Food must be delivered to the besieged cities of Ukraine – people at risk of starvation

The UN World Food Program (WFP) is demanding access to supply food to trapped Ukrainians.

WFP has delivered food to 1.4 million people since Russia invaded Ukraine. However, it has not been able to reach the Russian-besieged city of Mariupol or the city of Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine, for example.

– We appeal to everyone to reach people in besieged cities, WFP CEO David Beasley says in a statement.

He also warns that people are at risk of starvation.

WFP is preparing to deliver food to 2.3 million people this month, but needs secure access to the areas.

WFP currently distributes pasta, rice, oil and canned meat to civilians in the cities of Buchan and Irpin, for example.

There are more than 7 million internally displaced persons in Ukraine, which also affects the need for assistance.

Deputy Prime Minister of Ukraine Irina Vereshukuk has said it is again trying to evacuate civilians through nine humanitarian corridors this Saturday.

Evacuations from Mariupol, for example, are being tried with private cars.

Five of the nine routes would take civilians out of the Luhansk region.

The Ombudsman of Ukraine Ludmila Denisova has said the British Broadcasting Corporation To the BBC (switch to another service)that Russia fired two evacuation buses carrying civilians in eastern Ukraine on Thursday.

According to Denisova, several people died and were injured.

The UN said on Friday that more than five million people have fled Ukraine since the Russian invasion began on February 24th.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said nearly 4.8 million Ukrainians had fled their country since the attack began.

In addition, the UN International Organization for Migration (IOM) says almost 215,000 third-country nationals have fled to Ukraine’s neighboring countries.

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