UN Urges Global Community To Increase Humanitarian Support To Civilians In Donbas

KIEV (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th August, 2018) The United Nations on Sunday called for an immediate increase in humanitarian relief to the civilians in the Ukrainian crisis-torn region of Donbas, the UN Office in Ukraine said in a statement on the occasion of the 10th commemoration of World Humanitarian Day.

"I implore the international community to increase their support for scaling up efforts to alleviate the suffering of the civilian population affected by the crisis wherever they reside within Ukraines territory and reiterate appeals for full respect for international humanitarian law," UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine Osnat Lubrani was quoted as saying in the statement.

Over 3,000 civilians had been killed and 9,000 injured since the outbreak of crisis, while almost 3.5 million people in the Donbas region were vulnerable due to food and water shortages, the UN Office stressed.

"I am concerned that the humanitarian response is funded at less than a third of the required amount � I call on Member States to stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine and support our tireless efforts," Lubrani stressed.

The military operation in Donbas was launched by Kiev in 2014, after residents of the region refused to recognize the new Ukrainian government. In 2015, a ceasefire agreement brokered by the leaders of the so-called Normandy Four group (France, Germany, Russia, and Ukraine) was reached in Minsk, but the situation has remained tense, with both sides accusing each other of violating the truce.