Ukraine: Situation Report, 20 Jul 2022 [EN/RU/UK]

HIGHLIGHTS

• Last week again saw one of the deadliest single attacks, when at least 25 civilians were killed in Vinnytsia on 14 July

• Eastern Donetska and southern Mykolaivska oblasts were affected by hostilities daily, causing damage to residential buildings and infrastructure facilities and killing civilians.

• Over 11,800 civilian casualties, including more than 5,100 killed, have been verified as of 17 July. However, the actual number of casualties is likely much higher

• While people continue to return home, new waves of displacement are anticipated due to insecurity and lack of gas and water supply in affected areas

• Despite significant challenges, including access to the hardest-hit locations, humanitarian actors have reached 11 million people across Ukraine

ANALYSIS

General security and humanitarian situation

About to enter its sixth month, the war in Ukraine the past week again featured what has become a worrying trend – missiles striking residential and commercial areas of a city and causing dozens of civilian casualties in a single incident. Reported missile strikes in Vinnytsia in central-west Ukraine on 14 July resulted in the deaths of 25 people, and over 200 others sought medical attention, 68 of whom were hospitalized. Among those reported to have been killed was a 4-year-old girl with Down syndrome, while a woman who died five days later from her injuries was identified as a neurologist and a mother of three. The attack on Vinnytsia is the third deadliest single attack recorded in Ukraine since 24 February. This incident also followed a missile strike on 9 July on Chasiv Yar in Government-controlled areas of eastern Donetska oblast that destroyed a municipal dormitory for vulnerable people, killing 48 civilians and injuring 9 and the shelling of a residential building and recreation centre in Serhiivka in southern Odeska oblast on 1 July that killed at least 21 people. The United Nations (UN) and other humanitarian actors have condemned the indiscriminate use of weapons in civilian areas, as the UN Chief António Guterres did following the attack on Vinnytsia in his statement, calling for “accountability for such violations.”

Meanwhile, the main fighting remained focused along the front line in eastern Donetska oblast. Authorities in Government-controlled-areas, entities in non-Government-controlled areas of the oblast and humanitarian partners, continued to report the shelling of residential areas, damage to civilian infrastructure, and civilians being killed and injured. In Government-controlled areas, the cities of Kramatorsk and especially Sloviansk – currently both on the front line – were reported to be under attack daily, with remaining residents being urged to evacuate. On 18 July, six civilians were reportedly killed when a missile struck a building further south in Toretsk, while two others were rescued from the rubble. More shelling and casualties in central Kramatorsk and Sloviansk were reported on 19 July. And photos taken in Sloviansk on 19 July for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) show damaged residential buildings and, in one case, an older man wearing bandages. Another photo shows a woman trying to clean up her balcony in a badly damaged apartment building – lacking windows and with the next apartment completely gutted and blackened by fire and smoke. These images vividly illustrate the conditions in which people live in many parts of Donetska oblast and the level of support required to help them prepare for the upcoming winter. In non-Government-controlled areas of Donetska oblast, cities and towns including Donetsk, Horlivka, Makiivka and Yasynuvata were also reported to be under fire daily. Just on 15 July, 12 civilians were reported to have been killed and 64 injured in 10 settlements, while several buildings, including schools and health-care facilities, have been damaged.

Similar to previous weeks, fighting and shelling were reported in other parts of the country. There were reports of daily missile attacks on Mykolaiv city and Mykolaivska oblast in southern Ukraine, as well as of only slightly less frequent attacks in neighbouring Odeska oblast. On 19 July alone, 43 people were reportedly injured in Mykolaiv, while hundreds more were already hospitalized with injuries received earlier. City authorities are reportedly considering “closing” the city for security-related reasons, which might prevent people from evacuating and put them at additional risk when the next attack happens. Closer to the Donbas region, there were also more reports of missile strikes and casualties in the city of Dnipro and Dnipropetrovska oblast on 14-16 July and in south-east Zaporizka oblast on 14 July. Eastern Kharkivska and north-eastern Sumska oblasts also continued to be impacted by shelling, resulting in civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure.