UNHCR Ukraine Operational Update - 12 May 2026

AI Summary

The UNHCR's operational update highlights an escalation in Russian attacks in Ukraine, resulting in increased civilian casualties and displacement. New interim evacuation points are being established to assist those fleeing hostilities, as humanitarian agencies continue support for evacuees with necessary services amid the ongoing conflict.

Country: Ukraine Source: UN High Commissioner for Refugees Please refer to the attached file. OPERATIONAL CONTEXT & HIGHLIGHTS: • An escalation in attacks by the Russian Federation during the first week of May resulted in a significant increase in civilian casualties. According to the UN HRMMU, 28 people were killed and 194 injured on 5 May alone in a wave of Russian attacks, bringing the civilian death toll across Ukraine in the first week of May to at least 70 killed and more than 500 injured. This includes a Russian attack on 5 May on Zaporizhzhia which killed 12 people and injured many more. On the same day, aerial bombs hit central areas of Kramatorsk in Donetska oblast killing six people. Recent missile and drone strikes have also killed and injured civilians in Dnipropetrovska, Kharkivska, Khersonska, Odeska and Poltavska oblasts, as well as in regions of western Ukraine, including in Ternopil and Rivne. • Civilians continue to flee hostilities in frontline regions. Due to the deteriorating situation in Donetska oblast, particularly near Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, oblast authorities opened a new Interim Evacuation Point (IEP) in Sloviansk at the end of March, and another IEP in Kramatorsk on 21 April. UNHCR and partners supported the authorities with the establishment of both IEPs, and continue to support evacuees with humanitarian assistance and protection services as part of the overall inter-agency response. Many evacuees are extremely vulnerable, with a significant number of older people and persons with disabilities. • In the fifth year since the start of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and more than 12 years since the war began, UNHCR’s programme in Ukraine increasingly aims to help war-affected people and communities to recover, and displaced people to find durable solutions, particularly through housing and strategic protection advocacy.