Ukraine crisis: Families seek shelter underground in Kiev

Kiev [Ukraine], February 26 (ANI): As the Russian military continues to advance in Ukraine, including the capital Kiev and other cities, terrified families have been forced to seek shelter underground, the UN said on Friday, adding that at least 100,000 people have likely been displaced by the violence.
"There have been major attacks in Kiev that have created great fear and panic among the population, with families really scared, moving alongside their children into subways and shelters, and this is clearly a terrifying moment for children across the country," said Afshan Khan, UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) Regional Director, Europe and Central Asia, speaking in Geneva.
The development follows renewed condemnation for the Russian move by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, who on Thursday appealed for peace and allocated USD 20 million from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) to meet urgent needs, UN News reported.
The use of force by one country against another is "the repudiation of the principles that every country has committed to uphold," which applied to the military offensive in Ukraine, Guterres insisted.
Two days after Russia launched military operations inside Ukraine, the UN rights office, OHCHR, confirmed that many civilians have already been killed and injured, according to UN News.
"We've received reports of at least 127 civilian casualties; this includes 25 killed and 102 injured in Ukraine, caused by shelling and airstrikes...this is very likely to be an underestimate," said Ravina Shamdasani, OHCHR spokesperson.
Communities are already in need of aid relief, too, UN humanitarians warned.
"When we look at shortages, we're talking about fuel, which has been well reported in the media; we're talking about cash, because often in humanitarian situations, cash assistance would be our first support to families, so obviously there's been a drawdown on banks," said UNICEF's Khan.
Echoing that message and in an appeal for guaranteed humanitarian access to the most vulnerable individuals, the World Health Organization (WHO) highlighted concerns that medical teams face being overwhelmed.
"We don't have reports yet from the hospitals, when we look to particular injuries and the medical details," said Jarno Habicht, WHO Representative in Ukraine.
"Where our focus has been now is prepositioned medical kits. We will run out of them soon, so what is important currently...is how to ensure new supplies to come and...[that] there are humanitarian corridors from the neighbouring countries available."
Announcing the $20 million emergency funding allocation for the Ukraine crisis, Guterres underscored that the UN and its humanitarian partners are "committed to staying and delivering, to support people in Ukraine in their time of need."
Forced mass displacement has also begun, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) confirmed.
"There are more than 100,000 who we estimate have lost their homes and are displaced inside [the] country and we are also aware of several thousand who have crossed international borders in the region, and we've seen those really just happening since the onset of the situation," said UNHCR spokesperson Shabia Mantoo.
"We're seeing these reports and we've seen for instance yesterday that there were about 5,000 refugee arrivals in Moldova already, but the other movements are being reported in Poland, Romania, Slovakia and the Russian Federation."
While the UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) warned that Ukraine's people were "terrified of further escalation," agency spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani flagged concerns inside of Russia. (ANI)