Sat 19 March 2022:
More than 3.3 million refugees have now fled Ukraine since Russia’s attacks began, the United Nations said, while nearly 6.5 million are thought to be internally displaced within the country.
UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, said on Saturday that 3,328,692 Ukrainians had left since the attacks began on February 24, with another 58,030 joining the exodus since Friday’s update.
“People continue to flee because they are afraid of bombs, airstrikes and indiscriminate destruction,” said UNHCR chief Filippo Grandi.
Some 90 percent of those who have fled are women and children.
From 24 Feb—17 March, we recorded 2,149 civilian casualties in context of Russia’s armed attack against #Ukraine: 816 killed, incl 59 children; 1,333 injured, incl 74 children, mostly caused by shelling & airstrikes. Actual toll is much higher. Full update https://t.co/VvH1mayqsP pic.twitter.com/rfBMmSgdwv
— UNHumanRightsUkraine (@UNHumanRightsUA) March 18, 2022
Aid agencies struggle to reach Ukraine’s ‘beseiged’ cities
Aid agencies have been struggling to reach people trapped in Ukrainian cities ringed by Russian forces, the UN’s World Food Programme said, including hundreds of thousands of women and children.
“The challenge is to get to the cities that are encircled or about to be encircled,” emergency coordinator Jakob Kern told AFP news agency, describing the situation as “dire”.
Lack of humanitarian access is making it almost impossible to deliver emergency food supplies to the besieged port city of Mariupol, the northeastern city of Kharkiv and the northeastern city of Sumy.
Ukraine says 112 children died in attacks so far
The Prosecutor General’s office in Ukraine has said a total of 112 children have died in the country since the start of Russia’s attacks.
The office says more than 140 children have been wounded since February 24.
According to the UN children’s agency, more than 1.5 million children had fled Ukraine.
SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES
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