United Nations: More Evidence Indicates that Russia Committed War Crimes

According to news reports on April 22, the United Nations Human Rights Office said on Friday that there is growing evidence that Russia has committed war crimes in Ukraine.

“Russia armed forces have indiscriminately shelled and bombed populated areas, killing civilians and wrecking hospitals, schools and other civilian infrastructure, actions that may amount to war crimes,” the office of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) Michelle Bachelet said. The OHCHR said that from the start of the war on February 24 until April 20, monitors in Ukraine had verified 5,264 civilian casualties, including 2,345 killed and 2,919 injured.

Bachelet said, “The scale of summary executions of civilians in areas previously occupied by Russian forces are also emerging. “We know the actual numbers are going to be much higher as the horrors inflicted in areas of intense fighting, such as Mariupol, come to light.” Bachelet also spoke about the situation in the city of Bucha, which has attracted worldwide attention for the massacre of civilians. In her words, during a mission to Bucha on April 9, U.N. human rights officers documented the unlawful killing, including by summary execution, of around 50 civilians.