Radio network expands along Ukraine's frontline areas
Over two years since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the humanitarian situation, especially near the frontline, has grown increasingly complex.
The frontlines of Ukraine―where fighting is most intense―stretches for 600 miles along the east and south-east border between Ukraine and Russia.
In 2024, 14.6 million people in Ukraine are estimated to need humanitarian assistance, including the 3.3 million living in the frontline settlements in eastern and southern Ukraine. They face the most severe needs, including protection, shelter, WASH, and livelihoods.[1]
Since June 2024, the Emergency Telecommunications Cluster (ETC) in Ukraine has been expanding its VHF radio network to eight priority frontline areas―Kehychivka, Kropyvnytskyi, Mykolaiv, Orly, Pokrovsk, Poltava, Sumy, and Zaporizhzhia―to facilitate more robust security communications systems for UN staff.
The most recent activation of the radio network took place in Mykolaiv, located in the south of Ukraine approximately 50 kilometres from the frontline.
For Mykolaiv city, besieged in 2022 and left without its main source of freshwater since the early months of the invasion, humanitarian challenges are extremely acute. Recovery efforts are hindered by constant further threats.
As in other sites, the ETC collaborated with local partners Ukrradioservice (URS) and Ukraine’s Broadcasting, Radiocommunications & Television Concern (BRT) to install the radio equipment. Repeaters, power back-up stations, and antennas were installed on a BRT tower in Mykolaiv.
The full system was tested by the ETC, including on the road towards Luch city to test the network range. Full coverage is achieved from Odesa to Mykolaiv.
This means that UN staff in Mykolaiv can now communicate via VHF radio directly to the UNDSS-managed Security & Information Operations Centre (SIOC) in Kyiv as part of regular check-ins as well as when emergency incidents occur.
More than ever, this expanded radio network is a critical line of security communications for UN staff operating in high-risk areas of the response.