Statement of the Joint Coordination Headquarters of the Russian Federation for Humanitarian Response (July 19, 2022)
The Russian Federation's Joint Coordination Headquarters for Humanitarian Response, in coordination with designated federal executive authorities, continues to carefully record the facts of the inhumane treatment of civilians and use of residential buildings, educational institutions and other social infrastructure facilities for military purposes by Ukrainian armed groups:
in Dnepr, in the schools №98 (Karagandinskaya st.) and №129 (Kosmonavtov st.), nationalist groups have deployed their manpower and armoured equipment, artillery positions and munitions depots, while local residents have intentionally been left without evacuation;
in Nikolayev, on the lower and upper floors of residential buildings (Bogoyavlensky ave. and Morekhodnaya st.), Territorial Defence militants have deployed their strongpoints, while local residents are restricted from leaving their apartments and all of their attempts to evacuate themselves to safe areas are severely suppressed;
in Volnyansk, Zaporozhye region, in the kindergartens (Gorkogo st. and Tsiolkovskogo st.), AFU units have deployed their manpower, munitions depots and armoured equipment, the approaches to the buildings have been mined, while the local population has intentionally been left uninformed;
in Artyomovsk, Donetsk People's Republic, in a water and sanitation facility, Ukrainian armed groups have deployed their provisional base, as well as artillery and MRLS positions at the adjacent territory.
In addition, in Avdeyevka, Donetsk People's Republic, neo-Nazis have brought civilians to coking plant with a pretext of saving them from artillery attacks in order to retain them as a live shield.
At the same time, militants have deployed artillery and MRLS used for shelling the nearby settlements from the entity. These cynical acts of Ukrainian nationalists are aimed at provoking a counter-attack in order to accuse Russian Armed Forces and units of the Donetsk People's Republic of the deaths among civilians caused by allegedly indiscriminate attacks, as well as to cover it in mass media, in accordance with a well-practiced methodology.
This kind of flagrant breaching the international humanitarian law by the Kiev regime continues being ignored by the international society and organisations.
We urge the United Nations Organisation, the International Committee of the Red Cross and other international organisations to influence on the authorities in Kiev for preventing the usage of civilian infrastructure facilities with military purposes by Ukrainian armed groups.
Despite all the obstacles imposed by the official Kiev, 23,764 persons have been evacuated from dangerous areas of Ukraine and Donbass over the past 24 hours, including 3,964 children, and in total, since the beginning of the special military operation, 2,691,833 people have already been evacuated, including 426,686 are children.
The state border of the Russian Federation has been crossed by 433,083 private motor vehicles, including 5,313 over the past 24 hours.
More than 9,5 thousand temporary accommodation centres continue to operate in the regions of the Russian Federation. The arriving refugees are individually attended and promptly assisted in resolving various issues related to their further accomodation, employment, providing children with pre-school and educational services, as well as supplying with social benefits and allowances.
The hotline of the Joint Coordination Headquarters of the Russian Federation for Humanitarian Response, federal executive authorities, regions of the Russian Federation and various non-governmental organisations have received 36 requests to evacuate to Russia, the Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics, as well as to the Russian Armed Forces-controlled areas of Zaporozhye, Nikolaev, Kharkov and Kherson regions. In total, the database contains 2,759,453 appeals of this kind from 2,139 settlements in Ukraine and Kiev-controlled territories of the Donbas republics.
In addition, 70 foreign vessels from 16 countries remain blocked in six Ukrainian ports (Kherson, Nikolaev, Chernomorsk, Ochakov, Odessa and Yuzhniy). The threat of shelling and high mine danger posed by official Kiev prevent vessels from entering the high seas unhindered.
As a result of a series of measures taken by the Russian Navy, the Mariupol harbour continues being under mine clearance works, the port infrastructure is routinely under reconstruction.
The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation have created the necessary conditions for the operation of two maritime humanitarian corridors that constitute safe lanes for navigation:
in the Black Sea (every day from 08:00 AM to 07:00 PM) to leave Kherson, Nikolaev, Chernomorsk, Ochakov, Odessa and Yuzhnyi ports towards south-west from Ukraine's territorial sea, 139 miles long and 3 miles wide;
in the Sea of Azov (uninterruptedly) to leave Mariupol port, 115 miles long and 2 miles wide, towards the Black Sea.
Detailed information on the modus operandi of the maritime humanitarian corridors is broadcast daily every 15 minutes by VHF radio on 14 and 16 international channels in English and Russian.
The Kiev authorities continue to avoid engaging with representatives of states and ship-owning companies to resolve the issue of ensuring the safe passage of foreign vessels to the assembly area. The danger to navigation from Ukrainian mines drifting off their anchors along the coasts of Black Sea states remains.
The Russian Federation is taking a full range of comprehensive measures to ensure the safety of civilian navigation in the waters of the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov.
Demining detachments of the Russian Armed Forces and the EMERCOM of Russia continue clearing the Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics of explosive remnants.
In total, 4,191.48 ha of terrain, 41 buildings (including 13 socially important facilities), 4 bridges and 9.64 km of roads have been explored. 72.170 explosive remnants have been detected and neutralised.
Federal executive authorities, in coordination with the regions of the Russian Federation, various public organizations, patriotic movements, continue to accumulate humanitarian aid.
This work has been mostly contributed by:
Ministry of the Russian Federation for Civil Defence, Emergencies and Elimination of Consequences of Natural Disasters, Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Russian Federation, Ministry of Transport of the Russian Federation, Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation, Ministry of Digital Development, Communications and Mass Media of the Russian Federation, Federal Agency for Maritime and River Transport, Federal Service of Court Baliffs, Federal Service for State Registration, Cadastre and Cartography, Federal Agency for Ethnic Affairs;
the republics of Bashkortostan, the Chechen Republic, Crimea, Dagestan, Kabardino-Balkaria, Sakha (Yakutia) and Tatarstan, as well as Arkhangelsk, Belgorod, Bryansk, Kaluga, Khabarovsk, Krasnodar, Leningrad, Moscow, Novosibirsk, Primorie, Rostov, Samara, Saratov, Sverdlovsk, Tula, Voronezh and Yaroslavl regions, the Khanty-Mansi autonomous region, as well as the cities of Moscow, Saint Petersburg and Sevastopol;
among political parties and non-profit organisations: United Russia, the All-Russian Public Movement 'People's Front', the All-Russian Public Organisation of Veterans 'Battle Brotherhood', the autonomous non-profit organisation to support humanitarian programmes 'Russian Humanitarian Mission', the Open Joint Stock Company 'Russian Railways', the State Space Corporation 'Roscosmos' and the All-Russian Public State Organisation 'Union of Russian Women'.
Over 48 thousand tonnes of prime necessity items, groceries, medication and medical products have been prepared at the collection points. Since March 2, 2022, 45,250,7 tonnes of humanitarian goods within 1,327 humanitarian campaigns; over the past 24 hours, the civilian population has been provided with 303,4 tonnes of humanitarian goods within 6 humanitarian campaigns held in the Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics, Zaporozhye and Kharkov region.
On July 19, 2022, 5 humanitarian campaigns are being carried out in the Donetsk and Lugansk people's republics, in Zaporozhye and Kharkov regions, during which 559,1 tonnes of basic necessities, medicine and food are distributed.