Ukraine

A protective sarcophagus or casing was built over the Chernobyl nuclear plant after the accident.
Oleksandr Syrota

‘Disasters know no borders’ says Guterres, 35 years on from Chernobyl nuclear accident

26 April 2021
Health

In his message for Chernobyl International Remembrance Day on Monday, the UN chief reminded that “disasters know no borders”. 

There were just 47 survivors when a boat carrying over 120 people, capsized off the Libyan coast on Thursday.
IOM/Hussein Ben Mosa

News in Brief 23 April 2021

23 April 2021
News in Brief
  • 130 drown after shipwreck off Libyan coast
  • UN convoy delivers vital aid across Ukraine contact line
  • More than a million Tigray displaced in desperate need
Audio -
3'56"
In Ukraine, residents wait in line at the Novotroitske crossing point.
UNOCHA/Yevhen Maloletka

UN-led aid convoy brings 23 tonnes of humanitarian goods across contact line in east Ukraine

23 April 2021
Humanitarian Aid

Twenty-three tonnes of urgently needed aid items have reached the eastern Ukrainian province around Donetsk, after a humanitarian convoy crossed the contact line into non-Government-controlled territory, the UN said on Friday. 

Milad Tower in Tehran, Iran.
Unsplash/Behrouz Jafarnez

Experts accuse Iran of rights violations in shooting down Ukraine airlines flight

23 February 2021
Human Rights

Iran committed multiple human rights violations in shooting downing Ukraine International Airlines (UIA) Flight PS752 last year and in the aftermath of the deadly attack, two  independent experts appointed by the UN Human Rights Council said on Tuesday. 

Sonia, 14 plans her walks around the small town well in advance, since it is still littered with shrapnel and unexploded ordinance (file photo).
© UNICEF/UN0312582/Filippov

UN political affairs chief warns against ‘backsliding’ in Ukraine

11 February 2021
Peace and Security

Although a ceasefire in Eastern Ukraine has led to a significant decrease in civilian casualties, the overall situation remains fragile unless progress is made on the security and political fronts, the UN’s political affairs chief told the Security Council on Thursday. 

Agnès Callamard, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions.
UN Photo/Manuel Elías

Callamard calls for ‘clear, explicit and unambiguous standards’ to protect civilian planes during conflicts

7 January 2021
Human Rights

Urgent measures are needed to protect civilian aircraft flying over conflict zones or other areas where military tensions are high, a UN independent human rights expert said on Thursday. 

Peaceful protests have been taking place in Belarus following the disputed presidential election.
Kseniya Halubovich

News in Brief 18 September 2020

18 September 2020
News in Brief
  • Belarus debate in spotlight at Human Rights Council 
  • Syria: potential war crimes in Turkish-affiliated armed group areas  
  • Eastern Ukraine: UN humanitarian office sees signs of hope in ‘relative calm’ 
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4'
A woman in the Dominican Republic receives food from a Government soup kitchen set up to help fight hunger triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic.
WFP/Karolyn Ureña

News in Brief 19 June 2020

19 June 2020
News in Brief
  • 'No choice' but to suspend aid flights, warns WFP
  • Heed ceasefire call in Ukraine, UN rights official urges
  • Appeal for safe passage across frontlines for Syrian students
Audio -
3'36"
UNDP in Ukraine worked with community groups to provide protection masks and suits to medics to help fight the coronavirus pandemic.
UNDP Ukraine/Maksym Kytsiuk

UN sustainable energy project in Ukraine finds a new role: fighting COVID-19

12 May 2020
Health

A United Nations project to promote energy efficiency among Ukrainian homeowners has found a second life – informing 1.8 million of the nation’s citizens on how to combat the COVID-19 virus.

Since the fighting began in early 2014, educational facilities on both sides of the contact line have been damaged or destroyed.
© UNICEF/Aleksey Filippov

Hope for ‘long-elusive progress’ in negotiating peace in eastern Ukraine

18 February 2020
Peace and Security

Marking the fifth anniversary of the 2015 Minsk II agreement, the UN political chief told the Security Council on Tuesday, that along with the Minsk Protocol and the Minsk memorandum, it remains “the only agreed framework” for a negotiated, peaceful settlement of the conflict in eastern Ukraine.