Civilians must not be used as an instrument of war — Sybiha on the abduction of civilians in the Kupiansk area
Kyiv • UNN
Sybiha said that Russian forces forcibly moved civilians through a gas pipeline near Kupiansk. He called this a violation of international law.
Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha commented on the use of civilians, including elderly people and children, as a "human shield" in the Kupiansk area, noting that civilians cannot be used as an instrument of war or forcibly displaced. Sybiha wrote about this on X, UNN reports.
russia is once again using Ukrainian civilians as an instrument of war. Ukrainian troops recorded Russian forces moving civilians, including children and elderly people, through a gas pipeline near Kupiansk toward temporarily occupied territory. The people were forced to move under threat of weapons. Civilians cannot be used as an instrument of war or forcibly displaced
He added that such actions constitute gross violations of international humanitarian law and must be properly documented and investigated, while those responsible must be held accountable.
The minister was reacting to a statement by the National Guard’s Khartiia Brigade, which said that the occupiers were driving children and elderly people through the gas pipeline while covering the withdrawal of their own forces in the Kupiansk district.
We remind you
Ukrainian troops have recently made advances or regained positions in several areas of the front at once—near Kupiansk, Sloviansk, Chasiv Yar, and in the Oleksandrivka direction. Russian sources also acknowledged that the Defense Forces had liberated the village of Perebudova in Donetsk region.