In recent days, the city of Zaporizhzhia has been suffering from devastating strikes using heavy bombs.
Over the course of four days, 38 people including children have sustained injuries of varying severity, and one person has died. More than 80 multi-storey buildings, as well as cafes, educational institutions and cars were damaged.
The shelling also damaged the premises of Zatyshno Space, a safe space for women and girls created by CARE and its partners East SOS with financial support from the USAID Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance (BHA). The blast wave smashed windows and doors here.
Oksana Kuyantseva, a member of the board of East SOS, said:
“On the night of September 23, the Russian Federation attacked the Zatyshno Space safe space in Zaporizhzhia. Once again, defenseless civilians were targeted and international humanitarian law disrespected. Women and children have been receiving psychological, social and legal support in the space since May 2023. Due to the attack with a guided aerial bomb, windows were smashed, and doors were damaged. Fortunately, it happened at night and none of program participants or staff were injured. Now the specialists continue to provide individual counseling to the visitors, but group activities will resume after the replacement of the double-glazed windows.”
Women and girls, many of whom are internally displaced people, came here for help and support. The center processed about 50 applications daily. In total, CARE, with the support of the USAID Bureau of Humanitarian Assistance, has created 5 such spaces in different cities of Ukraine
In Zaporizhzhia, buildings of other NGOs supporting war-affected Ukrainians were also damaged.
Franziska Jörns, Deputy Сountry Director at CARE Ukraine, said:
“The cities of Ukraine are suffering under relentless shelling. Civilians as well as humanitarian workers live in continuous fear for their lives. The deaths of aid workers in the Donetsk region and the damage to Zatyshno Space in Zaporizhzhia are just two incidents which show the conditions under which humanitarian organizations operate today in Ukraine. The rules of law and the protection of civilian population are gravely disrespected. As a consequence, the life-saving assistance CARE and its partners provide to those who need it most, is highly at risk.”
CARE strongly condemns violations of international humanitarian law and actions that jeopardize humanitarian support to the war-affected population. The protection of civilians and civilian structures must be a priority. Any action which could risk the delivering of life saving aid to the affected population has to be refrained from.
