UN 'appalled and saddened' by Russian shelling in Ukraine

That's according to the Twitter account of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), Ukrinform reports.

"We are extremely concerned for the plight of civilians after almost a week of nightly airstrikes and attacks which have killed and injured dozens of people," Hollingworth said.

He also added that critical infrastructure had also been destroyed, compounding the dire humanitarian situation.

"It was particularly alarming to see how dozens were killed or injured in Kherson, when a train station and a supermarket where people buy their groceries, were hit during the busiest hours of the day," Hollingworth said.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs noted on its website that the crisis was "rapidly unfolding," across the contested area, where heavy ground fighting has "dramatically escalated over the past two months."