United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken has said that the Kremlin must answer for atrocities committed by its forces in Ukraine over United Nations documentation showing evidence of summary executions and attacks on civilians.
The Secretary of State reacting to the Report of the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine on his social media platform on Wednesday, stated that of hundreds reportedly killed, the UN performed an in-depth examination of 100 deaths.
As the UN found that 57 of the 100 were summary executions and that most cases had injuries suggesting torture before being killed according to the Secretary of State, Antony Blinken.
Meanwhile, in the initial weeks of the invasion of Ukraine, Russian armed forces summarily executed, carried out attacks on individuals leading to the deaths of hundreds of civilians, the Head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, Matilda Bogner says on Wednesday.
In a statement released from the office of the High Commissioner for Human right, a report based on the work of the Mission details how Russian troops killed civilians in Ukrainian towns and villages across the Kyiv, Chernihiv and Sumy regions of Ukraine from 24 February until 6 April 2022.
Bogner further said that the summary executions examined in the report may constitute a war crime. “There are strong indications that the summary executions documented in this report may constitute the war crime of willful killing,” she said.
The report which examined 100 killings in more detail. Of the number, according to the report’s assessment, 57 amounted to summary executions (48 men, 7 women and 2 boys).
Thirty of those took place in places of detention while the remaining 27 victims were killed on the spot, shortly after coming under the control of Russian forces.
“Russian soldiers brought civilians to makeshift places of detention and then executed them in captivity. Many of the victims’ bodies were found with their hands tied behind their backs and gunshot wounds to their heads,” said Bogner.
Also, the report found that men and boys comprised 88 percent of all victims of summary executions, suggesting that males were disproportionately targeted on the basis of their gender.
While the report stated further that although many months have passed since the first killings became known, much needs to be done to hold those responsible to account.
The UN Human Rights Office has found no information that the Russian authorities have been actively investigating or prosecuting any of such cases.
Bogner called for the Russian Federation to promptly investigate all alleged violations of international law and to bring those responsible to justice.