"On 16 May, intense fighting in the northern part of the Kharkiv region resulted in further civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure, [and] there were reports of shelling with humanitarian impact in Kharkiv city and other parts of the region,” the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in a statement.

"Local authorities reported that health facilities and personnel have been impacted by [Russian] shelling for two consecutive days, including injuries to medical staff,” OCHA continued.

In the Kharkiv region – particularly in the northern border and frontline communities, where basic services have been severely disrupted – “47 humanitarian organizations were involved in supporting the evacuation process between 10 and 16 May,” it said.

Over the past week, fighting by Russian forces, which invaded Ukraine in February 2022, “displaced thousands of people from their homes,” and “UN agencies, international and national NGOs, and volunteers have been providing a coordinated humanitarian response to the escalation of hostilities and ground fighting in the Kharkiv region, supporting the efforts of local authorities and emergency services,” it said.

In addition, “44 partners provided assistance at the Kharkiv transit hub during this period, including food, drinking water, hygiene items, clothing, bedding and other household items, medicines and health services, legal counselling and psychological support.”

According to the UN agency, since 10 May, “some 6,700 people have been registered by humanitarian organizations at the Kharkiv city transit hub and received some form of humanitarian assistance.”

Among them, “some 3,000 people were evacuated and transported to Kharkiv city by humanitarian organizations in coordination with local authorities,” while thousands more “left the affected areas on their own and sought assistance at the hub upon arrival,” OCHA said.

"The most urgent needs of evacuees included accommodation, hygiene kits, medicines, psychological support, legal assistance, as well as clothing, household items and other essential goods, as many were unable to take their belongings during the urgent evacuations or lost them due to shelling,” it added.

Between 10 and 16 May, “some 660 people were accommodated in collective centres, while the majority found accommodation independently,” and “humanitarian partners have started assessments and improvements of collective centres to ensure adequate conditions for new arrivals.”

During the same period, “nearly 2,700 people registered to receive multipurpose cash assistance to cover their basic needs,” and “over 3,560 phone calls were received on the evacuation hotline managed by the Aid Coordination Centre, including some 650 requests for evacuation,” OCHA said.

The UN department also said that “humanitarian organizations continue to deploy teams to respond to locations affected by shelling in other parts of the Kharkiv region, including distributing emergency repair kits to households and deploying psychologists to provide immediate support to affected people.”

Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February 2022, claiming it was to protect pro-Russian separatist minorities in the east and to “denazify” the neighbouring country, which has been independent since 1991, after the breakup of the former Soviet Union, and has been moving away from Moscow’s sphere of influence and towards Europe and the West.

The war in Ukraine has already caused tens of thousands of deaths on both sides, and the two belligerents remain entrenched in their territorial positions and unwilling to make any negotiating concessions.

Recent months have been marked by large-scale Russian airstrikes against Ukrainian cities and infrastructure, while Kyiv’s forces have targeted Russian territory near the border and in the Crimean peninsula, which was illegally annexed in 2014.

Now in its third year, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have been facing a shortage of soldiers, weapons and ammunition, despite repeated promises of aid from Western allies.

According to OCHA, recent months have seen “a shrinking humanitarian space as a result of the deteriorating security situation along the frontline in Donetsk region, increased shelling in Kharkiv city and northern communities of Kharkiv region, and the introduction of a movement coordination mechanism for humanitarian actors in Kherson region.”

"In March and April, at least 19 humanitarian access incidents were reported to the Humanitarian Access Working Group, compared to 32 incidents recorded in the first two months of 2024,” the organization said.

Russian shelling and ground fighting “also continued to disrupt humanitarian operations across the country, affecting the delivery of aid, with 10 out of 11 incidents involving violence against humanitarian assets and personnel occurring in frontline regions: Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia.”

In addition, OCHA said, “hostilities resulted in four incidents where humanitarian operations had to be suspended due to security reasons.”

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