GENEVA:
Thousands more civilians have been killed in Ukraine than the official UN death toll of 3,381, according to the director of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in the nation on Tuesday.
The majority of the deaths, according to the UN mission in Ukraine, were caused by explosive weapons with a large impact area, such as missile and air attacks.
When asked about the total number of deaths and injuries, Matilda Bogner told a news conference in Geneva, “We have been working on figures, but all I can say for now is that it is thousands higher than the statistics we have currently provided you.”
“The huge dark hole is Mariupol,” she said, referring to the port city in southeast Ukraine that has suffered the most heavy fighting of the war.
Moscow denies targeting civilians and describes the invasion, which began on February 24, as a “special military operation” aimed at disarming Ukraine and removing anti-Russian nationalists. This, according to Ukraine and the West, is an excuse for unleashing an unjustified war of aggression.
Bogner was speaking after visiting areas near Kyiv and Chernihiv that were previously captured by Russian military last week.
Over 300 unlawful deaths have been reported by her team in communities north of Kyiv, including
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They met a 70-year-old guy who hid in a basement for more than three weeks, sleeping standing up and strapping himself to wooden slats to keep from toppling over. Bogner was particularly concerned that both sides were utilising schools as army barracks, in certain cases with substantial military equipment.
Her team was also looking into “credible allegations” of torture, ill-treatment, and executions carried out by Ukrainian forces against Russian invading forces and allied armed organisations, according to her.
“We are also documenting infractions by Ukrainian forces,” she said, “although the scale is substantially higher on the side of complaints against Russian forces.”
