RUSSIAN WAR CRIMES & HUMAN RIGHT VIOLATIONS AGAINST UKRAINE
IRINA MIROCHNIK
Summary update as of January 02, 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 02, 2023, since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, 452 children were killed and more than 876 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, 1 civilian was killed on January 01, and 9 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.
Kyiv and Region
Today, January 2, one of the victims of the Russian attack on the capital on December 31 died. This was announced by Kyiv City Mayor Vitaliy Klychko. According to him, a 46-year-old man was in intensive care in a serious condition after the missile attack. In total, 2 people died and 22 were injured in Kyiv by Russian missile attack on the New Year’s eve.
Kyiv and the region were under attack by kamikaze drones for the second night in a row. On the night of January 2, residential buildings and a critical infrastructure facility were damaged in the Kyiv region. Currently, 11 damaged residential houses are known. This was announced by the head of the regional military administration Oleksiy Kuleba.
Donetsk and Luhansk Region
On January 1, the Russians wounded 1 civilian in Bakhmut, Donetsk region.
This was announced by the head of the Donetsk regional military administration Pavlo Kyrylenko.
On the first day of the new year, the police of Donetsk region documented 16 attacks by Russians on 8 settlements of the region. 6 civilian objects were destroyed and damaged – residential buildings, a garage, a civilian car.
As a result of Russian shelling of the region on the night of January 2, residential buildings were damaged.
Dnipro and Region
On the night of Monday, January 2, Russian troops attacked the Dnipro region with missiles, kamikaze drones and heavy artillery. There is destruction in the region. This was announced by the head of the Dnipro regional military administration Valentyn Reznichenko.
According to him, the Russian occupiers shelled the Nikopol district with heavy artillery. The enemy hit Nikopol and Marhanets four times. More than 20 enemy shells nit the city. The recreation center was damaged. The details of the attacks are being clarified.
Kharkiv and Region
Last day, the Russian occupiers continued shelling the border areas of Kharkiv region and settlements close to the contact line. At least 11 settlements were hit. This was announced by the head of the Kharkiv regional military administration Oleh Synegubov.
In Kupiansk, 5 private houses were damaged by enemy shelling, infrastructure was damaged. A 77-year-old woman was injured as a result of the shelling.
Kherson and Region
On the morning of January 2, the Russians attacked the center of Beryslav – they shelled the city market. Presumably, the fire came from the tank from the side of the temporarily occupied Kakhovka, the head of Kherson regional military administra- tion Yaroslav Yanushevich said. At this moment, it is known about 5 wounded. Three people are in serious condition.
In addition, in Beryslav, Russian troops shelled residential buildings with tanks. There is significant destruction of a 5-story residential building. This was reported by the mayor of Beryslav Oleksandr Shapovalov.
In total, the Russian occupiers shelled the territory of the Kherson region with heavy artillery 71 times over the past day. Kherson itself was shelled 30 times. One person died, four residents of the Kherson region were injured, the Kherson regional military administration reports.
Russian shells hit power lines, a regional children’s hospital, a swimming pool, private and apartment buildings.
According to the head of Beryslav district military administration, during the day of January 1, Russian troops shelled seven settlements in five territorial communities of the district, one person was injured.
In the Kherson region, law enforcement officers exhumed another civilian shot by the Russian military during the occupation. According to the investigation, a 50-year-old man died on March 6. This was reported by the Prosecutor General’s Office.
In the Kherson region, an 82-year-old woman who was wounded during enemy shelling in the town of Naddniprianske on December 31, died in a hospital. The 13-year-old boy who was injured on the same day is currently in a serious condition. This is reported by the police of the Kherson region.
The police also established that in different periods as a result of Russian attacks at the Kherson region, civilian residents – men aged 85, 54 and 47 and women aged 45 and 39 – died because of enemy shelling.
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of Russia, 1,100 people have been kidnapped in the Kherson region. This is reported by the Regional Prosecutor’s Office. 638 people out of 1,100 people were released, and the rest continue to be held captive by the Russian occupiers.
It was also reported that since December 27, 2022, the Russians damaged 63 residential buildings in the Kherson community.
Sumy and Region
On Sunday, January 1, the occupiers struck 114 attacks on 5 communities of the Sumy region, as a result of which an architectural monument was damaged: the wooden church of St. Barbara. The cultural building, as well as the starostat building were also damaged, reports the head of the Sumy regional military administration Dmytro Zhyvytskyi.
Zaporizhzhia and Region
During January 1, as a result of Russian shelling of the territory of Zaporizhzhia region, 2 fires broke out in residential buildings.
Confirmed: 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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