By KYIV. Dec 8 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine has released a report that describes summary executions and attacks by Russian troops on individual civilians in northern Ukraine from February to April 2022.
"There are strong indications that the summary executions documented in this report may constitute the war crime of wilful killing," UN Mission Chief Matilda Bogner said.
The Organization said that in three regions during the first six weeks of the war, some 441 civilians died by violent death, including 341 men, some 72 women, 20 boys and eight girls. At the same time, the report refers to the ongoing work to confirm an additional 198 murders.
The report also examines cases in which Russian troops have carried out attacks without respecting the principle of distinguishing between military installations and civilians and without taking all possible precautions to spare civilians.
Mission staff reviewed the 100 killings in more detail and concluded that 57 of them were summary executions (48 men, seven women and two boys). Of these, 30 occurred in places of detention, while the remaining 27 victims were killed on the spot shortly after they fell under the control of Russian forces.
Deployed in March 2014, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) monitors and publicly reports on the human rights situation in the country in order to strengthen human rights protection, increase access to justice and ensure that those responsible for human rights violations are brought to justice. Since the beginning of the armed attack by the Russian Federation on Ukraine on February 24, 2022, the work of the HRMMU has been focused on documenting violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law committed by all parties to the conflict.
