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UN considers moving Ukraine's aid underground after a warehouse attack

The U.N. humanitarian coordination in Ukraine announced 'on Tuesday that his organization is considering moving aid supplies underground, to avoid Russian strikes. These 'attacks have hit 10 of its warehousing facilities this year, destroying supplies worth millions of dollars.

Matthias Schmale, U.N. Humanitarian coordinator in Ukraine, said that Matthias Schmale: In Geneva.

After briefing the states on the needs in 'Ukraine five years after Russia's full scale invasion, he stated: "These deliberate attacks against warehousing capacity (...) are a new trend of the last couple of months."

He said that they are considering moving aid into underground bunkers, and delaying the purchase of aid supplies to the last minute in order to minimize exposure to strikes.

He said: "This is increasingly feeling like the frontline is moving up into the sky." "That also means additional costs to taxpayers who, at the end, 'pay for the goods brought in by the U.N. or other humanitarians," he said. He added that such costs weren't foreseen within the $2.3 billion aid budget of the UN for 2026.

He said that the U.N. was investing in equipment for staff protection, including more armored vehicles and drone detection devices, and is also considering requests from Ukraine to build'mobile drone shelters' in the street, near bus shelters and other public places, in response to a rise in civilian casualties.

(source: Reuters)