February 25, 2022

Seventeen high-rises in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol have been damaged by shelling, according to the city administration.

Meanwhile, UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) says it is deeply concerned that intensifying hostilities in Ukraine pose an immediate threat to the lives and wellbeing of the country’s 7.5 million children.

All the buildings affected were in the east of the city, closer to the front line of fighting with pro-Russian separatists, authorities said.

Electricity supplies were partially disrupted, the city said late Thursday adding that the water supply is still functioning and public transport was running free of charge for residents.

There were 23 injured residents and 23 injured soldiers being treated in clinics. “The operative situation in Mariupol remains unchanged,” authorities said.

Mariupol was attacked by Russian troops on Thursday, but the Ukrainian military’s General Staff said the city on the Sea of Azov was “brought back under full control.”

In the late evening, residents mainly from the city’s east posting on social media reported hearing shelling and impacts.

A curfew is in place in the city. A local newspaper reported there would be an additional evacuation train on Thursday night. Some 1700 people already left the city by train during the day.

Mariupol is a key location for the steel industry. The Donbass coal and steel district exported its goods via Mariupol’s port before 2014, when the war in eastern Ukraine began.

UNICEF Executive Director, Ms Catherine Russell on children in Ukraine, said in a statement on Thursday, that heavy weapons fire along the line of contact had already damaged critical water infrastructure and education facilities in recent days.

She said unless the fighting subsides, tens of thousands of families could be displaced, dramatically escalating humanitarian needs.

“UNICEF is working across eastern Ukraine to scale up life-saving programmes for children.

“This includes trucking safe water to conflict-affected areas; prepositioning health, hygiene and emergency education supplies as close as possible to communities near the line of contact.

“The UN agency is working with municipalities to ensure there is immediate help for children and families in need.

“UNICEF-supported mobile teams are also providing psychosocial care to children traumatised by the chronic insecurity.’’

According to her, the past eight years of conflict have inflicted profound and lasting damage to children on both sides of the line of contact. The children of Ukraine need peace desperately now.

The top official echoed the appeal of the Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for an immediate cease-fire and calls on all parties to respect their international obligations to protect children from harm, and to ensure that humanitarian actors can safely and quickly reach children in need.