Kyiv, March 24: The humanitarian crisis in Ukraine continues to deteriorate even as the conflict that began on February 24 with the Russian announcement of "special military operations" is set to enter its second month. The capital city of Kyiv and the southeastern coastal city of Mariupol remain the epicentres of the heaviest fighting as of now.

As many as 87 residential buildings have been damaged in Kyiv since February 24, while Mariupol witnesses brutal fighting with the city being under constant heavy bombardment. The Head of Donetsk Military-Civil Administration, Pavlo Kyrylenko, claimed on Sunday said that the Russian occupying forces are refusing to provide food, water and safe passage to thousands of Mariupol residents who are fleeing the conflict.

The ongoing conflict has resulted in about 10 million people getting displaced within the country or ending up as refugees abroad till now according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). More than 3.5 million refugees have fled to the neighbouring western countries, including Poland, Romania, Moldova and Hungary, with European Union President Ursula von der Leyen on Wednesday announcing an economic package of EUR 3.4 billion to support EU countries hosting those fleeing the war.  Russia-Ukraine War: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Calls for Global Protests as Russian Invasion Completes One Month.

According to UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) almost half of all Ukrainian children have been displaced due to the conflict. As of March 22, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) recorded a total of 2,571 civilian casualties in the country, among them 977 killed and 1,594 injured. The Prosecutor General's Office of Ukraine has reported 121 children as killed in the conflict.

Most of the civilian casualties recorded were caused by the use of explosive weapons with a wide impact area, including shelling from heavy artillery and multiple-launch rocket systems, and missile and airstrikes, OHCHR said.

Meanwhile, NATO will hold an extraordinary summit in Brussels today to discuss the military alliance's strategy in the coming days including the provision of humanitarian and military equipment to Ukraine. The US President Joe Biden will begin his three-day visit to Europe, by attending the NATO summit, which will be followed by his attendance at the G7 Leaders' Meeting and European Council Summit.

Russia launched its invasion last month after recognising the Ukrainian breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk as "independent republics." Russia has since continued to maintain that the aim of its operations has been to "demilitarize" and "de-nazify" the country. The Russian actions were immediately condemned by almost all the western countries, who rolled out severe sets of sanctions targetting the Russian economy, and key individuals.

A number of countries, including the US, UK, France, Italy, Finland and several others, also banned Russian aircraft over their airspaces. (ANI)