Hundreds killed in eastern Ukraine since ceasefire, reveals UN
At least 331 people have been killed in eastern Ukraine since last month’s ceasefire was declared, the United Nations revealed yesterday.
Hostilities have continued in some areas between Kyiv troops and a resistance movement in the east launched after February’s fascist-backed coup in the Ukrainian capital.
The UN said at least 3,660 people have been killed and 8,756 wounded over the six months of fighting, adding that some of the 331 deaths reported since the September 5 truce may have died before that date.
UN rights commissioner Zeid Ra’ad al-Hussein said that the security crisis needed to be tackled so residents of eastern Ukraine could reclaim their rights to education, adequate healthcare, housing and employment.
“While the ceasefire is a very welcome step toward ending the fighting in eastern Ukraine, I call on all parties to genuinely respect and uphold it, and to halt the attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure,” he said.
The rights report, covering the period up to September 16, cites the Ukrainian government as saying that more than 4,500 residential buildings have been damaged or destroyed in the fighting but purposely omits investigation of mass graves found by anti-Kyiv militia on September 23.
Forensic experts said people buried at the site — which had been under control of Ukrainian troops and volunteer battalions — had been killed by shots to the head at close range.
Last week, the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic police launched a criminal case in connection with the discovery of mass burial sites.