According to the human rights organization Amnesty International, the elderly in Ukraine are particularly at risk from Russian attacks. In a report released Tuesday, the organization notes that the elderly in Ukraine are often housed in destroyed homes or overburdened government shelters. As a result, their risk of being injured or killed is extremely high, as the observers note.
“Many are left behind in regions where they are regularly threatened by relentless ground and air attacks,” Amnesty Europe and Central Asia researcher Janine Uhlmannsiek said in a statement. The organization traveled to Ukraine in the summer for the situation report and interviewed 226 people between March and October, some of them on site visits to seven state institutions. According to the information, over 60-year-olds make up almost a quarter of the Ukrainian population.
Insufficient knowledge about evacuations
There are many reasons why elderly people do not leave their homes without electricity, heating or water: some elderly people want to stay in their usual home, while others are unaware of evacuations. For others, the conditions in emergency shelters are an obstacle, for example because they are not designed for people with a health disability.
200,000 people evacuated from Donetsk
Nevertheless, Amnesty is giving positive testimony to the Ukrainian government’s efforts to bring civilians from disputed areas to safety – for example, in June it ordered the evacuation of some 200,000 people from the Donetsk region.
“The needs of the elderly and people with disabilities must be comprehensively incorporated into humanitarian and development policies,” Amnesty Representative Uhlmannsiek told the federal government and the international community.
Source: Krone
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