United Nations to open office in Ukraine's Kherson

Denise Brown, the UN Resident Coordinator in Ukraine and Humanitarian Coordinator, said this in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine.

“We are opening a UN office in Kherson. In July, I visited several possible locations. This answers your question about what’s next. Will we forget? We will not forget about the war because we are present there. I have been to Kherson dozens of times, but I want us to be more physically present there,” she said.

Brown emphasized that the UN is physically present in various cities in Ukraine, including Kharkiv, Dnipro, and Mykolaiv, and "does not forget" about the war unleashed by Russia.

"I don't manage from Poland. And I do not work only from Kyiv. We have 100 UN staff in Kharkiv, 300 in Dnipro, 200 in Odesa, and 50 in Mykolaiv. We have a very large presence because we want to ensure continuity of action. We are not running away," the coordinator clarified.

According to Brown, at the start of her mission to Ukraine in 2022, there were about 1,800 UN staff in the country, whereas now there are 3,200. She added that many UN staff members came to Ukraine "very quickly."

"We have over 600 international staff, most of whom have never worked in Ukraine before," she said.

At the same time, the Humanitarian Coordinator noted that the situation in Kherson and the surrounding region remains challenging.

"I have to mention Kherson - the situation there is very difficult. We are doing as much as we can, not only providing supplies but also offering services. UNICEF is working closely with the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) to support hospitals. We are making efforts to improve the situation because people are staying at home," Brown said.

• The United Nations reported that this spring's hostilities in Ukraine resulted in significant civilian casualties, particularly in Kharkiv and the surrounding region, with May seeing the highest number of victims.