NO REPRIEVE FROM HORROR: A NEW NIGHT OF ATTACKS IN KYIV

Only a few days have passed since the last large-scale attack, and again this night, residents in Kyiv faced the repeated horror of strikes by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Across multiple residential neighbourhoods, people are mourning their loved ones and seeing their homes reduced to ruins. As of now, nearly a dozen residents are reported killed and scores more wounded, with children among the casualties. 

Apart from the capital, over the weekend, bombardment in the Sumy Region killed several civilians and injured dozens more, including children. The Dnipro, Kherson, Kyiv, Zaporizhzhia and other regions also suffered many civilian casualties and widespread damage to civilian infrastructure, disrupting access to basic services.  

As I visit the sites of the strikes to express solidarity, it is unbearable to witness the scale of human suffering. To see people crying over the bodies of their family members or friends or waiting as the rescuers clear the rubble to learn the fate of their loved ones. To witness the destruction of what communities have spent years building. 

The devastating toll on civilians keeps growing, both along the front line and in urban centres.

It cannot be repeated often enough that international humanitarian law requires taking every possible measure to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure. Attacks that tear apart homes and take innocent lives must not be accepted.