Washington.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has warned that Russian military forces continue to target Ukrainian civilians through airstrikes. In this, long range missiles and drone planes and other bombs are being used.
The UN office stressed that Ukrainian citizens, like ordinary people elsewhere, have the right to peace. Nada al-Nashif, Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights, told the Human Rights Council in Geneva on Wednesday at a meeting on the situation of human rights in Ukraine that the attacks were an attempt to take control of more territory in the eastern region of Ukraine. Is being done. He said progress toward a peaceful settlement appears bleak ahead of three years since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russian military forces, while the conflict has escalated dangerously. This report is based on the period from September 1 to November 30 last year. So far 574 civilians have lost their lives in attacks by Russian military forces, which is 30 percent more than last year. For the first time since July 2022, such a large number of civilian casualties occurred in the month of September. He said that the Russian bombing has caused severe damage to infrastructure including water supply, heating system and transportation services. Major attacks have also been carried out targeting Ukrainian energy installations.
violations of humanitarian law
The Russian delegation rejected these allegations made by the OHCHR Deputy High Commissioner, accusing Ukrainian military forces of carrying out terrorist acts in various regions of Russia. The Ukrainian representative condemned the deadly attacks by Russian military forces. 100 drone aircraft were used in attacks on the capital Kiev on New Year’s Eve, in which two people were killed and seven were injured. Deputy High Commissioner Al-Nashif warned of increasing violations of international human rights law and humanitarian law and said there was a possibility of war crimes being committed. Ukrainian prisoners of war have reported widespread systematic torture. He was severely beaten, given electric shocks, strangled and kept in solitary confinement for long periods. Male and female prisoners of war have also alleged that they were subjected to rape, forced stripping and other forms of sexual violence.
death without trial
Nada al-Nashif expressed concern that there has been an increase in cases of Ukrainian military personnel captured by Russian forces being executed without trial. Killing someone without trial is a war crime. Our office has collected information on 62 such cases in 19 separate incidents during this period and confirmed five such cases. According to the UN Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, 12,300 civilians have died in the violent conflict since February 2022, including more than 650 children. More than 27 thousand people have been injured. Additionally, more than 700 medical centres, more than 1500 schools and colleges have been damaged or completely destroyed in the violence.