At least 1,480 civilians have been killed and at least 2,195 wounded in Ukraine since the Russian invasion began on Feb. 24, said Rosemary DiCarlo, the United Nations (UN) under-secretary-general for political and peacebuilding affairs.
Citing updated figures from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), DiCarlo said the OHCHR believes the actual numbers of civilian casualties are “considerably higher”.
She noted that the number of Ukrainian civilians in the conflict has “more than doubled” since she last informed the Security Council on March 17.
“Ukrainian cities continue to be mercilessly attacked, often indiscriminately, by heavy artillery and aerial bombardment. And hundreds of thousands of people, including children, the elderly and the disabled, remain trapped in fenced-in areas under nightmarish conditions,” DiCarlo said Monday at a UN Security Council meeting.
“The horror deepened this past weekend when shocking images emerged of dead civilians – some with their hands tied – on the streets of Bucha, the city near Kiev formerly controlled by Russian forces. Many bodies were also found in a mass grave in the same location.”
DiCarlo also noted that medical care and basic services are also being disrupted in Ukraine, with at least 85 attacks on health facilities recorded as of April 4, according to the World Health Organization. Those attacks resulted in at least 72 deaths and 43 injuries, DiCarlo said.
The UN is also “seriously concerned” about the “arbitrary arrests and enforced disappearances of people who demonstrated against the Russian invasion,” DiCarlo said.
“OHCHR has documented the arbitrary detention and possible forced disappearance of 22 journalists and members of civil society” in Ukraine, as well as 24 local officials who were detained in Russian-controlled regions, 13 of whom were released, DiCarlo said.
She added that on 30 March, the OHCHR also recorded the deaths of seven journalists and media workers.
There were allegations “of conflict-related sexual violence” by Russian and Ukrainian forces and civil defense militias, DiCarlo continued. “The UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine continues to seek to verify all these allegations.”
Source: CNN Brasil
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