UN Under-Secretary-General visits frontline community in Kharkiv region

The head of the Proliska humanitarian mission, Yevhen Kaplin, reported this on Facebook, Ukrinform reports.

“A social bus from the frontline villages of the Kindrashivska community of Kupiansk district, Kharkiv region, met with the UN Under-Secretary-General and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher. For more than a year now, the social bus launched by Proliska with the financial support of the Humanitarian Foundation for Ukraine has been helping people from the settlements located on the very front line to get to the administrative center to solve their urgent social and administrative issues,” he said.

According to Kaplin, while talking to the passengers of the social bus, Fletcher became convinced of the vital need for social flights to frontline villages under constant shelling.

“People shared their painful experiences: ‘We live under shelling every day. There are no shops, ATMs, pharmacies, or hospitals in their villages. Mobile communication is very intermittent. One elderly woman could not hold back her tears as she described how her house burned down in front of her eyes. Several other people said they were living in dilapidated houses. People complained that due to the deteriorating security situation, even bread is no longer delivered. Social transport is the only way to withdraw pensions, buy necessary products, visit pharmacies and hospitals,” Kaplin said.

He added that since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, transportation in the villages of the Kindrashiv community has been suspended due to the security situation, and the roadway in the settlements has been destroyed.

As reported, on January 14, a UN delegation headed by Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator Tom Fletcher and UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi visited Kharkiv. At the meeting with the city and regional authorities, they discussed the continuation of humanitarian projects in 2025.