UN Human Rights Council hears report on Russia’s ‘wide-scale’ war on Ukraine

The UN's Human Rights Council (HRC) heard Tuesday that civilians continue bearing the brunt of hostilities in Russia's ongoing war on Ukraine, and said it had documented 6,114 civilians killed, including 390 children, noting actual figures are likely much higher.

Christian Salazar Volkmann, the director of the UN Field Operations Division in Ukraine, delivered an update in compliance with a UNHRC resolution.

"Since the start of the reporting period, the Russian Federation's wide-scale armed attack has resulted in a dire human rights situation across Ukraine," said Volkmann.

"The people in Ukraine have experienced unspeakable suffering and devastation, as the armed conflict has led to a wide range of human rights and international humanitarian law violations affecting both civilians and combatants."

Russia's first secretary at the UN Mission in Geneva, Guzal Khusanova, dismissed the report as "one-sided" and spoke of its "unbalanced nature," saying it does not cover "the war crimes" conducted by the Ukrainian side.

Volkmann said the UN human rights monitoring group currently has staff deployed in six locations throughout Ukraine.

- 78 FIELD VISITS

The current report is based on information gathered by the monitoring mission through 78 field visits, 20 detention places, and more than 1,000 interviews with victims and witnesses of human rights violations, their relatives, lawyers, government representatives, and others.

"Every day, our staff hears from victims who have suffered violations of human rights law and international humanitarian law in the context of the armed conflict in Ukraine, which has escalated dramatically since the Russian armed attack began on 24 February," Volkmann told the HRC.

According to the report, the vast majority of civilian casualties documented were caused by the use of explosive weapons in populated areas, for the most part by Russian armed forces and affiliated armed groups.

"This has included shelling from heavy artillery, multiple launch rocket systems, missiles and air strikes, and the use of cluster munitions," said Volkmann.

During the reporting period, from Feb. 1 to July 31, the Human Rights Office recorded damage or destruction to 252 medical facilities and 384 educational establishments.

"Intense shelling has also negatively impacted the exercise of the right to freedom of religion or belief, with 90 places of worship destroyed or damaged," the report noted.

Volkmann said that in Crimea, Russia had applied legislation penalizing a broad spectrum of expression deemed critical, and teachers have been pressured to endorse the armed attack.

"There are concerns that the shrinking civic space and highly restrictive environment in these areas deter people from reporting the human rights violations that they have experienced or witnessed," he said.