UN Voices Concern About Trapped Civilians in Ukraine, Calls for Political Solution

UNITED NATIONS, August 9 (RIA Novosti) – United Nations is deeply concerned with the situation in the eastern Ukraine, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said.

“Innocent civilians trapped in the fighting continue to lose their lives,” he said Friday.

Ban added that “restoring vital infrastructure, not least for water and sanitation, is essential for a return to normal life” and that “the number of those who are fleeing the area continues to grow.”

UN humanitarian official John Ging said on august 5 at an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council, that in Donetsk and Luhansk “the water supply is reduced to a few hours a day. Health supplies are running low, and an estimated 70% of health personnel have fled.”

Ging, the director of operations of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, told the Security Council that “since the start of the year 168,677 Ukrainians are registered as having crossed into Russia, with nearly 60,000 of these having applied for refugee status and a further 115,952 having applied for other forms of legal stay.”

• Ging acknowledged “this is not the full picture as many Ukrainians that have fled their homes do not register with Ukrainian authorities or officially apply for assistance. The Russian authorities and UNHCR are reporting that 740,000 people have crossed the border since the start of the year.”

Russia's Ambassador to the UN Vitaly Churkin, who requested the urgent Security Council meeting, said Russia is ready to provide humanitarian assistance to Ukrainians “on our own.” He cited Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's August 4 proposal of humanitarian convoys.......................http://en.ria.ru/world/20140809/191859206/UN-Voices-Concern-About-Trapped-Civilians-in-Ukraine-Calls-for.html
9/8/14
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