UN High Commissioner for Human Rights expresses horror at increasing use of long-range missiles by Russian forces against civilians in Ukraine

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk expressed particularly grave concern about Russia's apparent targeted attacks on Ukraine's energy infrastructure at the beginning of winter and called for an immediate, thorough and independent investigation.

‘The horror of powerful long-range missiles combined with waves of drones increasingly being used by Russian forces was again painfully laid bare in Ukraine this morning. I am particularly appalled by the high number of civilian casualties in Ternopil, a city in western Ukraine hundreds of kilometers from the frontline,” he wrote in a comment posted on the website of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine on Thursday.

“Civilians and civilian infrastructure are clearly protected under the laws of war. Recurring patterns of apparent violations of the fundamental international humanitarian law principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution raise particularly serious concerns and must be promptly, thoroughly and independently investigated,” the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights emphasized.

According to him, “the apparent specific targeting of energy infrastructure comes just as winter sets in. This was the sixth such large-scale attack my Office has documented in less than two months, leaving civilians across wide areas struggling with daily power outages and, in some areas, serious disruptions to heating and water supply.”