Geneva [Switzerland]: UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet has said Russia’s military attack on Ukraine has “opened a new and dangerous chapter in world history”.
She made these remarks during an urgent debate on Thursday during which she led calls for a ceasefire, UN News reported. Convened at the request of Ukraine, the Human Rights Council gathered in Geneva to consider a draft resolution on the “situation of human rights in Ukraine stemming from the Russian aggression,” a week after it began a “special military operation” in Ukraine.
“One week ago, the Russian Federation’s military attack on Ukraine opened a new and dangerous chapter in world history,” Bachelet said. “Military operations are escalating further as we speak, with military strikes on and near large cities, including Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Kherson, Mariupol…and the capital, Kyiv. The town of Volnovakha in Donetsk region has been almost completely destroyed by shelling, and its remaining residents have been hiding in basements.”
Bachelet updated the participants on casualty figures from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), indicating at least 227 deaths – 15 of them children. Moreover, at least 525 people have been injured, including 28 children.
Of that number, 323 casualties were recorded in Donetsk and Luhansk regions (65 killed and 258 injured), while 429 casualties were recorded in other regions of Ukraine – Kyiv, Cherkasy, Chernihiv, Kharkiv, Kherson, Kyiv, Odesa, Sumy, Zaporizhzhia, and Zhytomyr regions – with 162 killed and 267 injured.
Bachelet added that “most civilian casualties were caused by the use of heavy artillery, multi-launch rocket systems and air strikes in populated areas, with concerning reports of the use of cluster munitions striking civilian targets.”
