The blocking of humanitarian assistance contradicts the norms of international law and may lead to a humanitarian catastrophe the scale of which will be unprecedented, the Rinat Akhmetov Humanitarian Headquarters said in a statement regarding the blocking of its operation on the Donbas territories temporary outside of Ukrainian government control.

"The obstruction of the work of the Humanitarian Headquarters poses a threat to the life of Donbas civilians, who have become pawns in the military conflict and found themselves fighting for survival in central Europe in the 21st century. For many of them, food packages from the Humanitarian Headquarters are one of the primary, and sometimes the only source of subsistence. The assistance of the Rinat Akhmetov Headquarters is among the largest in the region and it has saved the lives of over one million people in 2.5 years," the statement, which was released on Wednesday morning, said.

The Headquarters has no access to its premises, inventory and humanitarian assistance as a result of the blocking by armed people of the work of the distribution center in Donbas Arena in Donetsk and all its distribution points on the territory temporarily uncontrolled by the Ukrainian government, the statement said.

The Rinat Akhmetov Humanitarian Headquarters said it intends to continue working on the territory controlled by Ukraine and along the contact line, in the so-called gray area, to help Donbas civilians survive, and also said it is ready to resume work in the uncontrolled territories as soon as the distribution center and the distribution points are unblocked.