Skip to main content
Updated Mar 9, 2022 - World

In photos: Ukraine's growing humanitarian crisis

Rebecca Falconer
A couple crosses a destroyed bridge during the evacuation by civilians of the city of Irpin, northwest of Kyiv, on March 8.
A couple crosses a destroyed bridge during the evacuation of civilians from the city of Irpin, northwest of Kyiv, on Tuesday. Photo: Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images

The United Nations warns Ukraine is facing a growing humanitarian crisis, with reports that tens of thousands of Ukrainians are without food, water and heat during the Russian military's deadly assault on the country.

The big picture: Over 2 million refugees have fled Ukraine since the Putin-ordered invasion began two weeks ago. Many more remain trapped in the country. Ukrainian officials have accused Russian forces of shelling humanitarian corridors, despite Kremlin pledges to hold fire and enable civilians to leave.

Firefighters try to extinguish a fire after a chemical warehouse was hit by Russian shelling on the eastern frontline near Kalynivka village on March 08, 2022, in Kyiv, Ukraine.
Firefighters try to extinguish a blaze after a chemical warehouse was hit by Russian shelling near the town of Kalynivka, southwest of Kyiv, on March 8. Photo: Chris McGrath/Getty Images
Civilians flee the city after temporary ceasefire announced on March 8, 2022 in Sumy, Ukraine.
Civilians flee Sumy after Russia announced a temporary ceasefire for the city in northeastern Ukraine on March 8. Photo: Ukrainian Presidency/Handout/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
A man walks between houses destroyed during air strikes on the central Ukranian city of Bila Tserkva on March 8.
A man walks between houses destroyed during air strikes on the central Ukranian city of Bila Tserkva on March 8. Photo: Aris Messinislvi/AFP via Getty Images
Evacuees from eastern Ukraine wait for a train at the railway station in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on March 8.
Evacuees from eastern Ukraine wait for a train at the railway station in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv on March 8. Photo: Yuriy Dyachyshyn/AFP via Getty Images
A Ukrainian man injured during Russian attack receives treatment in the central hospital of Mykolaiv, 100km away from Odessa, western Ukraine on March 8.
A man injured during a Russian military attack receives treatment in the central hospital of Mykolaiv, some 60 miles from Odessa, western Ukraine, on March 8. Photo: Bulent Kilic/AFP via Getty Images
An elderly woman is assisted as Ukrainians cross an improvised path along a destroyed bridge to flee the city on March 8, 2022 on Irpin, Ukraine.
An elderly woman is assisted during Irpin evacuations on March 8. Photo: Andriy Dubchak/DIA Images via Getty Images
Ukrainians attend a first aid training at an underground room in Lviv, Ukraine amid Russian attacks on March 8.
Ukrainians attend first aid training at an underground room in Lviv on March 8. Photo: Alejandro Martinez/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
An apartment building damaged after shelling the day before in Ukraine's second-biggest city of Kharkiv on March 8.
An apartment building damaged on March 8 after shelling the day before in Kharkiv, northeastern Ukraine. Photo: Sergey Bobok/AFP via Getty Images
Aid supplies in Dnipro, Ukraine, on March 8.
Volunteers sort through supplies from aid donations in Dnipro, central Ukraine, as Russian military attacks continue. Photo: Andrea Carrubba/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
A view from a damaged civil settlement after a shelling, in the pro-Russian separatists-controlled Donetsk, Ukraine on March 8.
A damaged civil settlement after a shelling in the pro-Russian separatists-controlled Donetsk in eastern Ukraine on March 8. Photo: Leon Klein/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
A woman and her dog sit on a makeshift bed in a underground metro station used as a bomb shelter in Kyiv on March 8
A woman and her dog sitting on a makeshift bed in a underground metro station used as a bomb shelter in Kyiv on March 8. Photo: Dimitar Dilkoff/STF/AFP via Getty Images
A man buys food in a damaged street kiosk of Ukraine's second-biggest city of Kharkiv on March 8.
A man buys food in a damaged store in Ukraine's second-biggest city of Kharkiv on March 8. Photo: Sergey Bobok/AFP via Getty Images
A woman carries her dog during the evacuation of Irpin, northwest of Kyiv, on March 8.
A woman carries her dog during Irpin evacuations on March 8. Photo: Sergei Supinsky/AFP via Getty Images
Volunteers help with filling the bags with sand on local beaches for the protection of civilian and military facilities in Odesa, southern Ukraine.
Volunteers filling the bags with sand on local beaches for the protection of civilian and military facilities in Odessa, southern Ukraine, on March 8. Photo: Nina Liashonok/Ukrinform/NurPhoto via Getty Images
Rozalia Choba, 98, who was a political prisoner in Siberia, shows an old photo of her, at her home in the village of Solonka, outside Lviv, western Ukraine, on March 8.
Rozalia Choba, 98, who spent 10 years in Siberia as a political prisoner, with an old photo of herself, in the village of Solonka, near Lviv on March 8. "If the Russian tank comes I would tell him 'Go to your homeland, I'll give you more bread on the way, just go back," she told AFP. Photo: Clara Marchaud/AFP via Getty Images
Ukrainians are assisted as they cross an improvised path along a destroyed bridge to flee the city on March 8.
Ukrainians are assisted during Irpin evacuations. Photo: Andriy Dubchak/dia images via Getty Images
People flock to a Kyiv train station to flee the city after Russia announced a temporary ceasefire March 8.
People heading to a Kyiv train station to flee the city after Russia announced a temporary ceasefire on March 8. Photo: Emin Sansar/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
A convoy of buses featuring red crosses is set to take off for besieged Mariupol to deliver humanitarian aid and evacuate people on March 6.
Buses preparing to leave Zaporizhzhya, southeastern Ukraine, for Mariupol to deliver humanitarian aid and evacuate people on March 6, after Russian officials said they'd open a humanitarian corridor. The International Committee of the Red Cross said later this attempt failed, citing concerns about the ceasefire agreement. Photo: Dmytro Smolyenko/Ukrinform/NurPhoto via Getty Images

Go deeper: The latest on the Russia-Ukraine crisis

Editor's note: This article has been updated with more images.

Go deeper