UN: 1.5 million Ukrainians are on the brink of starvation
The conflict that has been ongoing in eastern Ukraine for two years has led to the near-starvation of 1.5 million citizens. This was a major reporting point in the UN’s World Food Program on April 4th. According to its experts, approximately 300 thousand people are in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.
“Two years of violence, shelling and living in fear have left an indelible mark in the lives of thousands of people in eastern Ukraine. We called on all parties to the conflict to ensure full and unhindered humanitarian access to people, who are in need of food,” the representative of the UN’s World Food Program to Ukraine, Giancarlo Stopponi stated.
Stopponi noted that the residents of Lugansk region and human settlements along the war front, which are outside the control of Ukrainian Government, are experiencing a severe shortage of food. Since November 2014, the World Food Program has been providing emergency food assistance to the residents of eastern Ukraine.
370,000 people receive monthly food packages from the WFP. 180,000 people more are provided with vouchers for purchasing food in the markets.