Ukraine: Humanitarian Impact of Intensified Hostilities in Donetska and Sumska Oblasts - Flash Update #5 (26 August 2024) [EN/UK]
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HIGHLIGHTS
The security situation continues to deteriorate in Donetska Oblast as hostilities intensify mostly near the towns of Pokrovsk, Myrnohrad and Selydove.
Waves of attacks across Ukraine on 26 August left 250,000 families and business entities in Sumska Oblast without electricity and damaged railway infrastructure.
Nearly 500 people were evacuated from Sumska Oblast between 15 and 25 August, and a mandatory evacuation of children and caregivers was announced for another two hromadas in Donetska Oblast.
Humanitarian organizations mobilized assistance to people affected by the strikes and supported those fleeing active hostilities.
HUMANITARIAN SITUATION
The security situation continues to deteriorate in Donetska Oblast as hostilities intensify near the towns of Pokrovsk, Myrnohrad and Selydove. Between 22 and 25 August, the Human Rights Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (HRMMU) verified that 6 civilians were killed and 22 injured in the Ukraine-controlled part of Donetska Oblast, and 10 more were injured in the part of the oblast occupied by the Russian Federation. HRMMU also verified 14 civilian casualties in Sumska Oblast.
The wave of attacks across Ukraine on 26 August damaged key energy infrastructure, killing and injuring civilians. Airstrikes resulted in civilian casualties and damaged civilian infrastructure across the country, including Donetska and Sumska oblasts. Nearly 250,000 consumers – families and business entities – were without electricity supply in Sumska Oblast as a result of the attacks, according to the regional energy operator. Energy infrastructure, such as railway infrastructure in Sumska Oblast, was also damaged, according to the national railway operator, Ukrzaliznytsia.
Between 22 and 26 August, the police recorded an average of 2,700 attacks a day across front-line communities in Donetska Oblast. In Kramatorsk, an airstrike at a hotel on 24 August killed one civilian and injured another six, according to partners on the ground, including, reportedly, journalists. Attacks also damaged more than 20 civilian facilities in Kostiantynivka, Kramatorsk and Toretsk. On 25 August, attacks were reported in the towns of Kostiantynivka, Kurakhove, Sloviansk and Ukrainsk. killing at least 10 and injuring another 19 civilians, according to local authorities. In Sumska Oblast, civilian casualties due to airstrikes were reported in three hromadas at the border with the Russian Federation – Bezdrytska, Sveska and Sumska.
The evacuation of residents from border hromadas in Sumska Oblast is ongoing, with local authorities reporting that most people chose to remain within the oblast. Between 15 and 25 August, nearly 500 people, including 60 children and 20 people with disabilities, were evacuated through two transit centres in Sumy City. On 26 August, due to the deterioration of the security situation in the oblast, local authorities announced a mandatory evacuation of children and their caregivers from two more hromadas in Donetska Oblast – Kostiantynivska and Selydivska.