Ukraine: Humanitarian Impact Situation Report As of 17 March 2022

HIGHLIGHTS 

• After three weeks of active hostilities, civilian casualties have risen to 2,032, including 780 killed, according to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR).
• On 16 March, Mariupol’s Drama Theatre and Neptune sports centre (Donetska oblast, east) – where more than 1,000 people have reportedly sought shelter amid ongoing hostilities, including pregnant women and children – suffered extensive damages after allegedly being hit by a bomb. Unconfirmed preliminary reports suggest that the bomb shelter withstood the powerful blast, as people are now being pulled out of the rubble.
• As of 17 March, in Luhanska oblast (east), active hostilities continue in the city of Rubizhne, where around 20 homes were destroyed overnight. Across the oblast, authorities report that around 35,000 users have been cut off from gas supplies, while nearly 104,000 remain without electricity.
• As millions of people are now on the move, forced to shelter in crowded spaces with limited sanitation facilities and access to health services, the risk of infectious disease outbreaks continues to rise. The World Health Organization (WHO) says that nearly half of all attacks on health systems across the globe so far this year – 43 out of 89 – have occurred in Ukraine.
• In eastern Ukraine, shortages in safe drinking water have long been a problem that ongoing hostilities have only exacerbated. Damaged water infrastructure remains unrepaired as constant shelling and growing insecurity make it virtually impossible to carry out vital repair works, forcing people with limited or no access to water to resort to catching rainwater or melted snow.

Read full report here.