An Amnesty International report published on Thursday claims that Ukrainian forces are putting civilians at risk by setting up bases in residential neighborhoods, even as authorities continue to deride Russian forces for committing atrocities against Ukrainians.
“Ukrainian forces have put civilians at risk by establishing bases and operating weapons systems in populated residential areas, including schools and hospitals, as they repelled the Russian invasion that began in February,” Amnesty International said in a statement . “These tactics violate international humanitarian law and endanger civilians by turning civilian objects into military targets.”
Russian strikes have hit civilians in populated areas where Ukraine has established bases, Amnesty said.
Ukraine’s tactics have endangered civilians in 19 cities, in part because they launched strikes from residential areas and based themselves on civilian buildings in the Kharkiv, Donbas and Mykolaiv regions, the organization said.
The NGO said Ukraine’s strategy of placing military operations in populated areas “in no way justifies indiscriminate Russian attacks.”
The report is drawing criticism from Ukrainians and officials who are monitoring alleged Russian crimes against humanity. An adviser to Ukrainian President Zelensky, Mykhailo Podolyak, accused Amnesty International of feeding Russian propaganda that has been trying to blame Ukrainians for the subsequent death and destruction in a war Russia started.
“Today, Moscow is trying to discredit the Armed Forces of [Ukraine] in the eyes of Western societies and disrupt the supply of arms using the entire network of agents of influence,” Podolyak said on Twitter. “It’s a shame that organization like @amnistia participates in this disinformation and propaganda campaign “.
“The only thing that poses a threat to Ukrainians is [Russia’s] the army of executioners and rapists arrives [Ukraine] to commit genocide,” Podolyak said.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in a video posted on Facebook that the report was not a balanced examination of the war.
“This behavior of Amnesty International is not about finding and transmitting the truth to the world, but about creating a false balance between the criminal and the victim, between the country that destroys hundreds and thousands of civilians, cities, entire territories and the country . who is desperately defending himself, saving his people and the continent from this attack,” Kuleba said, according to Ukrinform.
Journalists in the region have reported findings that match some of the Amnesty report. Associated Press reporters reported that after Russian attacks on residential buildings in eastern Ukraine, locals said military personnel had been staying there. In Kharkiv, AP reporters observed military vehicles at a university that the Russians hit, as well as soldiers and supplies at a school that was also hit.
According to Agnès Callamard, Secretary General of Amnesty International, just because Ukrainians operate from a defensive point of view and work to thwart Russia’s war in Ukraine, does not mean they can ignore international law.
“We have documented a pattern of Ukrainian forces putting civilians at risk and violating the laws of war when operating in populated areas,” Callamard said in a statement. “Being in a defensive position does not exempt the Ukrainian army from respecting international humanitarian law.”
But, according to Amnesty, the Ukrainian authorities also have a responsibility to keep civilians safe. Callamard urged Ukrainian officials to intervene and ensure that civilians are evacuated from areas where the military plans to operate.
“The authorities should immediately locate their forces away from populated areas or evacuate civilians from where the army operates,” Callamard said.
Ukrainian authorities have ordered civilians to evacuate the Donetsk region. Zelensky told civilians living in Ukrainian-controlled Donetsk that it would be safer to leave.
“The more people leave the Donetsk region now, the less people will have time to kill the Russian army,” Zelensky said.
In some cases, Ukrainian authorities have urged civilians to evacuate in anticipation of a counteroffensive by Ukrainian forces against Russian fighters.
Amnesty acknowledged that Russian forces are not only going after Ukrainian bases in populated areas, however, and in some cases when the Russians hit civilians in Ukraine, it is not because the Russians are going after Ukrainian bases, but rather because Russia is targeting populated civilian areas. without any clear military objective.
“In some areas of the city of Kharkiv, the organization found no evidence of Ukrainian forces located in civilian areas illegally attacked by the Russian army,” Amnesty said.
Amnesty’s report comes as investigators look into alleged Russian war crimes.
From the start of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February to the end of July, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has tracked 12,584 civilian casualties in Ukraine, including – there are 5,327 deaths. OHCHR suspects that the figures may be higher.
The International Criminal Court’s chief prosecutor announced in March that the ICC would investigate allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide in Ukraine, and investigators have been gathering evidence ever since. Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s Office said that as of Thursday, Russian soldiers have committed approximately 26,465 war crimes against Ukraine and its people. More than 40 countries, including the United States, Britain and European Union counties, have pledged to support the task to investigate alleged war crimes committed by Russian forces in Ukraine.
The ICC could be in a position to launch its first war crimes trial against the Russians this winter, according to a Bloomberg report. And Ukrainian Attorney General Andrii Kostin said earlier this week that Ukraine is considering handing over several cars to the ICC.