The document caused outrage in kyiv. On social media, Ukraine’s supporters are screaming pro-Russian propaganda as war ravages the country. An Amnesty International report published Thursday, August 4 reports flagrant violations of the law of war by the Ukrainian armed forces: use of civilian buildings as a base and firing from non-evacuated residential areas putting civilians at risk of death.
The Ukrainian authorities were quick to express their dissatisfaction with the investigation conducted for 4 months by the NGO. “The aggression against our state is unjustified, invasive and terrorist. If someone writes a report in which the victim and the aggressor are in some way put on an equal footing, if certain data on the victim is analyzed and the actions of the aggressor are ignored, that does not can be tolerated”sharply criticized Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Civilians in danger
Amnesty International’s survey was carried out between April and July in three war-torn regions of Ukraine: Mykolaiv (south), Donbass (east) and Kharkiv (east). According to investigators dispatched by the NGO, the Ukrainian soldiers have repeatedly violated the law governing armed conflict.
International law requires belligerents to conduct, as far as possible, their military operations at a distance from civilian populations. “Researchers found evidence that Ukrainian forces launched strikes from populated residential areas and based on civilian buildings in 19 towns and villages in these regions”notes the report.
“Most of the residential areas where the soldiers settled were miles from the front linesadd the investigators. There were viable alternatives that did not endanger civilians – such as military bases or densely forested areas nearby, or other structures further away from residential areas. » The report also states that it has found no evidence that the Ukrainian soldiers asked the people present on the spot to leave the place.
In doing so, the kyiv military, according to Amnesty International, exposed local populations to retaliatory fire from Moscow forces. Quoted in the report, a resident of Lyssytchansk, a city in Donbass conquered by Russia in early July, testifies: “There is definitely military activity in the neighborhood. When there are outgoing shots, then we hear incoming shots. »“I don’t understand why our soldiers shoot from the cities and not from the field”laments another resident of the city.
Military bases in schools
In addition to the residential quarters, the Ukrainian soldiers are said to have taken over hospitals, using them to rest after the fighting, in violation of humanitarian law. “Amnesty International researchers witnessed Ukrainian forces using hospitals as de facto military bases in five locationsreports the organization. In two towns, dozens of soldiers were resting, walking and eating in hospitals. In another town, soldiers were firing near the hospital. »
“On April 28, a Russian airstrike injured two employees of a medical laboratory on the outskirts of Kharkiv, after Ukrainian forces set up a base in the compound”, illustrates the report. Russian propaganda regularly justifies artillery strikes on public buildings by the presence of soldiers in them. Amnesty International, however, denies corroborating the words of Moscow officials: “Many Russian strikes (…) were carried out with inherently indiscriminate weapons on civilian targets.
Schools are also used by Ukrainian soldiers. “In 22 of the 29 schools visited, Amnesty International researchers found soldiers using the premises or found evidence of current or past military activitydenounces the report. Russian forces struck many of the schools used by Ukrainian forces. In at least three towns, after Russian shelling of schools, Ukrainian soldiers moved to other nearby schools, putting surrounding neighborhoods at risk of similar attacks. »