UN-mandated investigators are examining the impact of Russian strikes on strategic infrastructure in Ukraine to see if they could amount to war crimes, a member of the inspection team said on Friday. Russian missiles have been targeting Ukraine’s power facilities since early October, causing widespread blackouts and depriving millions of people of heat.
“If this is the case, these crimes will not go unpunished”
Moscow says the raids do not target civilians and are intended to reduce Ukraine’s combat capabilities and get it to negotiate. kyiv denounces war crimes against the civilian population.
“Part of the analysis that we are currently carrying out (…) is aimed at determining whether these attacks constitute war crimes,” Pablo de Greiff, speaking from Kiev, said during a press conference. “If so, the investigative mission will make an effort to make its contribution so that these crimes do not go unpunished,” he said.
A presentation scheduled for the month of March
The three-member fact-finding mission established by the UN Human Rights Council last March has already concluded that Russia committed war crimes in areas occupied by its forces in Ukraine. Moscow denies these accusations. According to Jasminka Džumhurs, another member of the mission, UN investigators have interviewed Ukrainian mothers and are particularly concerned about the impact of the attacks on children’s rights. “Many cannot get to their schools, which are damaged or destroyed, and power outages are disrupting online lessons,” she said.
“These events have disastrous consequences for a large number of people,” added the chairman of the fact-finding mission, Erik Møse. “Needless to say, it’s something we’re looking at.”
The mission is collecting material that it will present to the Geneva Council next March, team members said. Evidence collected during previous investigations ordered by the Human Rights Council has been used in national and international courts.
Source: BFM TV
