UN Human Rights Spokesperson Liz Throssell on Ukraine

“According to our latest information, so far this month at least 139 civilians have reportedly been killed and 791 injured in Ukraine amid intense and successive waves of missile and drone strikes launched by the Russian Federation,” she said.

“In an overnight attack on 12 July, Russian armed forces reportedly deployed 597 Shahed loitering munitions and decoy drones, and 26 missiles. Two civilians were killed and 41 reportedly injured. Damage to civilian infrastructure was reported across several regions, including Chernivtsi, Lviv, Cherkasy, Volyn and Kirovohrad, far away from the frontline, “ she added.

“On 9 July alone, Russian armed forces launched a record number of long-range drones against Ukraine – 728. July has brought no respite for civilians in Ukraine, after June which, according to our monitoring in Ukraine, saw the highest monthly number of civilian deaths and injuries in three years – with 232 people killed and 1,343 injured,” Throssell said.

“The devastating physical and psychological impact on civilians of repeated attacks - in this and other conflicts - cannot be captured by numbers alone. People are having to spend hours sheltering, including in basements, corridors and available refuges such metro stations. Children, older people and people with disabilities are especially vulnerable to the prolonged stress and disruption of sleep, and, in some cases, are unable to get to shelter,” the spokesperson said.

Intense and sustained attacks using explosive weapons with wide area effects in populated areas are likely to have indiscriminate impacts and as such raise serious concerns as to their compliance with international humanitarian law.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk reiterates that an immediate ceasefire is needed now to end this unbearable suffering, Throssell stressed.

“The Russian Federation’s full-scale armed attack on Ukraine must urgently be halted and work on a lasting peace, in line with international law must intensify - a peace that ensures accountability for gross violations of international human rights law and serious violations of international humanitarian law,” said Throssell.

“The High Commissioner also highlights that it is vital that any negotiations focus on a coordinated push – as immediate steps - to end attacks that affect civilians, protect the rights of people in occupied territory, return forcibly transferred or deported children, establish humanitarian corridors across the line of control, and end the torture and ill treatment of prisoners of war and other detainees. He urges the Russian Federation and Ukraine to commit to a full exchange of prisoners of war. Resolving the fate of civilian detainees also needs to remain high on the agenda,” she said.

Since early June, colleagues in Ukraine have interviewed nearly 140 Ukrainian prisoners of war, all men, released during recently agreed exchanges, the spokesperson added. Many had endured up to three years in captivity, and nearly all reported being tortured or ill-treated, including severe beatings, electric shock and sexual violence. These findings confirm patterns the Office has previously established of widespread and systematic torture.

The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine also continues to interview Russian POWs held by Ukraine, documenting the use of unofficial places of detention and torture and ill-treatment in the early stages of captivity. The Ukrainian authorities have launched investigations into several of these allegations, and the Office calls on them to ensure that these investigations progress expeditiously, in accordance with international standards.

Ravina Shamdasani - + 41 22 917 9169 / ravina.shamdasani@un.org
Thameen Al-Kheetan: +41 22 917 4232 / thameen.alkheetan@un.org
Liz Throssell - + 41 22 917 9296 / elizabeth.throssell@un.org

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UN Human Rights Spokesperson Liz Throssell on Ukraine

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