WHO: Ukraine's health system under 'severe pressure' after Russian incursion

Shortages of oxygen, insulin and surgical supplies reported

A Ukrainian serviceman walks past the vertical tail fin of a Russian Su-34 bomber lying in a damaged building in Kharkiv, Ukraine. AP Photo

An apartment building damaged after shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine. AP Photo

A woman puts her head in her hands as she sits on a cot in a shelter, set up for displaced persons fleeing Ukraine, inside a school gymnasium in Przemysl, Poland. AP Photo

Belarussian and suspected Russian helicopters on the flight line at Machulishchy Air Base outside Minsk, Belarus. AP Photo

Children look on as people fleeing Russia's invasion of Ukraine shelter in a school, in Drohobych, Ukraine. Reuters

Families eat in the shelter. Reuters

A woman looks out from a building damaged by Russian shelling in Mykolaiv, 100 kilometres away from Odesa, western Ukraine. AFP

A wounded Ukrainian man waits in the corridor of the central hospital of Mykolaiv. AFP

An elderly woman is carried in a shopping cart after being rescued from Irpin, on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine. AP

A woman reacts as a train carrying children from Kyiv's Central Children's Hospital leaves the Ukrainian capital on its way to Lviv. Reuters

A girl sits in an improvised bomb shelter in Mariupol, Ukraine. AP

An elderly woman is coated in snow as she sits in a wheelchair after being rescued from Irpin. AP

Belarusian volunteers take part in military exercises at the Belarusian Company base in Kyiv. AP

Lessa, left, director of a nursery school turned into a refugee shelter, cries as she hugs Olega, who arrived from Kyiv with her baby, near Lviv. EPA

Ukrainians pass a damaged bridge as they flee from Irpin. AP

A man carries an elderly woman as people continue to leave Irpin. AP

A soldier stands on a barricade made of sandbags in central Odesa, Ukraine. Reuters

A charred Russian tank and captured tanks in the Sumy region. Reuters

People rest at a temporary shelter for Ukrainian refugees in Przemysl, Poland. AFP

Ukraine's ambassador to the Netherlands, Maksym Kononenko, third right, and his wife Tetiana Doroshenko, fourth left, attend a meeting of members of the Ukrainian community with Dutch King Willem-Alexander, third left, and Queen Maxima, second left, to discuss the situation in Ukraine, in The Hague. EPA

A Ukrainian soldier looks at the destruction after shelling in Ukraine's second-largest city of Kharkiv. AFP

A refugee holds her dog as they wait for trains to Poland in Lviv, Ukraine. Reuters

A woman ties ribbons in Ukrainian national flag colours in a girl's hair as people wait at a refugee assistance centre in Prague, Czech Republic. EPA

A Ukrainian soldier carries an elderly woman crossing the Irpin river on the outskirts of Kyiv. AP

Lena, who had never left Ukraine before fleeing into Moldova, feeds Dasha, 3, soon after crossing the border. Erin Clare Brown for The National

Refugees without immediate plans to move further inland can stay the night in tents set up on Moldova's side of the border. Erin Clare Brown for The National

Tatiana and her son wait for a van that will carry them from the Moldovan border to Chisinau. Erin Clare Brown for The National

Each night, the Palanca refugee camp in Moldova feeds up to 300 people who arrive with no onward plans. Erin Clare Brown for The National

People pass a damaged bridge while fleeing the town of Irpin, close to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv. AP

A Ukrainian soldier stands guard next to a church in Irpin. EPA

A firefighter holds the baby of a Ukrainian refugee at the border in Romania. AP

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks in Kyiv. Reuters

A Ukrainian soldier at a checkpoint in Kyiv. AP

Ukrainian activist Ihor Mazur, left, a veteran of the war in the country's east, looks at a night-vision device in Kyiv. AP

Ambassadors attend a UN Security Council meeting on threats to international security after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, in New York. Reuters

Ukraine's UN ambassador Sergey Kyslytsya holds a paper with an image of Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov as he addresses the Security Council in New York. Reuters

A road sign put up in support of Mr Zelenskyy outside Russia's embassy in Washington. AFP

Ukrainian refugees at the train station in Lviv, western Ukraine. EPA

Lethal and non-lethal Ukrainian aid is loaded on to a plane bound for Poland by Canadian soldiers in Trenton, Ontario. Reuters

Volunteers carry medical aid and necessities at a train station in Lviv. EPA

Everton players wear T-shirts in support of Ukraine as they warm up for an English Premier League football match against Tottenham Hotspur. AP

A residential building damaged by Russian shelling in Chernihiv, Ukraine. Reuters

A man walks past a checkpoint in heavy snow in Lviv. Getty

A man fleeing fighting in Irpin waits to cross a river after Russian forces entered the city. Getty

Soldiers assist Irpin residents underneath a damaged bridge as they flee. Getty

Ukrainian civilians who volunteered to join the Territorial Defence Forces take part in a training exercise in Odesa after Russia's invasion. Reuters

Men carry a body to a lorry as people flee from the frontline town of Irpin. EPA

A Ukrainian police officer runs with a child as the sound of shelling echoes nearby in Irpin. AP

Parents and children struggle to board a train in Lviv. AP

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Ukraine’s health system is under “severe pressure” following Russia’s attack, with shortages of life-saving essential supplies such as oxygen and insulin, the World Health Organisation said on Tuesday.

Dr Hans Kluge, the head of the WHO’s Europe office, said there was also a shortage in personal protective equipment, surgical supplies, anaesthetics and safe blood products.

He said a key priority of the WHO was getting the health-related supplies needed into Ukraine and ensuring they are given safe passage to where they are most needed.

Another priority, Dr Kluge said, was ensuring that the countries neighbouring Ukraine had the infrastructure and expertise needed to help the more than 1.7 million people who have fled the country.

Dr Kluge said girls, disabled women and the elderly are at particular risk.

“They face an increased risk of suffering attacks by people outside the home and by armed groups, as well as intimate partner violence and sexual abuse and exploitation.”

Dr Kluge said that Ukrainian health authorities have “remarkably” maintained Covid-19 surveillance and response since February 24, though they reported 731 deaths related to the pandemic over the last week.

He warned that “sadly, this number will increase as oxygen shortages continue” — with older people disproportionately affected.

The WHO's senior emergency officer for Europe, Dr Catherine Smallwood, that attacks on hospitals, ambulances and other healthcare facilities in Ukraine have increased rapidly in recent days — with at least 9 deaths and 16 injuries already reported.

“We will continue to update those numbers. They've been increasing quite rapidly over the past few days,” Dr Smallwood said.