HIGHLIGHTS

• With intense fighting ongoing in Donetska Oblast, the number of civilians leaving the front-line communities has increased.

• The authorities announced the mandatory evacuation of children from Pokrovsk Town and nearby towns and villages.

• Humanitarians mobilized emergency response to support people in and from affected communities in Donetska and Sumska oblasts.

• Aid workers continued to assist recently displaced people on the move and in the destination areas, including some in western parts of the country.

HUMANITARIAN SITUATION

Since 16 August, Donetska Oblast reportedly saw fighting nearing the urban centres of Pokrovsk, Myrnohrad and Toretsk. Between 16 to 22 August, the Human Rights Monitoring Mission to Ukraine (HRMMU) verified 16 civilians were killed and 22 injured in the Ukraine-controlled part of Donetska Oblast, and one more was killed and 21 more injured in the occupied part. HRMMU also verified 15 civilian casualties in Sumska Oblast.

The authorities and partners on the ground noted new damage to homes, education facilities and other civilian infrastructure. An attack on 20 August seriously damaged a transit centre for newly displaced people and several multi-story residential buildings in Pokrovsk Town. Two civilians were affected at the transit site, which was later deactivated due to security concerns. The Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine, Mattias Schmale, who visited the site after the attack, condemned the strike and called for international humanitarian law to be respected.

On 18 August, the authorities called upon the residents of Pokrovsk, Myrnohrad and Selydove towns in Donetska Oblast to leave for safer parts of Ukraine. On 19 August, the oblast authorities announced the mandatory evacuation of children from Pokrovska Hromada, including Pokrovsk Town and 13 more towns and villages. Of the nearly 53,000 residents remaining in the town at that time, 4,000 were children, compared with 13,700 children before the escalation of the war, according to government estimates.

The pace of evacuation from Donetska Oblast increased significantly in light of the above. According to the authorities, between 20 and 22 August, up to 5,000 civilians were leaving the Ukraine-controlled areas of Donetska Oblast every day through organized evacuations and by their own means. As of 21 August, the authorities reported that all children had been evacuated from 90 towns and villages, with over 4,900 children remaining in 30 front-line locations in Kramatorskyi and Pokrovskyi raions.

In Sumska Oblast, people also continued to leave communities bordering the Russian Federation, although at a somewhat slower pace. According to the partners on the ground, displaced people preferred to stay within the Oblast.

The Health Cluster reported that the need to relocate hospitals in Donetska Oblast became more urgent, with the health authorities requesting support for relocating hospitals from Myrnohrad and Pokrovsk. In Sumska Oblast, an Emergency Medicine Centre was facing a shortage of medicines and consumables due to the increase in patients. Health partners reported difficulties accessing areas near the front line due to the security situation.

HUMANITARIAN RESPONSE

As the humanitarian needs in Donetska and Sumska oblasts continued to increase, in addition to conducting regular programming, humanitarian organizations mobilized emergency response to support people in the affected communities. Aid workers also assisted newly displaced people on the move and in their destination areas, including over 340 people evacuated by trains to Rivnenska Oblast in the west of Ukraine.

On 21 August, an inter-agency convoy delivered 13 tons of critical humanitarian supplies to front-line Kurakhivska Hromada in Donetska Oblast. The supplies included medical kits, adult diapers, individual hygiene kits, dignity kits for older people, solar lamps, jerry cans, kitchen sets and kits for winter response.

Cluster response in Donetska, Sumska and neighbouring oblasts

Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) Cluster partners provided daily technical support and facilitated referrals at the transit centre in Mezhova in Dnipropetrovska Oblast for evacuees from Donetska Oblast, ensuring an effective multisectoral response. Since 7 August, following the mandatory evacuation in Sumskyi Raion of Sumska Oblast, nearly 100 people have been housed and assisted in collective sites and transit centres in Sumy City, accommodating around 45 evacuees daily.

Cash Working Group partners continued registering evacuees for multi-purpose cash assistance (MPCA) in Donetska and Sumska oblasts and neighbouring Dnipropetrovska and Poltavska oblasts receiving newly displaced people. As of 22 August, nearly 800 people were registered to receive MPCA in Donetska Oblast; over 100 people were registered in the Mezhova Transit Site in Dnipropetrovska Oblast, and more than160 evacuees were enrolled in Poltavska Oblast. In Sumska Oblast, partners processed the list of over 1,800 evacuees registered with the governmental social protection services between 7 and 14 August. Partners also began to verify over 200 people registered with governmental social protection services between 15 and 19 August.

Food Security and Livelihoods Cluster partners provided hot meals and ready-to-eat kits to evacuees at transit centres in Pokrovsk and Mezhova to bridge the time until cash assistance is processed. Additionally, institutional feeding was provided at Mezhova Transit Centre, allowing hot meals to be cooked directly on-site. In Pavlohrad Town, assistance included a mobile kitchen with a capacity to serve up to 1,000 meals daily. Hot meals were also provided at transit centres and collective sites in Sumska Oblast, with about 180 portions distributed daily. In addition, hot meals were provided for evacuated people at collective sites.

Shelter and Non-Food Items Cluster partners continued emergency response in Donetska Oblast, while the area of operation was shrinking due to security concerns to safeguard the responders. Between 9 and 19 August, partners provided over 850 people in Kurakhove, Myrnohrad and Pokrovsk with emergency shelter kits. In Sumska Oblast, over 2,050 people were provided with emergency shelter materials and non-food items. Cluster partners supported recently displaced people at humanitarian hubs and the transit sites in Donetska and Dnipropetrovska oblasts with blankets, beds and kitchen sets and pre-positioning additional supplies to receive more evacuees. Over 2,600 people received non-food supplies to meet their basic needs in a transit centre in Sumska Oblast.

Fifteen Health Cluster partners engaged in the health emergency response in Donetska Oblast. They provided coordinated medical, mental health and psychosocial support at the newly established transit centre. In Reshetylivka, Poltavska Oblast, partners offered health support to evacuees from Donetska Oblast. The Health Cluster collaborated with local authorities to coordinate resources for hospitals undergoing relocation and supported the associated costs. In Sumska Oblast, 18 health partners provided essential health assistance as part of the 2024 Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan (HNRP). They donated treatment sets for war-wounded patients to a hospital in Sumy and formed rapid response teams for urgent medical and psychological aid during missile attacks.

Protection Cluster partners supported evacuation from front-line locations in coordination with local authorities, bringing people to transit and collective sites in Dnipropetrovska, Poltavska and Zaporizka oblasts. Due to the shortage of accommodations accessible for people with disabilities, cluster partners identified collective sites accessible for people with low mobility and facilitated transportation to those sites. At the Mezhova transit site, four cluster partners provided mental health and psychosocial support and legal assistance, addressing such issues as registering displaced people, applying for housing allowances, restoring documents, and conducting activities for children. The Cluster, with the Donetska Oblast authorities, developed a leaflet on evacuation procedures, while other cluster partners provided evacuation support and protection services in receiving oblasts.

Child-friendly services were limited in Donetska Oblast due to the security situation. Instead, Child Protection partners provided services in NGO offices or through mobile teams. At an evacuation hub in Pokrovsk, awareness-raising activities were conducted along with psychosocial support for children and caregivers. Emergency psychosocial support kits for children were distributed together with brochures on coping with stress and information on case management services. Psychological First Aid was provided during evacuations. Legal consultations, case management services, assistance with restoring and obtaining documents and guardianship, establishing "Child of War" status, and providing in-kind humanitarian aid were also offered. Similar support and cash assistance for children were offered by partners in Mezhova.

Support for newly displaced people in the west of Ukraine

Government-organized evacuations to the western oblasts of Ukraine continued. In August alone, Rivnenska Oblast received nearly 340 people displaced from Donetska Oblast, with new arrivals accommodated in two raions of Rivnenska Oblast. According to the authorities, some 270 places were still available for new arrivals. Rivnenska Oblast authorities established an Evacuation Task Force to prepare for increasing evacuations. This task force, which includes state services and humanitarian partners, convenes before the arrival of each evacuation train from Donetska Oblast to address immediate needs.

NOTE: This Flash Update is prepared through collected public information and current response data from partners available at the time of publication and could be amended as the situation evolves.

For more information, please contact OCHA Ukraine: Pilirani Semu Banda, pilirani.semubanda@un.org | Yaroslav Berezovskyi, yaroslav.berezovskyi@un.org