number of people in desperate need across the country.
“For example, UNDP’s initial estimates are that a large-scale emergency cash transfer operation, costing approximately $250 million per month, would cover partial income losses for 2.6 million people expected to fall into poverty. A more ambitious temporary basic income (TBI) that provides a basic income of $5.50 per day per person would cost $430 million a month, based on initial estimates,” the organization said.
