At least 44 civilians were killed in March 2022 in an attack on an apartment building in Izium, in eastern Ukraine, in a case of a war crime, Human Rights Watch (HRW) denounced this Wednesday in a new report.
The report “A Thousand Explosions in My Ears”, released today, seeks to reconstruct the events of March 9 last year, a few weeks after the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine “to understand the devastating consequences of the attack on the building at 2 Pershotravneva Street, in Izium”, in Kharkiv province, “one of the deadliest for civilians” since the start of the war.
According to HRW’s investigation, the building was close to the front lines and the basements served as shelters for dozens of civilians, but no evidence was found that Ukrainian troops used the building for military purposes.
“We found no evidence to justify treating the apartment building as a legitimate military target, or that Russian forces attempted to prevent or minimize the destruction of so many civilian lives.” said Richard Weir, HWR’s chief crisis and conflict researcher, who noted “several families were buried in the bomb shelters”.
The non-governmental organization (NGO) recalls that before March 9, there was continuous hostilities in the area of the five-story building, in the central district of the city, next to the Donets River and a strategic pedestrian bridge.
The city fell at the end of the month and would not be recaptured by Ukrainian forces until September. Between these two moments, “little was known outside of Izium about the attack that destroyed 2 Pershotravneva Street,” the NGO said.
To prepare this report, between the end of September and mid-March 2023, HRW interviewed 21 people from Izium, including survivors and witnesses, families of victims and aid workers, in addition to searching for physical evidence, analyzing satellite images, photos and videos, including drones (unmanned aerial vehicles).
Survivors described to HRW that they saw Ukrainian soldiers near the building days before the attack, including firing near the bridge, about 200 meters away, in an attempt to repel Russian forces.
On the morning of March 9, around the same time, two buildings on the same street were directly hit by air-dropped ammunition, probably of a similar type.
HRW did not investigate the case of the second building, across the street, “but aid workers and local residents said there were three known victims, two of whom are believed to be Ukrainian troops.”
Using a 3D model of the building, the NGO determined that the attack caused a hole at least 15 meters wide in the building where dozens of people died.
“Witnesses who were in the bomb shelters or on the lower floors said they had not seen Ukrainian forces in or around the building shortly before or at the time of the attack,” HRW stressed, adding that in its inspections “it no signs of established Ukrainian gunfire positions” and that none of the residents interviewed heard gunshots coming from the building.
Investigators found more than a dozen small arms ammunition shells on the stairs on the lower floors of the building, but could not determine who fired them. According to one resident, Russian soldiers entered to take food from the building’s apartments months after the attack, returning to leave disposable packaging on the steps and window frames.
In reports heard by HRW, two emergency services officials said fighting in the area prevented any search for survivors until the end of March.
“The devastation and pain will never be erased, but accountability can ensure that acts like this will not be tolerated.”
They then spent about a month exhuming bodies from the rubble, first with their bare hands and then with equipment, the report describes.
“One of them said they recovered 51 bodies, 44 identifiable, and that they had not discovered any small arms or light weapons,” the HRW document said, which also indicates that three witnesses to the attack who were involved in the excavations said that they have not seen any bodies in military uniforms.
Based on interviews with witnesses and people who recovered bodies, and social media analysis, the organization confirmed the deaths of at least 44 people. However, he cautioned, “This number is probably higher because some bodies could not be identified and some bodies were buried prior to the excavations of the rescuers.”
Mentioned in the report, the For example, Human Rights Commissioner of the Ukrainian Parliament, Dmytro Lubinets, said 54 people were killed in this attack, prompting HRW to receive three lists of people killed or missing and a list of personal belongings found at the scene, including IDs.
It was not possible to identify the type of weapon used, as most of the remains were buried under rubble or had since been removed.
“However, the extensive but relatively limited destruction of the partially collapsed building is consistent with the use of large air-delivered munitions, such as the FAB-500 series bomb, with a delayed action fuze,” the document said. is programmed to detonate after hitting the target, “so it could have penetrated several floors of the building before detonating and causing catastrophic damage.”
HRW said it had asked Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu for information on Jan. 31, but received no response.
Citing international humanitarian law, or the law of war, especially the distinction between combatants and civilians and between military and non-military targets, and the indiscriminate use of high-powered weapons in populated areas, the NGO dismisses the complaint about methods of war as illegal.
“Anyone who commits serious violations of the laws of war, such as indiscriminate or disproportionate attacks, with criminal intent – that is, willful or reckless – is responsible for war crimes,” HRW stated, adding that the survivors’ families and victims deserve answers and justice.
“The devastation and pain will never be erased, but accountability can ensure that acts like this will not be tolerated,” Richard Weir said in the report.
Source: DN
