UN rights chief deplores human cost of Russia's war against Ukraine

By Peter Kenny

GENEVA (AA) – The UN right chief on Tuesday lamented the human cost of one year of war in Ukraine that has left at least 8,000 civilians dead and nearly 13,300 injured so far, leaving 14 million people displaced.

Volker Turk said in a statement read at a UN press conference by rights office spokesperson Elizabeth Throssell that "our data are only the tip of the iceberg."

"These numbers, which we are publishing today, lay bare the loss and suffering inflicted on people since Russia's armed attack began on 24 February last year," said the UN high commissioner for human rights.

The UN figures do not include the tens of thousands of military personnel who have lost their lives when Russia has stepped up its war in Ukraine, creating the world's biggest refugee crisis since World War II.

The head of the UN Refugee Agency, Filippo Grandi, said last week that the Ukrainian refugee crisis remains the largest in the world.

"The toll on civilians is unbearable. Amid electricity and water shortages during the cold winter months, nearly 18 million people are in dire need of humanitarian assistance," said Turk.

- Strikes with cruise missiles, round-to-air rockets

According to the UN Human Rights Office, since Oct. 10 last year, Russian armed forces have initiated a series of strikes using cruise and ballistic missiles, round-to-air rockets against ground targets, and loitering munitions targeting critical infrastructure objects, in particular energy objects, across Ukraine.

Actual civilian casualties are considerably higher, said the rights office, as many reports of alleged civilian deaths in specific locations are still pending corroboration, said Matilda Bogner, head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine.

"Every day that violations of international human rights and humanitarian law continue, it becomes harder and harder to find a way forward through mounting suffering and destruction towards peace," Turk stressed.

He said people in Ukraine, from the "very young to the very old," have all been affected.

"Students have seen their education halted or disrupted by attacks on educational facilities, while older people and people with disabilities have faced immense challenges, in some cases unable to reach bomb shelters or having to spend prolonged periods in basements in conditions affecting their health," said the rights chief.

He noted that most of those remaining in conflict-affected areas are older people who are often reluctant or unable to leave dangerous places.

UNICEF spokesperson James Elder told the UN press conference from Lviv in western Ukraine that the past year was one of violence, fear, and loss for the children of Ukraine.

"There is not a single aspect of children's lives that the war has not impacted, with children killed, injured, forced from their homes, and missing out on critical education," said Elder.

Explosive weapons caused some 90.3% of civilian casualties with broad area effects, including artillery shells, cruise and ballistic missiles, and airstrikes.

Most occurred in populated areas.

The UN Human Rights Office also recorded 632 civilian casualties – 219 killed and 413 injured – caused by mines and explosive remnants of the war.