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At least 21 civilians were killed and dozens were injured on July 14 after a Russian cruise missile attack on the city of Vinnytsia in central Ukraine. As the war approaches its fifth month, 45 nations have agreed to collect evidence of “war crimes” by Russia and have pledged 20 million euros to aid investigations by the International Criminal Court.
It is one of the deadliest attacks on a civilian target since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.
Thick black smoke covered a building in Vinnytsia, central Ukraine, after it was hit by three Kalibr cruise missiles. The artifacts were launched from a submarine in the Black Sea to reach the town located about 268 kilometers southwest of kyiv, the capital, according to local police reports.
At least 21 people died and around 100 were injured. Three children are among the fatalities, authorities confirmed.
However, the death toll could rise as the Ukrainian Emergency Service indicated that at least 42 more civilians are missing.
While Accountability Conference in The Hague is underway led by @WBHoekstra, Russia commits another war crime. At least one child killed, among other victims of a missile strike on Vinnytsia. We will put Russian war criminals on trial for every drop of Ukrainian blood and tears. pic.twitter.com/hvjNt0U5OM
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) July 14, 2022
Images released by local media showed an overturned baby stroller on the pavement, with a covered body next to it, as well as the remains of burned cars and smoldering debris lying in the street.
Although the missiles hit an office building, they also damaged several nearby residential buildings and caused a fire that spread to dozens of cars in a parking lot.
President Volodymyr Zelensky described what happened as an “act of terrorism” by Moscow troops, noting that it was a deliberate aggression against civilians in places of no military value.
“Every day Russia is destroying the civilian population, killing Ukrainian children, directing missiles at civilian targets, where there are no military targets. What is it but an open act of terrorism?” Zelensky said in a message posted on Telegram.
Russia has not officially confirmed the new aggression. However, the director of ‘RT’, the Russian television channel controlled by the Kremlin, Margarita Simonyan, assured that military officials from her country informed her that a building in Vinnytsia was attacked because it housed Ukrainian “Nazis”.
Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar, at a briefing in kyiv, described the attack as “further proof of genocide” and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba accused Moscow of committing “another war crime”.
Since President Vladimir Putin launched the war against his former ally in the former Soviet Union, the Kremlin has justified its actions by claiming that it seeks to “demilitarize” and “denazify” Ukraine. At the same time, he denies attacking civilians, although reports from survivors, human rights organizations such as the UN and Amnesty International say otherwise. kyiv and its allies confirm that it is an unprovoked conflict.
The Vinnytsia assault came a day after the Ukrainian military said 13 Russian servicemen, 12 officers and a general were killed in a Ukrainian rocket attack that targeted a strategic command post at Chornobaivka airport. occupied by Russian troops, near the port city of Kherson, in southern Ukraine.
45 countries agree to collect evidence of “war crimes” by Russia
The attack in Vinnytsia occurred as government officials from 45 countries were meeting in The Hague, the seat of the International Criminal Court (ICC), to discuss coordinating investigations and prosecutions for possible war crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine.
Among the countries that signed a declaration of commitment in this direction are the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Mexico, Australia and the Netherlands.
The steps they will take include creating an umbrella group to prevent duplication of investigations, training Ukrainian prosecutors, and expanding the number of forensic teams operating in Ukraine.
In addition, the signatory nations pledged 20 million euros to help the ICC with investigations, as well as the office of the attorney general in Ukraine and the support efforts of the United Nations.
Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra said different governments are shocked by images of “innocent civilians being killed with their hands tied behind their backs, women and men raped and sometimes family members forced to watch that. “.
In addition, Hoekstra indicated that his country would consider establishing an international war crimes tribunal in Ukraine, in part because neither kyiv nor Moscow are members of the ICC.
“We have to fill a gap and the ICC here does not have the jurisdictions, so I can imagine that we will consider creating such a court,” he said.
Since the beginning of the invasion, Russian forces have bombed Ukrainian cities to ruins and left dead bodies in the streets of the towns and villages they occupied. Ukraine maintains that thousands of civilians have been killed. Moscow denies responsibility.
Around 23,000 investigations for possible war crimes are open.
With Reuters, AP and local media
