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The situation in Ukraine has become “even more dire and dangerous” over the past month, as civilian casualties continue to reach “record highs” amid intensified Russian attacks, the UN warned on Monday, according to Anadolu Agency.
Kayoko Gotoh, director of the Europe and Central Asia Division for the UN Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations, told the UN Security Council that millions of Ukrainian civilians remained under constant fire as Russia intensified attacks on population centres and civilian infrastructure across the country.
Gotoh said civilian deaths had been reported in Kremenchuk, Izium and Kyiv. At least 328 civilians were killed and 2,105 injured in September, she said, adding that the figure was 85% higher than in September last year. Preliminary analysis indicated that October was “just as high as in September.”
She said UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres had also expressed concern about civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure inside Russia. Ukrainian attacks on Russian oil and industrial facilities had been reported in recent weeks, she added.
“All attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure, wherever they occur, are a violation of international humanitarian law and must cease immediately,” Gotoh said.
Warning of the approaching winter, she said attacks on energy infrastructure also endangered the safe operation of Ukraine’s nuclear sites. “After nearly five years of record levels of death, devastation, and civilian suffering, the war in Ukraine is only getting more dangerous and unpredictable,” she added.
Gotoh said the UN chief welcomed a six-day local ceasefire in Oleshky, in Ukraine’s Kherson region, describing it as “the longest since 2022 and fully implemented by the sides.”
She also welcomed US-led diplomatic efforts and urged the parties “to seize the opportunity of the planned trilateral talks in Abu Dhabi later this week to make tangible progress.”
Mohamed Yahya, assistant secretary-general for humanitarian affairs and deputy emergency relief coordinator, also addressed the Council on behalf of Tom Fletcher, the UN’s relief chief.
“The humanitarian situation has been deteriorating for months,” Yahya said. “As winter sets in, every loss of electricity, heating or water puts more lives at risk.”
Yahya said the pause in Oleshky was “limited in time and geography” and had not changed the wider pattern of hostilities, but had given civilians “a measure of safety.”
He set out three demands, beginning with the call that “civilians, and the infrastructure they depend on, must be protected wherever they are.” Yahya also urged the parties to “build on the opening in Oleshky” and pursue “practical arrangements that allow aid through and civilians to voluntarily move to safer areas.”
