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Ukraine: ICRC scales up response to meet urgent needs

Geneva (ICRC) – Over 500 tons of medical supplies, food and relief items have arrived in Ukraine since the escalation of the crisis as the ICRC increases its assistance work to respond to skyrocketing humanitarian needs.

The ICRC is now scaling up in 10 different locations in Ukraine, including Kyiv, Poltava, Dnipro, Odessa, to address the rapidly evolving situation. Trucks are moving across the country to provide medical supplies and other assistance whilst other convoys with essential aid will arrive in the coming days.

The ICRC has sent some 140 additional staff to the region, among them medical workers including surgeons, psychologist, weapon contamination specialists, engineers, logisticians, and others who can make an immediate difference to people in need.

The ICRC continues its bilateral and confidential dialogue with the parties to the conflict. Conduct of hostilities, protection of the civilian population and obligations under international humanitarian law are all topics that have been raised.

From 9 March to 25 March, the ICRC in partnership with the Ukraine Red Cross Society (URCS) delivered the following assistance:

Medical:

  • War - wounded kits donated to hospitals in Kyiv, Odessa, Dnipro, Poltava, Zhytomyr and Donetsk.
  • An ICRC surgical team arrived in Poltava to support the Regional Central Hospital. They trained 25 senior personnel (surgeons, anesthetist and ER doctors) on "damage control resuscitation" for war wounded. Medical supplies, drugs and materials were donated to the Poltava Regional authorities to assist several structures caring for war wounded and civilians/IDPs.
  • Donation of drugs for non-communicable diseases to Odessa Regional Hospital and insulin to a children's hospital in Kyiv and in Dnipro.
  • Donated hygiene items in Sviatohirsk to over 2000 people and across 7 shelters in Vinnytsia.
  • First aid training (both physical and psychological) given to volunteers and staff across the country.
  • Team in Kyiv supported facilities for vulnerable people, like elderly and mental health patients, with donations of wheelchairs and hygiene items. Some 50 tons of fuel donated for ambulances.
  • Psychological support sessions offered in shelters throughout Kyiv and Severodonetsk. The ICRC also supports the 24/7 URCS hotline with dedicated psychologists

Food, water and relief items: 

  • In Dnipro, our team distributed around 1200 sleeping mats for people displaced by fighting. We also continue to provide essentials, like water, tea and soap, to people arriving at the train station.
  • Nearly 9500 kg of wheat flour distributed to cover needs of thousands of people in different locations - shelters in Avdiivka; houses for elderly, children and mental health institutions in Kramatorsk and Sloviansk; and donated to Red Cross partners.
  • In Popasna, financial support to the UCRS meant 500 families received desperately needed food like bread, water and pasta.
  • In Lysychansk and Severodonetsk, 2.50 tons of food items and hygiene materials were donated to support local shelters - covering the basic needs of approximately 1000 people.
  • In Donetsk area, food items were distributed in Sviatohirsk to internally displaced persons, food and hygiene items donated to local authorities in Kuybyshevskiy and Dokuchaevsk.
  • In Donetsk, supplies like tarpaulin and plastic sheets meant urgent repairs could be made to reinforce homes for over 1,200 people in Makeevka, Novoazovskyi, Pervomaisk and Dokuchaevsk.
  • Around 9 800 liters of bottled water were donated to cover immediate drinking water shortage in Dokuchaevsk.
  • 188 generators donated to Kyiv municipality.