Russian forces continue to subject the people of Ukraine to “relentless” attacks with gliding bombs, long-range missiles and drones, in a attempt to capture more territory in the east of the country, the UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights said this Wednesday.
In an update on events in Ukraine requested by the Human Rights CouncilNada Al-Nashif maintained that these attacks provoked a 30% increase in deaths compared to the previous yearwhich meant 574 deaths.
Al-Nashif noted that the Russian bombing has also damaged key infrastructure such as water, heating and transport services, with several major attacks against Ukraine’s power plants.
Russia accuses Ukraine of terrorist acts
The Russian delegation to the Human Rights Council rejected the deputy high commissioner’s accusations and blamed Ukrainian forces for carrying out “terrorist acts against homes in several Russian regions.”
The Ukrainian representative, for his part, condemned the continued attacks by Russian forcesciting one on New Year’s Eve in which a hundred drones were used that left two dead and seven injured, including two pregnant women in kyiv.
Violations of international law
The sub-head of Human Rights warned about “a increase in flagrant violations of international laws of human rights and serious violations of humanitarian law, including possible war crimes.”
He added that the Ukrainian prisoners of war, “both men and women, described torture widespread and systematic… brutal beatings, electric shocks, strangulation and prolonged solitary confinement. “The majority reported having suffered sexual violence, including rape and forced nudity,” he said.
“I am deeply concerned by the significant increase in credible allegations of executions of Ukrainian military personnel captured by the Russian armed forces. Summary executions constitute a war crime. The Office recorded 62 such executions in 19 separate incidents during the reporting period and verified five of those incidents,” he explained.
Al Nashif also highlighted that Russian prisoners of war detained by Ukraine claimed to have been subjected to torture, beatings brutal acts, sexual violence and attacks with dogs, mainly in transit places before reaching official places of detention.
According to the UN observation mission in Ukraine, since February 2022, the conflict has caused the death of more than 12,300 civiliansincluding more than 650 children, and at least 27,800 injured.
More than 700 medical facilities and 1,500 schools and colleges have also been damaged or destroyed.
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