- An official from the United States has accused Russia of committing war crimes in Ukraine.
- Kremlin officials might be implicated in kidnappings, violence, and murder.
- The attacks were not haphazard or random. The United States Ambassador to the Human Rights Council described the attacks.
- Russian President Vladimir Putin’s government, in turn, accused Ukrainian forces of war crimes.
In a highly disturbing manner, Russia has assassinated, tortured, and kidnapped Ukrainians to implicate senior officials in war crimes, according to a senior US official who recently visited Kyiv.
Vladimir Putin’s government, in turn, accused the Ukrainian forces of summarily killing attendees at a POW demonstration after a video of decapitated prisoners of war surfaced.
The WHO also said that the long-term effects of Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s power grid last year would trickle down to the lives of millions of people.
According to WHO European regional director Hans Kluge, Kyiv’s health care system is being affected by the effects of the damage.
Winter will entail survival for many people (in Ukraine),’ he indicated, saying it’ll be ‘life-threatening for millions. Up to three million Ukrainians might go from their home in search of a safe respite from the cold.
An under-vaccinated population of inexperienced individuals will be at risk of facing various health conditions, such as, for example, pneumonia, Covid-19 pneumonia, influenza, and the serious threat of diphtheria and measles.
Residents of Kherson were informed they could move to other areas given Kherson’s highly damaged infrastructure and services. The Yasno Power Co. anticipated energy disruptions.
Be ready for anything, including the worst options. Prepare for long shutdowns by stocking up on warm electronics, clothing, and other supplies.
Torture Sites
Ukraine said it had found four Russian torture sites in Kherson. However, Kherson was one of the first major cities that Russia seized when it invaded Ukraine in February 2014.
The city was returned to Russian forces last month after retreating from Ukrainian forces.
The Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office cooperates with law enforcement officers and interpreters to examine four venues where the unlawful detention and cruel torture of people were committed in police protection and other circumstances.
Russian presidents have established ‘pseudo-law enforcement agencies’ at those centers in Kherson and a police station, it said.
Russian authorities left behind the remnants of rubber truncheons, a wooden bat, and a torture device’ with what had been found to have been used against civilians.
The prosecutor’s office also left documents that documented the administration of the detention sites.
Ukrainian ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets said last week that Russian forces were responsible for “horrific” torture in Kherson, claiming that dozens of detainees were ill-treated and more died in custody.
Prisoners at the Kherson detention site stated that the staff there tortured them for long hours before they were electrocuted by Russian and pro-Russian forces.
Abusive System
US Ambassador-at-Large Beth Van Schaack told reporters that there was strong evidence that Russian abuses in Ukraine were not random or ad hoc.
There is considerable evidence to suggest that Russian hostilities in Ukraine have led to systematic crimes carried out throughout the country where Russian forces have been deployed.
In recent months, evidence from repressed areas has shown that the Russian military intends to “deliberately, indiscriminately, and disproportionately” attack civilian populations, and custodial abuses of civilians, and prisoners of war. Forced deportations, or filtrations, of Ukrainian citizens – including children – to Russia, and the execution-style murders and sexual violence of those deported.
When despicable things are being done on such a large scale, it’s very hard to understand how it could be accomplished without the leaders being directly responsible.
Van Schaack reported the attack on Russia by Ukraine had triggered an extraordinary range of self-accountability initiatives involving several different actors along with the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
They are setting up priorities and approaches ‘under all jurisdictional bases,’ she said. She described it as a ‘new Nuremberg Moment,’ an allusion to the war crimes trials held in the German city after World War II.
