By BRUSSELS. Dec 8 (Interfax-Ukraine) – The facts of willful killing of 441 Ukrainian civilians by the Russian invasion forces in the early says of the war confirm the worse assumptions of their atrocities and may amount the war crimes committed by the Russian troops.
Lead Spokesperson of the European Commission for Foreign Affairs Peter Stano on Thursday commented on the recent report by UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights which addresses the killings of civilians committed in parts of Ukraine which were under the Russian military occupation until April 2022.
"According to this report, at least 441 civilians were killed by the Russian forces in the early days of the invasion, in summary executions and attacks in dozens of towns across three regions of Ukraine, namely Kyiv, Chernihiv and Sumy. We welcome the efforts of the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to document violation of human rights and international humanitarian law in the context of the illegal Russian aggression against Ukraine. These findings […] only further, unfortunately, confirm the worst assumptions of the atrocities that are being committed by the invading forces from Russia in Ukrainian towns and villages, which are or were under their control," he said.
Stano also noted that "there are strong indications that extrajudicial killings, executions documented so far may amount the war crime of willful killing."
"This is of course just one of the many violations committed by the invading Russian soldiers on the Ukrainian soil," he said.
