The United Nations humanitarian coordinator in Ukraine said on Tuesday, September 14, that the organisation is considering moving aid supplies underground to protect them from Russian strikes, which have hit 10 UN warehouses this year and destroyed supplies worth millions of dollars.
One of the World Health Organization’s main warehouses containing medical supplies was struck earlier this month, while other attacks have destroyed hygiene kits and school supplies for children, Matthias Schmale, the UN humanitarian coordinator in Ukraine, told Reuters in Geneva.
“These deliberate attacks on warehousing capacities (...) is a new trend of the last few months,” Schmale said after briefing states on humanitarian needs in Ukraine, now in the fifth year since Russia’s full-scale invasion.
He said the UN was weighing the use of underground bunkers to store supplies and was delaying purchases until the last possible moment to reduce their exposure to attacks.
“This feels increasingly like the front line is moving into the air,” Schmale said. “That means extra cost also to the taxpayers, who at the end of the day pay for the goods that the U.N. and other humanitarians bring in.”
He added that such additional costs had not been anticipated in the UN’s $2.3 billion humanitarian aid budget for 2026.
The UN is also investing in equipment to improve staff protection, including additional armoured vehicles and drone-detection devices, Schmale said.
The organisation is also considering growing requests from Ukraine for mobile drone shelters to be installed in public areas, including near bus shelters, as civilian casualties from drone attacks increase.
By Tamilla Hasanova
