RUSSIAN WAR CRIMES & HUMAN RIGHT VIOLATIONS AGAINST UKRAINE

IRINA MIROCHNIK

Summary update as of January 12, 2023

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.

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 January 12, 2023, since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, 453 children were killed and more than 879 children have been injured. Due to the active hostilities in affected regions, there is no possibility to inspect the areas of shelling and destruction.

In Ukraine, 2 civilians were killed on January 11, and 8 more were injured. This was announced by the deputy head of the Office of the President of Ukraine Kyrylo Tymoshenko based on the data of the regional military administrations.

Since the beginning of the war, 2,618 educational institutions have been damaged on the territory of Ukraine, 413 of which were destroyed completely. UNICEF believes that every tenth school in Ukraine has been partially or completely destroyed.

The lives of 7.5 million children were put at risk by the war. According to UN reports, children make up about a third of all refugees from Ukraine, that is, about two million people.

Since February 24, about 4.9 million children and their parents have needed medical assistance. Treatment of 1,500 children suffering from oncology is also impossible due to the war, and only a few hundred of them were able to leave the country.

RUSSIAN WAR CRIMES & HUMAN RIGHT VIOLATIONS AGAINST UKRAINE

Since the beginning of the war, more than 5,800 children have received the status of deprived of parental care. About 1.2 thousand children became orphans.

According to the Minister of Health, as a result of the war, 163 healthcare objects have been completely destroyed and cannot be restored. Also, 815 objects were damaged to varying degrees – from 2 to 90%. At the same time, we are talking only about objects in the territory to which we have access.

According to the information of the National Police, 49 places of deprivation of liberty and torture chambers have been found on the territory of the de- occupied areas.

320 sports facilities have already been damaged by the military aggression of the Russian Federation on the territory of Ukraine. 87 of them were completely or partially destroyed. The amount of losses reaches more than 250 million dollars. This was announced by the Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine, Vadym Gutzait.

Donetsk and Luhansk Region

The head of the Donetsk regional military administration, Pavlo Kyrylenko, reported on the casualties in the region. According to him, one person was killed and another was injured at the hands of the Russian occupiers.

Over the past 24 hours, the occupation forces of Russia have launched 21 attacks on 10 settlements in Donetsk region using aircraft, S-300 SAMs, “Grad” and “Smerch” MLRSs, tube artillery, tanks, and mortars. This was reported by the police of Donetsk region. 23 civilian objects were destroyed and damaged – 15 residential buildings, administrative buildings, premises of the police station and emergency services, utility rooms, garages.

The mayor of Mariupol, Vadym Boychenko, reported that more than 1,500 new graves appeared in the city occupied by Russian troops.
According to him, the Russians put the bodies of the dead residents of Mariupol in mass graves. Therefore, the exact number of those killed is currently unknown. But it is clear that these are tens of thousands of people. There were 2,600 apartment buildings in the city. 1356 no longer exists.

If we imagine that 30-50 people were hidden in each building, then the number of those killed is tens of thousands. Vadym Boychenko added that the city has a high mortality rate today. After all, people do not have access to either medicines or qualified medical care. Moreover, there is often no access even to normal food.

Dnipro and Region

On the night of January 12, Russian troops again struck the Nikopol district with heavy artillery. The Marganets community came under fire. This was announced by the head of the Dnipro regional military administration Valentyn Reznichenko. Several private houses and farm buildings were damaged.

Kharkiv and Region

As reported, after the de-occupation of almost the entire territory of Kharkiv region, law enforcement officers discovered 25 torture chambers. One of the types of torture used by the Russian invaders in torture camps was sawing teeth. This is reported in the National Police in the Kharkiv region. In addition, severe beatings and torture with electric current, suppression were often used. According to available information, police investigators have evidence of the detention of entire families in prisons, including minor children.

According to the information of the law enforcement officers, on January 12, the enemy once again shelled populated areas of the Kupiansk district. Two civilians, aged 68 and 76, were injured.

Kherson and Region

The occupiers do not stop attacking the Kherson region. On January 12, Russian troops fired at civilians in the village of Yantarne. Yaroslav Yanushevich, the head of the Kherson regional military administration, told about it.
A Russian projectile hit a residential building. A 27-year-old man died of his injuries on the spot. In addition, a 47-year-old woman was injured. Currently, she was hospitalized with a shrapnel wound.

Russian invaders shelled Kherson region 90 times in the past day with tube artillery, MLRSs, mortars and tanks. This was announced by Yaroslav Yanushevich. The Russians shelled Kherson 27 times – they attacked residential quarters of the city. Enemy shells hit the maternity hospital, private and apartment buildings.

It is also noted that 1 person was killed and 5 people were injured due to Russian shelling over the past day.

Zaporizhzhia and Region

On the night of January 12, Russian troops shelled Huliaipole, Zaporizhzhia region. A civilian died as a result of the strike. Oleksandr Starukh, the head of the Zaporizhzhia regional military administration, reports this. In addition, as a result of the attacks, residential buildings and commercial buildings, garages and equipment of the local utility company were on fire.

According to the head of the regional military administration, a woman born in 1949 died as a result of shelling. A man was also rescued from the rubble and hospitalized.

Over the past day, Russian troops struck 19 settlements in the Zaporizhzhia region.

25 reports were received about the destruction of houses (apartments) of citizens and infrastructure objects as a result of Russian shelling. Two civilians suffered shrapnel and gunshot wounds.

Confirmed: Sources: Commissioner for Human Rights of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Office of the Prosecutor General, Ministry of Defense, Ministry of Internal Affairs, State Emergency Service, National Police, relevant city and town councils and regional state administrations, Government Office for the Coordination of European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine.

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

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