WFP Ukraine External Situation Report #36 (22 February 2023)

Key Highlights

WFP started prepositioning of food and providing double distributions as an anticipatory action to people in frontline areas at risk of potential lost access or being displaced.

On 15 February, WFP charted vessel, MV Valsamitis docked into the port of Chornomorsk to be loaded with 30,000 mt of wheat for further food assistance in Kenya and Ethiopia.

11 newly procured WFP Fleet trucks arrived in Dnipro on 15 February ready to be mobilized, to augment overall WFP and Logistics Cluster delivery capacity, bringing our total dedicated fleet to 21.

Six out of nine WFP’s Cooperating Partners in 2023 are Ukrainian national partners, as they have been prioritized.

WFP Ukraine Response

With the one-year mark since the 24 of February 2022 invasion in just a few days, ground fighting, artillery and airstrikes are escalating. During 9-10 February, more than 100 missiles entered Ukrainian airspace, severely damaging once again energy infrastructure across the country. As a result, many Ukrainians were left without heating in temperatures well below -10 degree Celsius. More cruise missiles continued to be fired over Ukraine from land and sea, further heightening security concerns.

WFP operations are also affected by the attacks; On 14 February, a warehouse of one of the Cooperating Partners (CPs) in the Kherson city was hit, injuring one person, and damaging the premises. Meanwhile on the same day in Kostyantynivka, Donetsk oblast, a building used as a humanitarian distribution center by another CP was damaged during an attack.

Following the increased security concerns, WFP has been implementing prepositioning and double distributions for people in areas at risk of potential lost access near the frontline. From 15 February, WFP started to preposition food commodities to later double-distribute among the people in need, particularly those living in or fleeing from the areas along the frontline with foreseen difficulty in access in the next months.

WFP with partners is facilitating 12 convoys in total to deliver food and other urgent non-food items related to shelter, hygiene, and medical kits, to communities close to the frontline. The convoys complement WFP’s ongoing distributions to ensure that all needs are met in the case of increased fighting close to the frontline. In total, 1,000 mt of assistance is planned for approximately 120,000 people in Donetsk, Kharkiv, and Zaporizhzhia oblasts. The first convoy to Kurakhove, Donetsk oblast, took place on the 15 February.

Source: World Food Programme