Ukrainian Civilians Endangered by Both Sides, Says Human Rights Watch | War in Ukraine
Missiles were launched at the train station in Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine, as civilian evacuation operations were underway in April (files).
Both the Russian military and Ukrainian forces “unnecessarily” endanger civilians by basing troops in populated areas, such as a school basement or a dispensary, Human Rights Watch (HRW) charged on Thursday.
As the war in Ukraine rages, civilians have been needlessly caught up in the fighting, HRW researcher Belkis Wille said in a statement.
Russian and Ukrainian forces must both avoid basing their troops among civilians and do everything possible to keep civilians away from surrounding areas, she urged. HRW says it has documented four cases of Russian and three Ukrainian military bases established in residential areas.
The ensuing attacks on these bases killed and injured civilians, the organization said, adding that it had interviewed more than 50 inhabitants of seven localities located in the Ukrainian regions of Cherniguiv (north), Kharkiv (east) and Zaporizhia (south). and visited six of them.
Among the best-known cases, cited by HRW, the village of Yagidné (Chernigiv region) where the Russians detained around 350 civilians for a months in the basement of a school they used as a military base.
For their part, the Ukrainian forces have established a base in a disease control center in a residential area of Pokotylivka (Kharkiv region), the NGO maintains.
When the Russians attacked the center on April 28, at least six civilians were injured and dozens of nearby houses and the local school were damaged, according to the same source.
La Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine on February 24 causing millions of refugees, tens of thousands of deaths, notably in Mariupol, and massive destruction in the neighboring country.
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Two people were killed and 19 others injured Thursday morning in a Russian shelling of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second city in the northeast, the governor announced regional.
Four of the injured are in serious condition as a result of this multiple rocket launcher bombardment, Governor Oleg Synegoubov added on Telegram.
