► The Ukrainian army endangered civilians, according to Amnesty
The Ukrainian military has put civilians at risk by establishing military bases in schools and hospitals and launching attacks from populated areas to repel the Russian invasion, Amnesty International said on Thursday. Such tactics violate international humanitarian law, the NGO warned in a statement whose findings were denounced by kyiv as participating in “a disinformation and propaganda operation”
“We have documented a tendency for Ukrainian forces to endanger civilians and violate the laws of war when operating in populated areassaid Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International. Being in a defensive position does not exempt the Ukrainian army from respecting international humanitarian law”she added.
Between April and July, Amnesty International researchers investigated Russian strikes in the Kharkiv, Donbass and Mykolaiv regions, inspecting sites hit by strikes and interviewing survivors, witnesses and relatives of victims. According to the NGO, these researchers found evidence that Ukrainian forces were launching strikes from populated residential areas and had established bases in civilian buildings in 19 towns and villages in these regions.
► Eight dead in a bombing at a bus stop in eastern Ukraine
Eight people were killed and four injured on Thursday (August 4th) when a Russian shell exploded at a bus stop in the town of Toretsk, near the front line, in eastern Ukraine, the governor of the region. “According to the first information we have, it is an artillery fire, which reached a public transport stop, where a crowd of people were waiting”he explained.
►UN chief launches investigation into explosions at Olenivka prison
The UN Secretary General will launch a fact-finding mission to discover the ” truth “ on the explosions last week in the Olenivka prison, in a pro-Russian separatist zone in eastern Ukraine, he announced on Wednesday August 3, responding to requests from kyiv and Moscow.
Recalling that he did not have the authority to conduct “criminal investigations”Antonio Guterres added that ” them terms of reference for this fact-finding mission were being prepared”. “We hope to obtain all access facilities from both parties and to obtain the data necessary to establish the truth about what happened”he added, specifying that he was looking for the right people, “independent and competent”to integrate this mission.
Last week, explosions in Olenivka prison, located in a pro-Russian separatist zone in eastern Ukraine and where Ukrainian soldiers taken prisoner in Mariupol were held, killed dozens, according to the army Russian. Moscow accuses kyiv of having bombarded this prison camp, which the Ukrainian authorities refute, who affirm on the contrary that these prisoners were massacred by Russian forces.
► Russia says it destroyed a depot of foreign weapons in the West
Russia said on Wednesday it had destroyed a foreign arms depot in the Lviv region of western Ukraine. “Russian high-precision missiles” destroyed near Radekhiv, a “depot of foreign arms and ammunition which were delivered to the kyiv regime from Poland”indicated the Russian army, which did not give more elements to support its affirmations.
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