About 5,000 civilians are currently in settlements adjacent to the town of Maryinka, Donetsk region, where a serious humanitarian crisis is rapidly developing, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Ukraine said.

“A grave humanitarian crisis is rapidly unfolding in the area surrounding Maryinka, in Donetsk region, where approximately 5,000 civilians – according to humanitarians on the ground – are enduring heavy ground fighting & hostilities,” OCHA Ukraine said on Twitter.

The organization notes that the fighting also affected the humanitarian situation in the neighboring settlements of Kurakhove and Vuhledar, where about 24,000 more civilians live.

OCHA emphasizes that widespread destruction has deprived people of access to food, water, electricity, gas, medical care and other basic services, and there is also an urgent need to increase assistance in the form of important household items, since, according to local organizations, many civilians live in damaged houses in three communities.