A humanitarian coordinator with Doctors Without Borders has warned that resources they have in the country are almost exhausted in a damning assessment of the devastation he has witnessed in Ukraine.

Alex Wade, whose nationality is unclear but who spoke with a North-American accent, said that if the situation is not addressed “immediately today, tomorrow, in the coming days”, there is going to be a “serious, serious emergency and a possible disaster”.

The images, which Newsflash obtained from Doctors Without Borders, confirm the scale of the destruction and violence civilians are suffering amid Vladimir Putin’s so-called “special operation” that is supposedly geared towards targeting “military installations”.

Wade, who works as a coordinator for the humanitarian organisation, said in an audio recording also obtained by Newsflash: “My name is Alex Wade. I am an emergency coordinator with Medecins Sans Frontieres [ed. Doctors Without Borders] in Ukraine.

“The situation across the country is becoming more dire every day. We are doing our best to monitor the humanitarian needs across the country but this is a major challenge because they are changing and growing so quickly.”

He stressed that there is an urgent need to address the situation in the heavily bombed city of Mariupol. He said: “Our highest concern today is the situation in Mariupol. The city has been heavily shelled day and night for the last several days.

“There has been shelling in the centre of the city and on the outskirts the damage is even worse.

“There’s been supermarkets that have been hit, people having no other access to food have taken food from the supermarkets, which are almost completely empty. The pharmacies are almost completely empty.

“There’s no electricity, which means no heating and there’s no water.

“We have direct contact with our staff, our colleagues, people who we’ve known and worked with for years, who are there, who are communicating these needs to us. They don’t know where they can get water.”

Wade said that people had resorted to drinking unclean water. He said: “People are drinking rainwater or collecting snow for water.

“People have literally broken into heating systems to take the water from heating systems to be able to wash their hands.

“If the situation is not addressed immediately today, tomorrow, in the coming days, there is going to be a serious, serious emergency and a possible disaster.”

Speaking about the beginning of the conflict 12 days ago, Wade said: “When the war started, we had to immediately halt all our other programming in order to switch to emergency needs.

“It was also no longer safe to continue with the ongoing programs we had.

“We, fortunately, had some emergency medical supplies pre-positioned in the country, which we were able to quickly donate to hospitals that are receiving wounded, specifically in Mariupol and Kyiv.

“However, these supplies we had already in the country are almost fully exhausted, so right now our top priority is getting more supply as quickly as possible to the hospitals on the front lines of this conflict that are receiving wounded.”

He stressed that numerous hospitals are in the line of fire. He said: “Many of these hospitals are in the zones of active fighting. Their needs are increasing as they receive wounded, but their supply chains have been disrupted.

“We are in direct communication with many of these hospitals, who have confirmed to us that they have received dozens, and in some cases over 100 wounded and they have communicated that they are in danger of their essential medicines and essential supplies being in rupture, so they cannot continue to treat the patients that they receive.

“This is why sourcing these hospitals with essential medicines and supply remains our top priority.

“Outside of the direct results of this conflict, you have the entire host of regular urgent medical needs found in any population.

“You have people who need access to insulin or other treatments for chronic diseases such as haemodialysis.

“You have pregnant women who need access to safe delivery.

“You have people with mental health needs.

“These are all conditions that if access to care is interrupted, can lead to serious complications and even, in worst cases, in death.

“We are incredibly worried about the needs we are seeing develop on the ground and for us the most important thing right now is to continue to have access to all of the communities and all of the populations affected by this conflict so we can continue to support their medical needs.

“For the population in Mariupol, we really want to see and need to see a solution immediately.

“Civilians must not be trapped in a war zone.

“People seeking safety must be able to do so without fear of violence.

“Whether they choose to leave or whether they choose to stay, the civilian population must be protected.”

The United Nations announced today that the number of Ukrainian refugees fleeing Putin’s war has reached 2 million.

The head of the United Nations, António Guterres,has called for safe passage for civilians fleeing conflict zones.