RUSSIAN WAR CRIMES & HUMAN RIGHT VIOLATIONS IN UKRAINE

RUSSIAN WAR CRIMES AND HUMAN RIGHT VIOLATIONS IN THE WAR AGAINST UKRAINE

IRINA MIROCHNIK

Summary update as of December 26, 2022

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 December 23, 2022, since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, 450 children were killed and more than 867 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, 25 civilians were killed in the period of December 23-25, and 98 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.

Donetsk and Luhansk Region

During the period of December 23-25, as a result of Russian shelling in Donetsk region, 2 people died, 14 more were injured. This was reported by the head of the Donetsk regional military administration, Pavlo Kyrylenko.

During the last day, the Russian invaders made 19 strikes on 10 settlements in Donetsk region with S-300 air defense systems, “Grad” MLRSs, and tube artillery. 9 civilian objects were damaged – residential buildings, administrative buildings, and industrial enterprises.

RUSSIAN WAR CRIMES & HUMAN RIGHT VIOLATIONS IN UKRAINE

Dnipro and Region

A 51-year-old man, who was injured as a result of a missile attack on Kryvyi Rih on December 16, died in the hospital. Thus, the number of victims increased to five people. Oleksandr Vilkul, head of the military administration of Kryvyi Rih, announced this.

Kharkiv and Region

Over the past day, the Russians shelled 12 settlements in the Kharkiv region with mortars and artillery. This was announced by the head of the regional military administration Oleh Synegubov. In Dvorichna, the occupiers’ shells damaged a residential building, and outbuildings on an area of 250 m2 caught fire. According to the Regional Center of Emergency Medical Assistance, a 72-year-old woman was hospitalized in Vovchansk, who received a shrapnel wound from Russian shelling the day before.

The mine danger remains high in the region, during the day pyrotechnicians of the State Emergency Service neutralized 49 explosive objects.

According to the Office of the Prosecutor General, in the morning of December 24, the Russian occupiers fired artillery at the village of Podoly in the Kupiansk District. The projectile hit a private house. A man died, his wife was injured.

Sumy and Region

On Sunday, December 25, during the day, the Russian invaders once again shelled the territory of the Sumy region. This was announced by the head of the Sumy regional military administration, Dmytro Zhyvytskyi. As a result of mortar shelling, 6 homes of local residents were damaged. In addition, power grids were damaged.

The Russian occupiers attacked the city of Bilopillia, Sumy region. In particular, the Russians shelled the hospital, as a result of which a child died. This was announced by the Minister of Defense Oleksiy Reznikov.

Kherson and Region

On December 24, Russia launched a terrorist attack on the center of Kherson. 64 people from Kherson were injured, 18 people are currently in serious condition.

11 people died as a result of the attack.

Center of Kherson shelled by Russians on Saturday December 24. There are no military facilities in the vicinity.

Russian occupying forces shelled the territory of the Kherson region 33 times in the past day. This was announced by the head of the regional military administration, Yaroslav Yanushevich. Peaceful settlements of the region suffered from fire from artillery, MLRS, mortars and tanks. Yanushevich also reported that the enemy at- tacked the regional center seven times. Warehouses, private and apartment buildings were damaged.

In total, over the past day, law enforcement officers recorded 36 war crimes committed by the occupiers and their accomplices in the Kherson region. It is about terrorist attacks and looting. The invaders continue to launch massive shelling of de-occupied settlements from rocket launchers, mortars and heavy artillery. Two women were killed in one of the villages of the Beryslav district of the Kherson region due to Russian shelling.

Another woman was hospitalized in serious condition. This is reported by the National Police of Ukraine in the Kherson region.

There are communities in the territory of the Kherson region liberated from the Russians, where the enemy destroyed 60-70% of the infrastructure. This was announced by the First Deputy Chairman of the Kherson Regional Council Yuriy Sobolevskyi.

Zaporizhzhia and Region

More than 25 settlements were shelled in the Zaporizhzhia direction. This was reported in the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. 5 reports were received about the destruction of houses (apartments) of citizens and infrastructure objects as a result of shelling by Russian military personnel.

In addition, the Russian occupiers have closed all checkpoints and are not allowing people into the territory controlled by Ukraine.

Over the past week, the Zaporizhzhia region was shelled 590 times, 51 of them in the last day. About 150 objects were destroyed, including a school and energy infrastructure objects. Oleksandr Starukh, the head of the Zaporizhzhia regional military administration, stated this.

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.

27-12-2022

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

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