RUSSIAN WAR CRIMES AND HUMAN RIGHT VIOLATIONS IN THE WAR AGAINST UKRAINE, June 23, 2022

RUSSIAN WAR CRIMES

IRINA MIROCHNIK

The use of weapons of mass destruction against civilians is a crime against humanity and a violation of the four Geneva Conventions of 1949.

By killing civilians, the aggressor’s forces continue to commit crimes against humanity as defined by the Statute of the International Military Tribunal and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, cynically disregarding all the requirements of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War. According to these norms, deliberate attacks on civilians who are not directly involved in hostilities are equated to war crimes.

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The taking of civilian hostages is a direct violation of Articles 3 and 34 of the Geneva Convention with regard to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

As of June 23, 2022, since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, 324 children have died and more than 593 children have been injured. Due to the active hostilities in affected regions, there is no possibility to inspect the areas of shelling and destruction. The actual data on dead and injured children in these regions are currently being established.

“The use of weapons of mass destruction against civilians is a crime against humanity and a violation of the four Geneva Conventions of 1949.”

According to new UNESCO estimates, as of June 22, 152 cultural sites in Ukraine had been partially or completely destroyed since the beginning of the war. This includes 70 religious buildings, 30 historic buildings, 18 houses of culture, 15 monuments, 12 museums and 7 libraries.

After the start of hostilities, 20,000 people went missing, and almost half of them were found by police. This was announced during a briefing by the head of the department of organizational and analytical support and operational response of the National Police.

According to him, 533 minors were declared missing during this period, 360 of them were found. Of those who were not found, 169 children went missing as a result of hostilities.

Donetsk and Luhansk Regions

The Russian occupiers fired on Lysychansk, Luhansk region, several times the day before. The head of the Luhansk regional military administration Serhiy Haidai reported about it in the morning on June 23.

According to him, three people were injured during the day and hospitalized in Kramatorsk and Pavlohrad hospitals. The day before yesterday, late in the evening, the body of a man without signs of life was found with injuries received during the shelling.

Destruction was also recorded in one of the city’s schools.

According to Haidai, the occupiers continue to destroy industry in Severodonetsk. In particular, the shelling affected the territory of a brick factory, “Fiberglass”, as well as a plant of non-standard chemical equipment. The building of the second passage of “Azot” plant is damaged.

The Russian occupiers carried out massive artillery shelling in a number of settlements in the Donetsk region. They used S-300 anti-aircraft missiles, Smerch, Grad, and Uragan MLRS systems, artillery, and tanks.

“By killing civilians, the aggressor’s forces continue to commit crimes against humanity as defined by the Statute of the International Military Tribunal and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, cynically disregarding all the requirements of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War. According to these norms, deliberate attacks on civilians who are not directly involved in hostilities are equated to war crimes.”

As a result of another attack of Russia, civilians were wounded and killed. This was reported by the National Police of Ukraine.

At least four civilians were killed and five others were injured in Russian shelling in the Donetsk region on June 23. This was announced by the head of the Donetsk regional military administration Pavlo Kyrylenko.

According to law enforcement officers, 25 civilian objects were destroyed and damaged – 18 residential buildings, including two apartment buildings, an agricultural warehouse, a utility company, a mobile operator’s station, etc.

In the temporarily occupied Mariupol, locals still do not have access to normal drinking water.

Now they are saved only by rains, the adviser to the mayor Petro Andriushchenko told.

According to him, the occupation authorities are not taking any action to resolve the water issue.

Kharkiv and Region

As a result of Russian shelling of residential areas in Kharkiv and the region on Wednesday, June 22, ten civilians were killed.

The head of the Kharkiv regional military administration Oleh Synegubov reported about it.

Four people were injured during the Russian shelling of the Nemyshlyanskyi district of Kharkiv. Five civilian women were killed and one civilian was injured in Balaklia in the village of Pryshyb, Izium district.

The bodies of two more people were found under the rubble in Zolochiv – a total of three people died in the shelling of the Russian Federation in Zolochiv.

In Chuhuiv, two civilians were killed and four were wounded in the Russian shelling. One person was injured in the village of Tykhopillya, Lozova district.

Russian troops continue to attack Ukrainian territory. Today, on June 23, Chuhuiv in the Kharkiv region came under fire again. This was reported by the press center of the State Emergency Service.

The shelling resulted in at least two fires and destruction. It is noted that four people were injured, including two children.

According to the press service of the National Police, on June 23, a shell of the Russian army hit two-story apartment building in Zolochiv, Kharkiv region. There are dead and wounded civilians.

It is noted that a superpower rocket hit the center of the building. Household is completely destroyed. Nearby buildings and garages were also damaged.

Sumy and Region

On June 22, the enemy fired at Sumy region with small arms, mortars, and artillery, and used drones.

The shelling damaged civilian infrastructure, a functioning medical facility, medical, agricultural and private vehicles, and injured several pets.

An enemy drone also dropped explosive devices in the area of one of the settlements of the Velykopysarivska community, killing one person.

In Sumy Region, a police car exploded on a mine while patrolling the area, injuring two officers. When explosives technicians and investigators were working at the scene, a second explosion was heard. As a result, five more were injured. One person died on the spot.

The head of the Sumy regional military administration Dmytro Zhyvytskyi reported about it.

Zaporizhzhia and Region

According to the Zaporizhzhia Regional Military Administration, yesterday the enemy fired on Orikhiv’s civilian infrastructure for several hours in a row. The shelling destroyed houses, damaged roads, the gas system and power lines.

The Russian armed forces fired on the Polohy district of the Zaporizhzhia region. During the day on June 22, local residents filed six complaints with the police about the consequences of the armed attack.

This was reported on June 23 in the Zaporizhzhia regional military administration. According to the report, Russian troops fired on the city of Huliaipole and the villages of Novomykolaivka and Uspenivka. In the last two settlements, roofs and windows of private houses were torn down, walls were cut down, fences and yards were damaged. The missiles were aimed directly at the homes of civilians.

Dnipro and Region

The enemy struck the Kryvyi Rih district 6 times. There are hits in residential areas. The head of the Dnipro Regional Military Administration, Valentyn Reznichenko, reported on the situation in the region.

Two people were wounded in Apostolove. They were hospitalized. There is the destruction of housing. The city is partially without light and water. Cluster munitions remained on the streets after the shelling. So far, pyrotechnics have identified 16 cassette elements.

Mykolaiv and Region

On Wednesday, June 22, the Russian troops actively fired at the Mykolaiv area. The head of the Mykolaiv regional council Anna Zamazeeva reported about consequences of enemy attack.

Residential quarters of Mykolaiv suffered. The invaders damaged at least five houses in Mykolaiv and Bashtanka districts.

Over the past 24 hours, five people were injured in the region and taken to hospital.

The Russian army attacked Mykolaiv again. Three surface-to-air cruise missiles were fired from the occupied territory of the Kherson region.

The Odesa City Council reports about it.

The missiles hit the production and social infrastructure of the city, injuring one civilian.

Kherson and Region

As a result of enemy shelling on June 22 at a seaport in Russian-occupied Skadovsk, a local resident was killed.

The mayor of Skadovsk Oleksandr Yakovlev reported about it.

25-06-2022

[Writer Irina Mirochnik is the President at IMMER Group & Doctor of Philosophy in Law(PhD)]

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