A senior United Nations official warned the Security Council at an emergency meeting Tuesday that the humanitarian situation in eastern Ukraine is steadily worsening as power and water supplies are scarce, homes are destroyed and health workers flee, according to The Associated Press.
John Ging, director of U.N. humanitarian operations, said that violence, especially in urban areas, will put more people at risk and lead to "an increase in the numbers killed" if a political solution can't be reached, the AP reported.
"Immediate action is therefore required to prevent this," he told council members, according to the AP. To date, 1,367 people, civilians and combatants, have been killed, Ging said.
The meeting, requested by Russia, comes after fighting in eastern Ukraine reached the main rebel stronghold of Donetsk, the AP reported. Pro-Russian separatists and government troops on Tuesday exchanged rocket fire in the latest clashes since the two sides began battling in April.
Ukraine and Western countries have accused Moscow of fueling the mutiny with weapons and soldiers, a claim the Russian government has repeatedly denied, according to the AP.
Ukraine's deputy ambassador Oleksandr Pavlichenko denied there was a humanitarian crisis in Ukraine but said the humanitarian situation in Donetsk and Luhansk is still serious, the AP reported.
"The situation is manageable by the government of Ukraine, which remains open to cooperation with international partners," he said, according to the AP.
Ging said nearly 4 million people living in the region are affected by violence, with water and power supplies sustaining significant damage, the AP reported.
In Donetsk and Luhansk, the water supply has been cut to a few hours per day, health supplies are running low and an estimated 70 percent of health personnel have fled, Ging said, according to the AP.
Just over 4,000 people have been wounded in eastern Ukraine since April, the AP reported. About 58,000 people have left since early July, and more than a thousand others are fleeing each day, Ging said.
