Spokesperson of the United Nations human rights office (OHCHR), Liz Throssell, said that people left the front line in the Kharkiv region and were forced to stay “The basement was cold, dark, and had no electricity” due to aerial bombardment, drone and missile attacks, and artillery shelling.
evacuated civilians
Ms. Throssell reported that many homes and civilian infrastructure had been damaged. Additionally, entire communities were destroyed, displacing more than 10,000 people.
HRMMU said some 35 civilians in the Kharkiv region have been killed and 137 injured since Russian armed forces launched cross-border attacks on May 10; More than half of those killed and injured were over 60 years old and unable or unwilling to leave their homes.
The Monitoring Mission in Ukraine interviewed 90 displaced civilians since the May 10 attack, and the team visited multiple attack sites. Many people interviewed recounted being unable to find shelter and seeing their neighbors killed and injured.
Aid from local authorities
Ms. Throssell said that local authorities and volunteers are taking risks to help people get to safety. In one case on May 10, two paramedics, two ambulance drivers and a local official were injured while assisting civilians in evacuating Buhaivka.
Separately, on May 19, Russian armed forces attacked an entertainment center in the village of Cherkaska Lozova near the city of Kharkiv twice in 20 minutes. After visiting the scene, HRMMU recorded 6 civilians killed and dozens injured.
Being attacked
To this day, Kharkiv is still under attack. On Thursday, the city experienced multiple rocket attacks that left seven people dead and 21 injured.
“We once again call on the Russian Federation to strictly respect all provisions of international law regarding the conduct of hostilities and Stop attacking Ukraine immediately.”
She continued: “In the third year of the Russian Federation’s full-scale armed attack on Ukraine, with no end in sight, lives, homes and futures continue to be destroyed. The lasting impact of this war in Ukraine will be felt for generations, with the task of rebuilding shattered communities, which is a huge undertaking, growing larger with each day of violence and destroy.”
