13 March 2024Peace and Security
A Russian missile strike on a multi-storey apartment block in central Ukraine that left three dead and around 40 injured on Tuesday has been strongly condemned by the UN’s top aid official in Kyiv, Denise Brown.
“I am appalled to know that families were just getting together to have dinner and spend a quiet evening at home, only to see their homes damaged and their loved ones injured,” said Ms. Brown, UN Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine, in a tweet.
Trapped under rubble
According to the UN Office in Ukraine, the strike caused extensive damage to the residential building in Kryvyi Rih city, Dnipro Region, trapping people under the rubble, with children among the victims.
The incident is part of a pattern of attacks not limited to frontline regions targeting civilian infrastructure and homes, Ms. Brown said in a statement.
She emphasized that international humanitarian law is unequivocal on the need to protect civilians and civilian infrastructure during conflict which has “exacted a devastating toll” on Ukraine.
The UN top aid official also reiterated that civilians should never be subjected to the horrors of war and called for an immediate end to such attacks.
In its February 2024 update marking the second anniversary of Russia’s full-fledged invasion of Ukraine, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in the country stated that conflict-related violence “killed more than 10,000 civilians and injured nearly 20,000”, while actual numbers are likely to be “significantly higher”.
Media reports indicate that since late 2023, Ukraine has intensified strikes inside Russian territory, with armed drones targeting military airfields or oil refineries, including in Nizhny Novgorod, on Tuesday.
