UN notes sharp increase in number of civilian casualties in Donbas

 “All parties involved in hostilities in Donetsk and Luhansk regions should make the protection of civilians an absolute priority”, said Matilda Bogner, Head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, the press service of the Mission informs.

Bogner noted a sharp increase in the number of civilian casualties in early May.

 “From 1 to 6 May alone, the Mission recorded 11 new civilian casualties (one killed and six injured as a result of shelling and small arms and light weapons fire, one injured in a mine incident, and one killed and two injured as a result of handling of an explosive remnant of war). They include incidents in Zolote (Luhansk region) on 2 May, and in Oleksandrivka (Donetsk region) on 4 May, when four girls (one born in 2010 and three born in 2013) were injured as a result of shelling and light weapons fire,” the statement reads.

The Mission informs that on 7 May it received reports of eight new civilian casualties caused by light weapons fire in Holubivske (Luhansk region) and Sakhanka (Donetsk region), both controlled by the self-proclaimed ‘republics’.

“If they are confirmed, the number of civilian casualties during the first week of May will have reached nineteen. This will be the highest weekly figure of civilian casualties for the last two years,” the Head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine emphasized.

If these eight new casualties are confirmed, the total number of civilian casualties this year will have reached 65 (nine killed and 56 injured), which is more than a third higher than the number of civilian casualties during the same period of 2019 (ten killed and 38 injured).

“It will be important for the next meeting of the Trilateral Contact Group to pay due attention to the current situation,” Bogner noted.

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