Editor’s Note: The following is a press release from the United Nations Development Program in Kyiv.
The United Nations is spending $100,000 to help victims, particularly homeless people, of the severe subzero cold wave that began on Jan. 26.
The money came after a request by Ukraine’s Ministry of Social Policy and the National Red Cross Committee.
To address this emergency, the government of Ukraine and the National Red Cross Committee have opened 3,486 warming stations which provide daily assistance to nearly 10,000 of the most vulnerable.
Since Jan. 27, more than 180,000 people have been helped. The warming centers provide relief items and food and they are equipped with first-aid kits and medical bandaging material.
Ukraine has been the most affected among the countries of Europe with temperatures between minus 12 degrees and minus 30 degrees Celsius since late January.
It is expected that severe weather conditions in Ukraine will continue until the end of the month. According to the Ministry of Healthcare of Ukraine, more than 150 people had died from the cold and nearly 5,000 people had sought medical help for frostbites and hypothermia. Most deaths are among the homeless and older people whose houses are not sufficiently heated.
