UN rights chief: ‘Extensive failure’ by Russia to protect Ukraine civilians

The United Nations human rights chief has said there had been an “extensive failure” by Russia to take adequate measures to protect civilians in Ukraine and that there were indications that Russian forces had committed war crimes.

The United Nations human rights chief has said there had been an “extensive failure” by Russia to take adequate measures to protect civilians in Ukraine and that there were indications that Russian forces had committed war crimes.

Volker Turk, the UN high commissioner for human rights, said on Tuesday that his office’s monitoring indicated “gross violations of international human rights law, serious violations of international humanitarian law, and war crimes, primarily by the forces of the Russian Federation”.

These included 142 cases of summary execution of civilians since Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year, as well as enforced disappearances, torture and ill-treatment of detainees, including through sexual violence.

Russia has denied committing atrocities or targeting civilians in Ukraine.

“The situation in Ukraine seems to have been added to a litany of continuous suffering, and the world’s attention seems jaded by the multiple crises that we face,” Turk told the Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Russia has not taken “adequate measures to protect civilians” nor civilian infrastructure “against the effects of their attacks”, he said. The armed forces of both countries, particularly Russia, needed to abide by international human rights and humanitarian law, he added.