'No end in sight' to Ukraine conflict says UN

By Diyar Guldogan

ANKARA (AA) - The conflict in eastern Ukraine has entered in its fourth year with "no end in sight", the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNCHR) said in a report on Tuesday.

"Parties to the armed conflict in eastern Ukraine have repeatedly failed to implement ceasefire agreements, allowing hostilities to escalate and claim more lives as the conflict moved into its fourth year," it said.

The report warned there was a risk of further escalation in hostilities as the summer approaches.

"From the start of the conflict in mid-April 2014 up to 15 May 2017, at least 10,090 people, including 2,777 civilians, have been killed, and at least 23,966 injured," it said.

It also said more than 1.6 million people had fled their homes, becoming internally displaced, while some three million remained in territory controlled by armed groups.

"Among these people, there is growing despair and uncertainty," the report added.

Ukraine has been wracked by conflict since March 2014 following Russia’s annexation of Crimea after an illegal independence vote.

This followed violent anti-government protests which led to the overthrow of the then-President Victor Yanukovich.

The UN General Assembly later voted to proclaim the Russian annexation illegal.