Speaking in Kiev, at the end of a four-day official visit, Martin Griffiths described the deadly threat posed by daily artillery attacks on the southern port city of Kherson.
Today, more than 18 million people in Ukraine need humanitarian aid, according to UN humanitarian organizations. About 7.83 million people have left the country and 6.5 million are internally displaced.
Mykolaiv is suffering
Mr. Griffiths explained that in the nearby city of Mykolaiv, he spoke to families sheltering in a bunker, after they were displaced from villages destroyed by shelling.
Despite the devastation, these people “come back every day to try to start their lives over”“, I said.
But before anyone can go home, large areas will need to be demined, Griffiths continued, echoing the Ukrainian Prime Minister’s assessment that the country is probably a bomb contaminated country. most landmines in the world.
“You can’t get the country back into production without mining,” said Griffiths, noting that about half a million hectares of farmland in Kherson alone has been affected. “So the urgent international priority for the mines is a priority that we will also do what we can.”
Power game
A reliable power supply is even more important to Ukraine’s recovery, Griffiths said, describing it as a key nationwide requirement.
“This issue is of central importance because civilians suffer from power outages, civilians are not harmed under international law in a conflict,” he said.
Mr. Griffiths stressed that all those caught up in the war in Ukraine want their children back to school and other signs of normal life. He added that the United Nations will do what it can to make that happen.
“Even now, even in places like Kherson, where the war is still going on with people on the right bank being shelled every day — restarting, restarting the economy, whatever. that we at the United Nations can do to support that effort – we are happy to do so.”
© UNOCHA/Saviano Abreu
According to the Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, Martin Griffiths, visits Kherson during his four-day visit to Ukraine.
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Meanwhile, in Geneva, grim details of Russian forces in Ukraine killing civilians were shared at a press conference. Dong Nhan Quyen Association on Thursday.
At the recommendation of the Council, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk Provide information was put together by his Office on “brief executions and attacks on individual civilians” in more than 100 villages and towns in the regions of Kyiv, Chernihiv and Sumy, from 24 February to 6 April .
The study took place during field visits, after the Russian troops had withdrawn. Witnesses and survivors provided first-hand reports, supplemented by other sources, that enabled the Office of the High Commissioner to document the killings of 441 civilians: 341 men, 72 women, 20 male and 8 female.
“In some cases, Russian soldiers execute civilians in temporary detention,” said the High Commissioner. “Other was done on the spot after security check – in their homes, yards and doors. Even when the victim has made it clear that they are not a threat, for example by raising their hands in the air.”
Mr Türk, who noted that investigators were also trying to corroborate 198 more alleged murders, added that there were “strong indications” that the summary executions described in the report’s Mr.’s office may constitute a war crime intentional homicide.
In his address to the Council, the head of UN rights stressed that armored vehicles and tanks of Russian forces “have fired at residential buildings, killing civilians in their homes. Civilians are hit on the road while traveling within or between settlements or while commuting to work.”
Mr. Türk said Bucha was hit hardest, noting that 73 civilians were killed in the town alone (54 men, 16 women, two men and one woman) between the 4th and the 5th day. March 30.
“On the 150m stretch of Yablunska Road, 14 civilians (10 men, 3 women and 1 girl) were killed. were shot dead and left where they fell,” said the High Commissioner. “My office is in the process of corroborating 105 more alleged civilian killings in Bucha.”
