Residents of the hot spots said they had to hide for days in cold, dark basements, without lights, during intense shelling, aerial bombardment, and drone and missile strikes.
At least 35 civilians have been killed and 137 injured in the Kharkiv region since Russian military forces launched an offensive on May 10. These data from the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) were reported by spokeswoman for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Elizabeth Throssell, at a UN briefing in Geneva, Ukrinform reports.
Of those killed or injured in the northern part of the region, most were reported to be over 60 years old. As Throssell notes, this illustrates the disproportionate number of elderly people in border and frontline areas who are unable or unwilling to leave their homes, even as insecurity increases rapidly and homes are destroyed and civilian infrastructure.
Since May 10, HRMMU teams have interviewed 90 displaced civilians and visited several areas under attack. Evacuees described having to hide for days in cold, dark basements, without lights, during heavy shelling, aerial bombardment, drone and missile strikes.
Many did not make it to the shelters. Residents saw their neighbors killed or injured. Some walked several kilometers under fire to reach the evacuation site.
Throssell gave examples of the danger to local authorities and volunteers rescuing civilians.
On May 16, while trying to evacuate civilians from the village of Bugaevka, two medical workers, two ambulance drivers and a local official were injured.
On May 19, Russian armed forces attacked a recreation center in the village of Cherkasskaya Lozovaya, near Kharkov, and less than 20 minutes later, when police and doctors were providing aid to the victims, the attack was repeated. At least six civilians were recorded dead and dozens injured.
Many of the evacuees from Volchansk and other places arrived in Kharkov, which was also under shelling. On Thursday, May 23, missile attacks were carried out in Kharkov, as a result of which seven civilians were killed and another 21 people were injured.
“We repeatedly call on the Russian Federation to strictly adhere to all norms of international law regarding the conduct of hostilities and immediately stop the attack on Ukraine In the third year of the full armed attack of the Russian Federation in Ukraine, without end, human life and residential buildings continue to be destroyed and the future of humanity will be felt for more than a generation for a long time, because the work of restoring communities deprived of peaceful life already requires enormous costs, and with each new day of violence and destruction becomes more urgent,” said the OHCHR spokesperson.
We remind you that in Volchansk, the Russians shot a woman whose husband was carrying her in a wheelchair. Earlier it was reported that in the occupied part of Volchansk, Russian war criminals shot dead a man in a wheelchair. In fact, it appeared that a woman had died, but due to the poor quality of the video, aerial reconnaissance officers thought the death was a man.
And on Sunday, May 19, Russian troops attacked a summer vacation spot in the Malodanilovskaya settlement of the Kharkov region.
Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.