Wednesday, August 6, 2014

The Humanitarian Crisis In Donetsk Intensifies

Sergei Karpukhin / Reuters

From Embattled Donetsk, a Plea for Body Bags -- Anna Nemtsova, Daily Beast

As the fighting intensifies in eastern Ukraine, civilian casualties mount, and neither the local authorities nor international agencies are able to cope.

They call themselves, simply, “Responsible Citizens.” Day and night this week a group of a few volunteers in Donetsk, Ukraine, have been digging injured people out from under the ruins in Kievsky and Ploshadka districts and transporting the victims of bombing and artillery attacks to shelters using their private cars or taxis. (Donetsk taxi drivers did not charge them anything for the lift.) But by midday on Wednesday one of the group’s leaders, Marina Cherenkova, was losing her temper: Almost four million people are trapped in a combat zone in eastern Ukraine, often without water or power, and without any medical aid, she said, and no politicians seem serious enough to pay attention.

Cherenkova spoke over the phone at the top of her voice: “Is there anybody out there in the world who could contribute body bags to Donetsk? We need 300 bags right now!” The volunteer said that at this point Donetsk victims do not care who would decide to help them, whether Moscow, Kiev, Brussels or Washington.

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Previous Post: The Humanitarian And Refugee Situation In Ukraine Worsening

My Comment: The humanitarian picture that is being painted to me by my family, friends, and associates in Ukraine and Russian on what is happening in eastern Ukraine is depressing in every way. If this civil war continues into winter .... today's humanitarian crisis will pale in comparison to what may be happening in 4 - 5 months.

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