More than 140 cases of executions of civilians by Russians in Ukraine have been recorded since February 2022. This was stated by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, who was quoted by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, UNN reports.
Details
Turk said that his office continues to conduct extensive monitoring and documentation of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU), based on the rigorous and proven methodology they have developed over decades.
According to him, this documentation continues to point to gross violations of international human rights law, serious violations of international humanitarian law and war crimes, primarily by the forces of the Russian Federation.
These include 142 cases of executions of civilians since February 2022 in territory controlled by the Russian armed forces or occupied by the Russian Federation. In the occupied territory, we have documented widespread torture and ill-treatment of detainees, including sexual violence, as well as a large number of enforced disappearances
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In addition, he said, Russia has "largely" failed to take adequate measures to protect civilians and protected civilian objects from the consequences of their attacks.
"As of December 4, my Office has registered and confirmed more than 10,000 civilian deaths as a result of the conflict since February 2022, including more than 560 children. Another 18,500 civilians have been confirmed injured, many of them seriously. The actual losses are likely much higher," Turk said.
Turk also reported that from August 1 to November 30 this year, his mission documented 2,440 civilians killed and injured, most of them from long-range explosive weapons such as artillery shells and rockets, cluster munitions and rockets, and so-called barrage munitions.
He noted that the majority of civilians were killed in the areas of Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia close to the front line, and that there was a disproportionate number of elderly people who were unwilling or unable to move to a safer place.