The UN human rights defender condemned the missile attacks on Ukraine
According to the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU), new rocket attacks on Wednesday killed at least eight civilians, including a girl, and injured at least 45 people, including seven children, in Kyiv city and region. A two-day-old baby died and two doctors were injured as a result of a rocket attack on a hospital in Vilnyansk, Zaporizhzhya region.
UN-confirmed casualties say at least 77 civilians have been killed and 272 wounded since Russia began firing rockets into the country on October 10.
Alleged summary executions of prisoners of war
Volker Turk, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said in his statement, “Millions of people have been put into extremely difficult situations and terrible living conditions as a result of these strikes.” “In general, this poses serious problems under international humanitarian law, which requires a specific and direct military advantage for each object attacked.”
In addition to documenting civilian casualties, the Monitoring Mission reviewed videos and other information on alleged summary executions of Ukrainian and Russian prisoners of war.
“There are numerous allegations of summary executions of prisoners of war and others who are no longer fighting on both sides,” Turk said.
Among the videos reviewed by the High Commissioner, several have circulated on social media over the past two weeks. They include videos from the village of Makiivka showing the apparent surrender of Russian troops or Russian-affiliated armed groups, one man shooting at Ukrainian soldiers, and the subsequent corpses of around 12 soldiers.
“Our monitoring mission in Ukraine has conducted preliminary analyzes that show that these disturbing videos are likely to be authentic,” Turk said, “underlining the need for forensic investigations of these images.
Millions of Ukrainians were left without electricity
For its part, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) has expressed concern over the consequences of Russia’s strikes targeting critical infrastructure in Ukraine and depriving millions of Ukrainians of electricity.
“Our colleagues in Ukraine saw that a wave of attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure left millions of people without electricity across the country,” Jens Laerke said at a press briefing in Geneva. OCHA spokesperson.
Some regions, including Lviv in the west, Zaporozhye and Odessa in the south, and Chernigov in the north, were completely cut off from electricity. “Many are still working to restore it,” Mr. Laerke said, adding that these power outages are in addition to planned outages.
“Ukraine is getting colder and colder. Without electricity. Without heat. And without a regular water supply,” the OCHA spokesperson condemned.
The latest estimates by OCHA showed that 50% of the Ukrainian capital was still without electricity this Friday morning. “People living in high-rise buildings are deprived of water due to low pressure in water supply systems, especially on the upper floors,” said an OCHA spokesperson.
UN teams learned yesterday, Thursday, that 15 of Ukraine’s 24 provinces have experienced power and water cuts. Water and heating systems, which depend on electricity, were also damaged, and there was a water shortage in 15 districts.
Faced with this situation, UN agencies and their partners are helping authorities provide generators to critical facilities such as hospitals and schools. About 400 generators have already been handed over by the United Nations.
Thousands more are on the way. “We continue to emphasize that, in accordance with international humanitarian law, critical infrastructure must be protected from harm,” said an OCHA spokesperson.
