In an update from Ukraine, the UN\u2019s top aid official there, Assistant Secretary-General Matthias Schmale, reports that half the population in Kherson city, about 30,000 or more residents, have been without electricity for several days.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not the only city without power, he told UN News<\/em> on Wednesday, while on mission to southern Ukraine:<\/p>\n \u201cThe big challenge is how do you support people if electricity is cut off for several days, more than a week, let’s say, in a row, like is currently the case in Odesa,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe authorities are fairly confident that they can deal with a couple of hours or even a couple of days in a row. but more than a week will be very challenging.\u201d<\/p>\n The Humanitarian Coordinator said that one solution to the energy crisis was to ensure that schools and health centres are provided with generators and enough fuel, \u201cso that people can gather there, if there is a crisis and if needed for several days in a row\u201d.<\/p>\n Mr. Schmale was in the frontline city of Kherson on Wednesday, which lies directly across the Dnipro River from land occupied by Russian invaders in southern Ukraine.<\/p>\n While there, he met civilians at a UN humanitarian hub who had come seeking aid. One woman who is a power plant worker said she was very afraid of being targeted while on the job.<\/p>\n <\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>\n Matthias Schmale, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine, on a fact-finding mission to Kherson.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n She said there were five houses left on her street where people still live and \u201calmost everything has been destroyed.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t even think about it. My home, my dogs, my cats. The neighbours left after their houses were hit. They left their dog for a week. They have been gone for three years now.\u201d<\/p>\n Another woman who Humanitarian Coordinator Schmale met said she was from there Kherson Island district and was living without gas for heat or cooking.\u00a0Her mother died in hospital 10 days ago due to a landmine accident.<\/p>\n Six months before that, her husband died while using public transportation in Mykolaiv, during a drone attack.<\/p>\nSustained damage<\/strong><\/h2>\n
\u2018Almost everything has been destroyed\u2019<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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