The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission to Ukraine confirm that more than 3,380 civilians have been killed since February 24and more than 3,680 people were injured.
“We heard about rooftop snipers who will shoot fairly randomly at civilians When they cross the street, I see it as a form of trying to keep people indoors and discourage them from going out,” said Mission head Matilda Bogner.
Depraved behavior
Once it is secure enough for rights custodians to access frontline sites, Bogner added, the actual number of victims is expected to be even greater, including in the devastated port city of Mariupol. break.
“During my recent visit to the towns north of Kyiv, we have documented several cases of sexual violence. In a town… a woman was raped and killed by a Russian soldier. The soldier himself then tried to rape the neighbor. This woman’s husband intervened but was later shot dead by the soldier. Then he died. ”
In Bucha and other suburban towns north of the capital overrun by Russian troops, human rights investigators documented the unlawful killings of more than 300 men, women and children.
“This includes summary executions and people getting shot at vehicles, crossing roads, etc.,” Ms. Bogner said.
Bucha became internationally famous in early April, after the graphic images shows The bodies of civilians were lying in the streets, some with their hands tied behind their backs.
Sleep straight
Before speaking to journalists in Geneva, Ms. Bogner and her team spent last week visiting 14 towns in the Kyiv and Chernihiv regions that were occupied by the Russian armed forces until the end of March.
“People tell us about relatives, neighbors and friends being killed, wounded, detained and disappeared,” she said. “In Makariv (Kyiv oblast), a family of five was shot by the Russian armed forces as they tried to leave with their neighbors by car.” Sadly, only two survived.
In the village of Yahidne in the Chernihiv region of central Ukraine, Bogner described meeting a 70-year-old man who had spent 24 days sheltering in the basement of a school.
“He told us with tears in his eyes that he shared a 76 square meter room with 138 people, the youngest being two months old,” she recounts. “The space was so cramped that he had to get up to sleep and tie himself to the wooden railing so he wouldn’t fall.. ”
Searching for the missing person
Many Ukrainians continue to search for missing relatives and friends – mainly young men – some of whom may have been taken to Belarus and then Russia, the United Nations official said.
She also noted the credible reports received of torture, ill-treatment and detention of Ukrainian soldiers by the Russian armed forces and affiliated groups.
UN Geneva / Siyao Yang
Matilda Bogner, Head of the Delegation to Monitor Human Rights in Ukraine, at the UN Geneva.
Stationed near schools, hospitals
High combat casualties and massive destruction of civilian infrastructure suggest indiscriminate attacks that violate the rules of war.Ms. Bogner confirmed.
She noted that schools, hospitals, private homes and multi-storey residential buildings were destroyed, and hundreds of educational and medical facilities were damaged or razed.
“In many areas, the armed forces of both sides have used the school as their base” and placed heavy military equipment in the vicinity, the powerful officer added.
Special rights session coming
Ms. Bogner’s comment precedes one Special session of the Human Rights Council on Ukraine scheduled for Thursday in Geneva.
The Council has convened 34 special sessions so far.
At an urgent debate on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine during the last regular session, members decided to set up an independent international investigative committee to investigate all allegations of violations. human rights violations surrounding that invasion.
