Amnesty International blames the kyiv army

The NGO speaks of numerous cases where Ukrainian forces allegedly violated the laws of war by operating in populated areas. The report is based on surveys conducted between April and July in the regions of Kharkiv, Donbass and Mykolaiv. Amnesty explains that it inspected the sites of the strikes, interviewed victims and witnesses. The organization used satellite images and weapons analysis. It claims that Ukrainian forces have moved into civilian buildings in 19 towns or villages. According to Amnesty, most of these residential areas were miles from the front line. The Ukrainian soldiers would have had the possibility of settling elsewhere, away from populated areas. Finally, the soldiers would not have asked the civilians to evacuate the premises.

The report does not say clearly if there is an intention of the Ukrainian army to blend in with the population. Several testimonies quoted by Amnesty rather suggest that Ukrainian soldiers sometimes acted without caring about civilians. For example by using hospitals for supplies, transforming them de facto into military bases. Schools used by the army have been closed since the beginning of the conflict. But most of these buildings are near civilian areas.

Ukrainian President accuses Amnesty International of shifting responsibility from perpetrator to victim. For Volodymyr Zelensky the organization is trying to grant amnesty to the Russian terrorist state. A little earlier, it was the head of Ukrainian diplomacy Dmytro Kouleba who was indignant at the conclusions of this report. An anger shared by an adviser to the Ukrainian presidency, according to which Amnesty is involved in a campaign of “disinformation and propaganda” in the service of the Kremlin’s arguments.

The Kremlin could of course exploit this report and use it to fuel its propaganda. But Amnesty also recalls that many Russian strikes were carried out indiscriminately. The NGO also concludes that Russia has indeed committed war crimes in certain cases.