Ukraine war intensification - Denise Brown 14 June 2024
/
2:16
/
MP4
/
262.1 MB

Edited News | UNITED NATIONS

Ukraine war intensification - Denise Brown 14 June 2024

War in Ukraine should not be “new normal”: children study in the subway tunnels of Kharkiv, UN official says

A surge of attacks by Russian forces on the Kharkiv area of Ukraine is causing significant civilian casualties, as well as the destruction of homes and of crucial infrastructure, the top UN official in Ukraine said today, in a plea to not “normalize” the dire conditions for Ukrainian civilians.

“There has been a very clear intensification of the war over the past couple of months,” said Denise Brown, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine.On my last trip to Ukraine two weeks ago, there were 12 sirens during the day and 12 explosions. There's a constant disruption to daily life in the city of Kharkiv,” she told journalists in Geneva.

Russian military staged a fresh incursion on Kharkiv region on 10 May, seizing the town of Vovchansk and intensifying aerial attacks on Kharkiv city, Ukraine’s second largest urban center, with some one million inhabitants fearing for their lives.

A total of nearly ten million people - children included- are estimated by the World Health Organization to be at risk of acute Post-Traumatic Syndrome Disease (PTSD) in Ukraine. Meanwhile, some four million children across the country have had their education disrupted, and 600,000 of them are unable to access in-person school at all, according to UNICEF, the United Nations Children’s Fund.

In the city of Kharkiv, the only way children can safely study is in the subterranean tunnels of the metro, Ms. Brown said, having witnessed this recently, when she visited the underground with the city’s mayor. “My initial reaction was that classrooms look like regular classrooms: full of children, teachers, full of the energy and enthusiasm that children have. My second thought was: ‘but this isn't normal’. It's not normal that children have to study, underground.”

Ms. Brown recently attended the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Berlin, where 14 countries and international organizations renewed their support for recovery, reconstruction and reform in Ukraine. Asked about her participation in the upcoming Swiss-organized Ukraine peace conference at the Bürgenstock resort this weekend, she clarified that the “UN is an observer, not a member state. So, whoever is going will be in listening mode.” She echoed the position of the UN Secretary-General to say that the Russian invasion of Ukraine is “a violation of the UN Charter.”

“We hope for a just peace for Ukraine,” Ms. Brown said, “and as I've said repeatedly in my remarks, the rest of the world should not normalize the war in Ukraine.”

After 28 months of war, the scale of humanitarian needs is vast. More than 32,000 civilian casualties, including 11,000 deaths, have been verified — but the real number is likely much higher. Thirty per cent of pre-war jobs have been erased and poverty increased from five to 25 per cent. Over 14.6 million people, 40 per cent of the population will need humanitarian assistance in 2024. The humanitarian community has appealed for US$3.1 billion to providing life-saving assistance to 8.5 million of the most vulnerable for 2024.

ends

Speakers, agencies spokespersons:

· Denise Brown, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine

TRT: 02’16”
SOURCE: UNTV CH
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 14 June 2024 - GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
Press briefing by Denise Brown in Geneva



SHOTLIST

  1. Exterior medium shot: Palais des Nations
  2. Wide shot of the podium with speakers at the press conference room

3. SOUNDBITE (English) Denise Brown, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine: “I would like to really speak to you about Kharkiv and give you a flavor of what's happening in that part of Ukraine where there has been a very clear intensification of the war over the past couple of months.

  1. Wide and lateral shot of the press room
  2. SOUNDBITE (English) Denise Brown, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine: “We have over 100 UN staff based in the city of Kharkiv. I'm there quite often. And on my last trip there, two weeks ago, there were 12 sirens during the day and 12 explosions. So, there's a constant disruption to daily life in the city of Kharkiv.
  3. Medium shot: journalists in the press conference room
  4. SOUNDBITE (English) Denise Brown, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine: “Children: you've heard the reports, but probably you haven't gone to the schools in the metro. I have, and it's the only way children can safely study in the city of Kharkiv. And, you know, my initial reaction when I go down with the mayor into the bowels of the metro and come across classrooms which look like regular classrooms full of children, teachers learning science, learning math, full of the energy and enthusiasm that children have, my second thought was: ‘but, this isn't normal’. It's not normal that children have to study underground.”
  5. Medium lateral shot of the press conference room
  6. SOUNDBITE (English) Denise Brown, UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine: “The UN is an observer, not a member state. So, whoever is going (to Bürgenstock) will be in listening mode. And again, just to repeat what the Secretary General has said since the very beginning, this is a violation of the (UN) Charter. We hope for a just peace for Ukraine, and as I've said just repeatedly in my remarks, the rest of the world should not normalize the war in Ukraine.”
  7. Medium shot of the podium with speakers
  8. Various shots of journalists listening in the press conference room


Audio Files 1
Download Ukraine war intensification - Denise Brown 14 June 2024 (Edited Story)
Download

Similar Stories

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Elizabeth Throssell on DPRK

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Elizabeth Throssell on DPRK ENG FRA

New UN Human Rights report finds 10 years of increased suffering repression and fear

The UN Human Rights Office on Friday published a report on the human rights situation in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) since 2014. 

Afghanistan update - UNICEF UNHCR 12 September 2025

1

1

2

Edited News | UNICEF , UNHCR

Afghanistan update - UNICEF UNHCR 12 September 2025 ENG FRA

The ongoing humanitarian response to the devastating Afghanistan earthquake disaster continued on Friday, although essential services have been cut for operational reasons following reinforced Taliban restrictions on women working with the UN, the global body said.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights report on DRC at the 60th Human Rights Council

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights report on DRC at the 60th Human Rights Council ENG FRA

Un nouveau rapport du Haut-Commissariat des Nations Unies aux droits de l'homme sur la République démocratique du Congo évoque le spectre de crimes de guerre et de crimes contre l'humanité dans le Nord et le Sud-Kivu., 

HRC60 Press Conference: Report of the Sudan Fact-Finding Mission - 09 September 2025

2

1

2

Press Conferences , Edited News | HRC

HRC60 Press Conference: Report of the Sudan Fact-Finding Mission - 09 September 2025 ENG FRA

A high-level independent rights probe into the Sudan crisis on Tuesday condemned the many grave crimes committed against civilians by all parties to the war, citing disturbing evidence indicating that they had been “deliberately targeted, displaced and starved”.

Ukraine attacks - health update - WHO

1

1

1

Edited News | WHO

Ukraine attacks - health update - WHO ENG FRA

Ukraine: ‘Relentless’ attacks rattle health system as winter approaches: WHO

Ambulances attacked, chronically ill patients lacking care and no peace in sight: for millions of Ukrainians, the run-up to another winter of war is just the latest life-or-death challenge they face, the UN health agency (WHO) said on Tuesday.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights presents report on Sri Lanka to 60th HRC

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights presents report on Sri Lanka to 60th HRC ENG FRA

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Monday delivered his report on Sri Lanka to the 60th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

HRC 60 HC Volker Türk Global update speech

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR , UNOG

HRC 60 HC Volker Türk Global update speech ENG FRA

UN Human Rights Chief Volker Türk on Monday delivered his global update to the 60th session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

DRC: UN report raises spectre of war crimes and crimes against humanity

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR

DRC: UN report raises spectre of war crimes and crimes against humanity ENG FRA

A UN report on the Democratic Republic of Congo raises specter of war crimes and crimes against humanity in North and South Kivu, according to UN Human Rights Spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani.

Global air pollution update - WMO 04 September 2025

1

1

1

Edited News | WMO

Global air pollution update - WMO 04 September 2025 ENG FRA

As billions of people continue to breathe polluted air that causes more than 4.5 million premature deaths every year, UN climate experts on Friday highlighted how damaging microscopic smoke particles from wildfires play their part, travelling half-way across the world.

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence on Cameroon

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence on Cameroon ENG FRA

UN Human Rights Office Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence made the following comment on the on-going presidential election process in Cameroon at the bi-weekly press briefing in Geneva. 

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence on Myanmar

1

1

1

Edited News | OHCHR

UN Human Rights Spokesperson Jeremy Laurence on Myanmar ENG FRA

The UN Human Rights Office released a new report on Myanmar, describing death, destruction and desperation which reflect atrocities committed in 2017. 

Afghanistan earthquake update OCHA - IFRC - UNHCR

1

1

1

Edited News | OCHA , IFRC , UNHCR

Afghanistan earthquake update OCHA - IFRC - UNHCR ENG FRA

Afghanistan: Humanitarians scramble to reach survivors of deadly quake; response at ‘breaking point’

In remote eastern Afghanistan, aid workers are racing to assist survivors of Sunday’s devastating earthquake as the death toll continues to climb, UN humanitarians said on Tuesday.