In recent days we have seen alarming signs of further escalation in the war in Ukraine, the UN undersecretary for Europe and Central Asia of the Department of Political Affairs said this Wednesday before the Security Council.
Miroslav Jenca informed the adjudicatory body about the most recent events of the conflagration that has already exceeded a thousand days and has had a enormous humanitarian cost for the Ukrainian population.
Jenca’s intervention dealt in particular with the Russian intermediate range ballistic missile that reached the Ukrainian city of Dnipro on November 21, specifically impacting the industrial zone located in the southwest of the city.
“According to Ukrainian authorities, the missile was equipped with six warheads, each with six submunitions, and It took only 15 minutes to arrive from the launch site in the Astrakhan region, in Russia, about a thousand kilometers from Dnipro,” he reported.
Attack on Russia with weapons provided by the West
Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed after the attack that his country had tested the new intermediate-range conventional missile.Oreshnik” as response to the launch of long-range missiles against Russian territory that Ukraine carried out with weapons supplied by Western countries.
On that occasion, Russia also warned that it would continue testing the new missile and yesterday announced that could make new launches in view of new Ukrainian attacks against Russian military targets with more long-range missiles provided to Ukraine by the West.
Also yesterday, Russia attacked 17 Ukrainian regions with 188 dronesa record number of attacks with these devices in a single operation.
Jenca pointed out that the UN does not have details about these incidents or the type of weapons that were used, but he stressed the danger involved in the use of ballistic missiles and the threats that accompany them.
We condemn all attacks regardless of the weapons used
The undersecretary recalled that the international humanitarian law requires parties to the conflict to take all possible precautions in choosing means and methods of attack to avoid or minimize collateral loss of civilian life and injury to civilians, as well as civilian property.
“We condemn all attacks against critical targets and infrastructure, regardless of the weapons system used,” he stressed.
Likewise, Jenca urged all parties involved to take immediate measures to de-escalateand urged them to refrain from any action or rhetoric that could exacerbate the conflict, causing greater suffering to the civilian population and putting the peace and security of the region and the world at serious risk.
The cost of war is already too high
The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights estimates that more than 12,100 civilian deaths since the start of the war in 2022. The injured number almost 27,000 and the damage to civil infrastructure is enormous, which deteriorates the living conditions of millions of people.
In this sense, the undersecretary stated that the cost of this war is already too high for Ukrainians and for the world.
“We must reverse the dangerous cycle of escalation”, he emphasized.
Jenca added that this requires “a genuine political will and inclusive diplomatic efforts in pursuit of a just, lasting and global peace, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, international law and the resolutions of the General Assembly”, and endorsed the UN’s willingness to assist the parties in that purpose.
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