The head of the UN Human Rights Mission in Ukraine, Ms. Matilda Bogner has told the reporters after the conclusion of her visit to war-hit areas of Ukraine that more than 3,380 civilians have been killed and over 3,680 injured since February 24. According to her, the snipers on the roofs shoot fairly at the civilians, while cases of sexual violence by the Russian soldiers are common. Human rights investigators had recorded the unlawful killing of over 300 men, women, and children in Bucha and other suburban towns north of the capital, which includes summary executions and people shot at either in vehicles, crossing roads, and so on. According to Bogner, many Ukrainians continue to search for missing relatives and friends, some of whom may have been taken to Belarus and then Russia. She noted that schools, hospitals, private houses, and multi-story residential buildings had been destroyed, and hundreds of educational and medical facilities were razed to the ground. The armed forces from both sides have been using schools as their bases and placed heavy military equipment on their premises.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine had passed 77 days and the situation had deteriorated significantly despite the continuous dialogue between competitors over the past months. The ongoing war has resulted in heavy loss of human lives and properties including 3381 deaths, 3680 injuries, the destruction of government infrastructure, commercial and residential properties, and displacement of millions of Ukrainian people to the neighboring states. The reports suggest that Russian troops had been involved in the massive killing of innocent civilians, and human rights violations including the rape of Ukrainian women and girls, men and boys, torture and enforced disappearances of the people as well as looting of goods and essential commodities in the territories under the control of Russian forces. Earlier, Human Rights Watch (HRW) and Amnesty International had reported several cases of violations of laws of war by the Russian Military Forces in the areas occupied by Russian troops such as Kharkiv, Bucha, suburbs of the Capital Kyiv, and Chernihiv regions of Ukraine. The UN Human Rights Council has decided to establish an independent international commission of inquiry to investigate all alleged violations of human rights surrounding Russian aggression against Ukraine, while the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine is also continuously documenting Russian war crimes against innocent civilians. The indiscriminate targeting of military and civilian infrastructure including hospitals, schools, and residential areas had turned Ukraine into heaps of destruction, while humanity is crying on the roads and streets and a serious threat of famine is quite evident if the hostilities remain in the coming months. The UN Human Rights team was of the view that the scope of casualties, violations of human and religious and destruction of properties are likely to be many times higher than reported because the UN Monitors have no access to the areas under contest. According to reports, the US Intelligence Chief has warned the world about Putin’s willingness and preparation for a prolonged war in Ukraine for the accomplishment of his military objective in the region. In fact, humanity has suffered a lot, but the thirst of aggressors had not been satisfied so far, hence it is the duty of global adjudicators to admonish the invaders to end the miseries of people.
