RUSSIAN WAR CRIMES AND HUMAN RIGHT VIOLATIONS IN THE WAR AGAINST UKRAINE
Sources: Commissioner for Human Rights of the
Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Office of the
Prosecutor General, Ministry of Defense, Ministry
of Internal Affairs, State Emergency Service,
National Police, relevant city and town councils
and regional state administrations
Summary update as of June 8, 2023
The use of weapons of mass destruction against civilians is a crime against humanity and a violation of the four Geneva Conventions of 1949.
By killing civilians, the aggressor’s forces continue to commit crimes against humanity as defined by the Statute of the International Military Tribunal and the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, cynically disregarding all the requirements of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War. According to these norms, deliberate attacks on civilians who are not directly involved in hostilities are equated to war crimes.
The taking of civilian hostages is a direct violation of Articles 3 and 34 of the Geneva Convention with regard to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, Article 9 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and Article 5 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
As of June 08, 2023, since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, 486 children were killed and more than 1009 children have been injured. Due to the active hostilities in affected regions, there is no possibility to inspect the areas of shelling and destruction.
In Ukraine, at least 3 civilians were killed and 9 more were injured by Russian military on June 07, as a result of Russian aggression. Information is based on the data of the regional military administrations.
Kakhovka dam desctruction
Article 56 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions clearly states that the destruction of dams – civilian objects containing dangerous forces – is a war crime. Such actions can be equated to the use of weapons of mass destruction.
On Thursday, June 8, the Russian occupiers began shelling flooded Kherson, where the evacuation of people is currently underway after the explosion of the Kakhovka HPP. Oleksandr Prokudin, head of the Kherson regional military administration, announced this. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 8 people were injured as a result of the shelling.
In the temporarily occupied Oleshky, Kherson region, there are casualties as a result of the destruction of the Kakhovka HPP. It is impossible to accurately establish their number. 30 people have already been brought to the Oleshky hospital with hypothermia.
This was reported by the head of the Oleshky military administration, Tetiana Hasanenko. As of June 8, 9 people are known to have died from the flood in the temporarily occupied Oleshky.
The Russian military does not let residents out of the town and does not allow them to enter educational institutions in the center of the city, where it is now dry and there is no water. Occupants break into apartments on the upper floors of high-rise buildings.
More than 1,800 houses were flooded in the Korabelnyi district of Kherson, the Ministry of Internal Affairs reported. According to NEC “Ukrenergo”, about 20,000 consumers in Kherson and the region were left without power supply due to flooding. In general, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, 3,375 homes of Ukrainians remain flooded as a result of the Russian troops destroying the Kakhovka HPP.
In the Mykolaiv region, a man died as a result of the collapse of a dam in a half-flooded house in the village of Vasylivka, Bashtanka district. In the region, 289 houses were flooded, 8 populated areas were disconnected from electricity supply. In addition, more than 3,000 hectares of forestry territory have already been flooded in the Mykolaiv region due to the destcruction of the dam. Flooding of the de-occupied Snigurivka Forestry is a particular danger. Due to the mining of the territory, mines and explosive objects can be carried by the water current.
More than 850 kilograms of fish died in Mariansk in Dnipro region due to the rapid shallowing of the Kakhovka reservoir caused by the explosion of the hydroelectric power plant, the head of the regional military administration, Lysak, said. According to his estimates, the losses to the fishing industry of Dnipro region amount to more than 7.6 million hryvnias.
Donetsk and Luhansk Region
Four children and an adult were injured as a result of artillery fire at the town of Ukrainsk, Donetsk region, the military administration said. They were taken to the hospital. Two private houses and 14 high-rise buildings were damaged in the city. It is also known that a whole family was killed as a result of shelling – a 4- year-old boy, his father and grandfather.
The Russian army killed three residents of the Donetsk region in the past day, June 7. This was announced by the head of the regional military administration, Pavlo Kyrylenko.
During the past day, Russian troops have struck 14 strikes on 7 settlements in the region. The Russian occupiers bombarded the civilian population with rockets, artillery, and tanks. As a result of enemy attacks, 21 residential buildings were damaged, of which 14 were multi-apartment buildings.
Zaporizhzhia and Region
Two women who were wounded during shelling in Komyshuvakha on June 2, died in the hospital. This was reported by the Komyshuvakha settlement council. As reported, on June 2, the Russian army shelled an apartment building in Komyshuvakha with cluster shells. Two people died immediately, four wounded were taken to the hospital.
Government Office for the Coordination of
European and Euro-Atlantic Integration