The United Nations has asked donors for $4.2 billion this year to provide humanitarian aid for Ukrainians in the war-wracked country as well as for those who sought refuge abroad as Russia's unprovoked invasion nears the two-year mark.
More than 14.6 million Ukrainians inside the country, or some 40 percent of the total population, require humanitarian assistance this year, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in Geneva on January 15.
Additionally, the war also forced about 6.3 million Ukrainians to find refuge abroad, and as of the end of last year, 5.9 million refugees from Ukraine were recorded in Europe," the OCHA said as it presented its Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan for 2024.
"Hundreds of thousands of children live in communities on the front lines of the war, terrified, traumatized and deprived of their basic needs. That fact alone should compel us to do everything we can to bring more humanitarian assistance to Ukraine," OCHA chief Martin Griffiths said.
Ukraine has been subjected to a particularly intense campaign of Russian air strikes since the start of the year, adding to the hardships of an unusually harsh spell of cold weather for Ukraine's civilians.
"In front-line towns and villages, people have exhausted their meagre resources and rely on aid to survive," the OCHA said.
"In the Donetsk and Kharkiv Regions, families shelter in damaged houses with no piped water, gas or electricity. Constant bombardments force people to spend their days in basements," it said.
The UN relief agency said that $3.1 billion, or 75 percent of the total, is to be allocated to support some 8.5 million people inside Ukraine, while the remaining $1.1 billion would be directed to cater to the needs of refugees and host communities in the countries that have received them.
“Although their plight is no longer in the headlines, millions of refugees from Ukraine still need urgent support,” said the UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi. “Host countries continue to extend protection and include them in society, but many vulnerable refugees still need help."
