The UN Humanitarian Coordinator in Ukraine, Matthias Schmale, has strongly condemned the recent wave of massive missile and drone attacks by the Russian Federation, which have struck Kyiv, Dnipro, Kharkiv, and other regions. As a result of these attacks, dozens of civilians have been killed and injured, and critical infrastructure has been significantly damaged.
This is reported by Finway
Scale of attacks and consequences for civilians
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, in one night, Russia launched 73 missiles and 656 drones at Ukrainian cities, of which air defense forces destroyed 40 missiles and 602 drones. The main targets of the strikes were Kyiv, Dnipro, Kharkiv, Zaporizhzhia, Poltava, and other regions. In Dnipro, 16 people died due to the destruction of a residential building, and another 42 were injured. In the capital, six people were killed by shelling, and at least 81 were injured. Shells hit residential buildings, educational institutions, and medical facilities.
The Russian Ministry of Defense announced a so-called “massive strike” on military-industrial facilities, as well as on fuel and transportation infrastructure. However, local authorities are recording targeted attacks specifically on civilian objects and life-support systems.
Signs of genocide and calls from the international community
Ukrainian authorities and international organizations regard these actions as war crimes and report signs of genocide, manifested in the systematic destruction of the population and deprivation of basic living conditions. Among such actions are attacks on electricity and water supply, destruction of healthcare facilities, persecution of pro-Ukrainian individuals, deportation of children, and confiscation of Ukrainian books and cultural artifacts.
“The first days of summer in Ukraine began with another large-scale shelling of Kyiv, Dnipro, and Kharkiv by the armed forces of the Russian Federation. This is already the third time in the last three weeks… The escalation of rhetoric from the Russian Federation and the escalation of strikes must cease to begin the path to a just peace”
As emphasized in the UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, signed by 149 countries, states are obliged to counter such actions and hold the perpetrators accountable in both wartime and peacetime. The Convention defines genocide as the intentional destruction of national, ethnic, racial, or religious groups, including killings, creating unbearable living conditions, forcibly transferring children, public calls for destruction, and more.
However, the Russian leadership rejects accusations of targeting civilian infrastructure, despite numerous evidence of the destruction of hospitals, schools, energy facilities, and residential buildings across Ukraine.