The enemy is purposefully destroying critical infrastructure — the Prosecutor General

Starting from October 10, 2022, the enemy is purposefully destroying critical infrastructure, in particular energy infrastructure.

This was announced by the Prosecutor General of Ukraine Andriy Kostin.

— 255 missile strikes were made at 112 targets. These are the strikes that hit their targets, that is, not those that were shot down by our military. These are the ones who, as they say, “arrived,” the Prosecutor General said.

According to Andriy Kostin, the period from October 2022 to February 2023 accounts for 77% of such missile strikes, which is 197 cases.

As of the morning of February 23, 2023, 461 children were killed and more than 927 were injured of various degrees of severity in Ukraine as a result of the full-scale armed aggression of the Russian Federation.

This was reported by the press service of the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine.

Children were most affected in Donetsk region — 445, Kharkiv — 272, Kyiv — 123, Kherson — 90, Zaporizhia — 84, Mykolaiv — 83, Chernihiv — 68, Luhansk — 66, Dnipropetrovsk — 64.

However, these numbers are not final, because work is ongoing to establish them in the places of hostilities, in temporarily occupied and liberated territories.

On February 21, a 16-year-old girl was wounded as a result of shelling by the enemy of the city of Kherson, the Office of the Prosecutor General of Ukraine noted.

As a result of Russian shelling of Kharkiv and the region on February 22, there are injured civilians and destruction of infrastructure. The occupiers damaged residential buildings, farms and educational institutions.

On February 22, the Russian military injured two civilians in the Donetsk region.

On the morning of February 22, Russian troops attacked Marhanets, Dnipropetrovsk region, with heavy artillery.

During the year of the full-scale invasion, the Russian occupiers committed thousands of war crimes in Ukraine. According to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, more than 9,000 civilians died as a result of the actions of the Russian army, and more than 13,000 were injured. The report states that the real numbers are much higher, as only fully confirmed cases are taken into account.

Svitlana Safonova’s sister, Iryna Filkina, became one of the hundreds of victims of the Russian occupiers in the Kyiv region. Back then, in the first days of a full-scale invasion, many simply did not have time to understand that the Russians were capable of such cruelty. Iryna, like thousands of people, found herself in the occupation. Within a week, she was shot when she was just walking down the street.

“For me, the world just stopped on March 5. It is one thing when someone dies after a long illness and is buried. But when they kill just like that, for nothing. And they didn’t even know how to find her, to bury her, so that she would have her own grave. To have somewhere to come to her,” shared the sister of the deceased Iryna Filkina.

The tragedy in Buch opened the world’s eyes to Russia’s war against Ukraine. In total, the Russian army killed 422 people there in a month. This is one fifth of all those who remained in the city at that time. Unfortunately, the massacre in Buch was the first revealed, but far from the only, mass murder of peaceful Ukrainians by the Russians.

Now the visits of most Western politicians to Ukraine begin with a visit to this town. Those who saw Bucha no longer have any doubts about who should win this war.

“It is very difficult to explain this from textbooks. It must be seen and felt. As an example, when Irpin and Bucha were released, delegations immediately went there. First, the president and I are with parliamentarians. And in a week, the speaker of the Polish Sejm and my good friend Tomasz Grodzky. We brought him to the mass burial site. And he said: “I am a professional surgeon by education, I have seen everything in my life. But the smell I smelled there… I was already sure of Ukraine. This will not give me the opportunity to leave this path,” said the Speaker of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Ruslan Stefanchuk.

Evidence of murders and mass war crimes is found wherever the Russian occupiers are knocked out. Intimidation, looting, sexual and physical violence. Children often become victims.

After the liberation of Kherson, several torture chambers were discovered in the city, where Russians abused Ukrainians. In one of these basements there was a cell for children. And many Ukrainian citizens are forcibly taken to Russia by the occupiers.

According to the human rights commissioner of the Verkhovna Rada, the Russians deported about 150,000 only minor Ukrainians. The very fact of deportation makes it possible to accuse Russia of genocide.

“Why are we talking about genocide? Because, according to international law, one of its features is forced displacement from one ethnic group to another. They take Ukrainian children who speak the Ukrainian language, transfer them to the territory of Russia and tell them that you were never Ukrainian. They forbid the use of the Ukrainian language, do not issue documents, do not let children out,” emphasized Dmytro Lubinets, the Commissioner for Human Rights of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine.

The majority of representatives of developed countries clearly evaluate the actions of the Russians in Ukraine. In many countries, it has already moved from the level of political statements to real actions. Apart from Ukraine, seven countries have officially recognized Russia’s actions as genocide. A collective letter to the International Criminal Court was signed by 43 countries and the European Union. In the statement, they support Kyiv’s appeal under the 1948 Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

The leaders of the countries also regularly call on international institutions to bring the aggressor country to justice.

“Today, a year later, we see: Kyiv is on the defensive. Russia is weakened. And the Transatlantic Alliance is stronger than ever. In the case of Russia’s actions in Ukraine, we considered the evidence. We know the legal rules. And there is no doubt that these are crimes against humanity,” said US Vice President Kamala Harris.

And war criminals will be brought to justice. Work on the creation of a special international tribunal to try the instigators and participants in the war from Russia is already underway. US Deputy Secretary of State for Political Affairs Victoria Nuland told Congress that a military tribunal could be established by the summer of this year.

— Are you a doctor? a Russian guard shouted when he was warned that a prisoner who had fallen to the bathroom floor was dying.

Roman Baklazhov, a businessman and politician from Kherson, said his pleas for help to a comrade were ignored by a Russian security guard. A few hours later the man was dead.

Baklazhov spent 54 days in a pre-trial detention center during the occupation of the city last year. He was interrogated and tortured – but he says he managed to avoid questions about his work with the Kherson resistance, which would surely have led to even worse treatment.

The 41-year-old shared the surprise of most in Kherson at the speed with which their city fell to the Russians a week after the invasion began. Tactical and hopeless withdrawal due to the fact that the bridges could not be held? Kyiv’s failure to prepare for an invasion, as some claim? Or, as Baklazhov believed, evidence of local corruption and connivance?

Be that as it may, in the first weeks of the occupation, Russian soldiers maintained a relatively light mode of governing the city, when Kherson residents took to the streets with blue and yellow flags and pro-Ukrainian banners. Baklazhov’s small furniture shop closed, and he volunteered to distribute potatoes to the locals, tons of potatoes. According to him, the population hoped that the city would be liberated within a few weeks.

People mostly stayed at home. Once Baklazhov was stopped on the street by soldiers who demanded food and cigarettes. He replied that such supplies should be provided by the Russians. But other than that, he didn’t care.

Baklazhov says his education, calm demeanor and business experience helped him build relationships with the occupiers, and especially helped him avoid worse treatment in prison.

But he had good reason to be concerned. The Russians were looking for people with a political background, including journalists and activists. On March 13, 2022, local correspondent and IWPR contributor Oleg Baturin was arrested. In total, according to Ukrainian officials, more than 1,200 people were illegally detained and subjected to violence during the occupation of Kherson.

Baklazhov, who was a member of the city council from his district, had an extensive track record. Along with his volunteer work, he made public political statements and participated in the Euromaidan protests. He was also in the «Right Sector», a right-wing Ukrainian nationalist movement, and in the Ukrainian National Assembly, another nationalist group.

When his city was under Russian occupation, Baklazhov’s activities continued; he kept in touch with other contacts in the underground to supply weapons, he had Kalashnikovs and grenade launchers at home. He also kept in touch with the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).

“My son was a partisan with me,” he said over coffee in an Odessa restaurant as his toddler climbed over him. “We sat on the playground and watched what kind of cars Russian officials were driving and what they were doing, and we passed this information on to the SBU.”

As violent attacks on protesters began, arrests and reports of torture increased, Baklazhov moved into a friend’s house and went into hiding for two weeks. But when the situation became relatively stable, and his wife said that no one was looking for him, he returned home.

Just in case, he got rid of weapons in his house, as well as political documents, paraphernalia and other incriminating materials.

And on July 6, there was finally a knock on the door.

Baklazhov says no specific charges have been brought against him. But his strong pro-Ukrainian views were evident on his Facebook page, including old posts about Ukrainian history and photos of rallies he organized in 2015-2016. He believes that someone noticed it and ratted him out.

This could be the main factor in the detention. Baklazhov says that during the four interrogations, the main line was his political views, especially in 2014 and subsequent years.

The Russians never asked him about his current activities; they seemed to want him to admit that he was a Nazi, a Banderist. 

Baklazhov was asked to write his political biography. Instead of resisting, he says he wrote “16 pages of absolute bullshit” – a combination of truth and general political knowledge. The investigators did not understand Ukrainian politics, and it was easy to confuse them with details. In any case, he was convinced that they would not read it.

Baklazhov’s cell was located at the entrance, so he could hear all the new arrivals, as well as loud beatings and screams of other prisoners. These sounds, he believed, were a key component of their psychological pressure. But as long as he was pressured with only general questions about his 2014-era political views, he could remain calm. 

They started torturing him during the second interrogation session. Electrical knots were attached between the two fingers of the right hand and the left earlobe.

“It was torture by the northern lights, I saw it without even leaving the country,” he said. “I felt my whole body rise, bouncing on a chair. And I really saw the stars. You can’t see anything but white light in the eyes.

Most of all, he was upset by the suffering of other people. One prisoner, who shared a cell with Baklazhov, found a weapon and a homemade bomb in the house. Electrodes were attached to his testicles and he was severely beaten, and several of his ribs were broken.

The other, a high-ranking city official, was detained for 70 days. He was repeatedly strangled with a sack over his head, beaten until he bled internally, and shot in the leg at close range with a rubber bullet.

And there was also a Ukrainian military man, 58 years old, a good man, Baklazhov said.

He was taken on July 26 and immediately tortured. For the next two days, he was beaten on his torso and arms, leaving marks on his chest and around his heart, which indicated that he had been beaten with a truncheon. On the evening of July 28, the soldier lost consciousness in the bathroom, he was trembling and breathing unevenly.

Baklazhov begged the guards for help, but they only sent a man who obviously had no medical education and simply offered to pour water over the soldier. By morning – Baklazhov’s birthday – the man died.

On August 18, Baklazhov was finally released and left with his family for Zaporіzhzhіe.

They now live in Odessa, although Roman regularly travels to Kherson with food and medicine. Baklazhov is trying to find a new job and continues his volunteer activities. But now he dreams of moving abroad with his family, so his time in the frontline zone may soon come to an end.

Asked what he learned during his time in captivity, Baklazhov said: “I understand why the Russians hate us so much. They hate us because we are free and they are not.”

Sean Pinner also addressed a short message to Putin. Released British soldier Sean Pinner, who defended Ukraine in the ranks of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and was captured by Russia, spoke about the inhumane treatment of the occupiers. He was subjected to brutal torture, in particular, with the use of electricity.

Pinner told how the Nazis beat prisoners of war with electricity: “You feel that your muscles are jumping out of you, out of your body. And the next day my legs were very swollen. Blood seemed to flow from the capillaries of my legs. When I took off the body warmer, my leg was bleeding from the electric shock, and my legs were so swollen that I couldn’t walk.”

Pinner also described how one of the occupiers cut open his clothes and checked for right-wing tattoos. But then the rashist unexpectedly stabbed the British prisoner in the leg. Blood poured profusely from the wound, but the Russian only said: “Oh.”

“I was screaming… and then 200 volts went through me on the chair, controlling my leg, I literally stood up and he electrocuted me. I didn’t ask any questions,” Pinner added.

The British serviceman also recalled how the fighting took place: “the bombardment is going along the entire front line to Mariupol. I saw a school where children’s coats were hanging up… they were evacuated and put in the basement, and they were just beating around the school, not paying attention to it. They hit any government building they could get into.”

According to Pinner, it was scary at the time of the full-scale invasion. Adrenaline was running high, nerves were in a state of maximum tension. However, among the fighters there were those who were not afraid.

Pinner promised Putin that one day he would definitely be found. And the serviceman called for fighter jets to be sent to Ukraine: “They need constant support. It’s not in my power, but I just want fighter jets [for Ukraine].”

Pinner also spoke categorically against negotiations with Putin: “One of the things I tell people is: ‘How much of America, Norway or Great Britain are you willing to lose to talk about peace?’ I doubt that America will yield even an inch, and Britain even more so.” 

Therefore, you know, everything is exactly the same with Ukraine. If we give an inch now, they’ll come back in three years, five years, and insist on more — like they did with Crimea,” Pinner concluded.

More about the British serviceman

Sean Pinner, from Bedfordshire, was with regular Ukrainian forces defending Mariupol during the full-scale invasion. He was captured about June of last year.

A British serviceman was sent to the “DРR”. On the territory of the pseudo-republic, the so-called “court” sentenced Pinner and two other foreign fighters who were in the Armed Forces to the death penalty.

In the year since the beginning of the large-scale invasion of the Russian Federation into Ukraine, 106 doctors have died, 33 of them at work in medical facilities.

As Minister of Health Viktor Lyashko said on the air of the national telethon on Thursday, the given data do not take into account information about mobilized doctors.

Lyashko also reported that since the beginning of the war, 1,106 medical infrastructure facilities have been damaged.

“They have damage of varying degrees – from broken windows to completely destroyed walls and ceilings. Unfortunately, 174 objects cannot be restored, they must be rebuilt,” the minister stated.

Lyashko clarified that the medical infrastructure of the Luhansk, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Chernihiv and Kyiv regions suffered the most from the actions of the aggressor.

“There is damage to medical facilities in the Mykolaiv region, horror is happening in the Kherson region, where medical facilities are destroyed once a week. One of the latest examples was the destruction of the Kherson blood center. We have to reconfigure patient routes and the structure of medical care,” he said.

At the same time, Lyashko reported that, despite active hostilities, the process of restoring health care facilities permitted by the aggressor continues. The Ministry of Health is coordinating the construction of 15 destroyed objects, in particular in the Sumy and Chernihiv regions. Donors are involved in the works.

At the same time, according to Lyashko, a recovery strategy is currently being discussed, in particular, first of all, destroyed facilities on the frontline and de-occupied territories, or to develop medical facilities in the regions where the largest number of temporarily displaced persons are currently located.