United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has strongly condemned the attack by the Russian Armed Forces on a residential building in Dnipro on Saturday evening that has killed at least 45 people in one of the deadliest attacks in Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion last February. In a statement released by his spokesperson Monday, the UN chief also said: “Attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure violate international humanitarian law. They must end immediately.”
Stephanie Tremblay, a spokeswoman for the Secretary-General, reported in a media briefing Monday that civilians across the country faced a grim weekend in Ukraine, with air strikes having killed and injured dozens of civilians. A strike hit a residential building in Dnipro on Saturday evening, in one of the deadliest attacks since the start of the war. Homes, schools and hospitals were also damaged during the weekend in different parts of the country.
According to the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, at least 40 civilians, including 3 children, were killed in the attack on the apartment building. At least 75 people, 15 of them children, were injured, while in their homes. More than 1,000 people have been made homeless as a result of the attack, according to humanitarian sources on the ground. Media reports today say at least 45 people were killed in the Dnipro attack. The numbers are expected to rise even further, as search and rescue operations continue by local authorities.
The Humanitarian Coordinator for Ukraine, Denise Brown, also condemned the immense civilian toll of the attack by the Russian Federation Armed Forces and called for an effective investigation of suspected war crimes and appropriate prosecution of suspects. International humanitarian law is clear: civilians, civilian infrastructure, humanitarian workers and humanitarian facilities are protected by the laws of war and constant efforts must be made to spare them.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has created one of the largest humanitarian disasters globally. Violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law occurring in the course of the ongoing armed attack are widespread. Millions of civilians fear for their lives. People in Ukraine continue to be killed, wounded and deeply traumatized by the violence. Civilian infrastructure on which they depend continues to be destroyed or damaged. The war in Ukraine has led to one of the two major displacement crises in the world - the other being the Syrian civil war - with more than 13.8 million people fleeing their homes. More than 7.9 million refugees have sought refuge in foreign countries. At least 5.9 million people are displaced within Ukraine.
Further information
Full text: Secretary-General Strongly Condemns Lethal Missile Attack on Ukraine Residences, statement issued by the Spokesman for UN Secretary-General António Guterres January 16, 2023
https://press.un.org/en/2023/sgsm21658.doc.htm
Full text: Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General, transcript January 16, 2023
https://press.un.org/en/2023/db230116.doc.htm