Eight civilians killed, 33 injured in Donbas over six months – UN

Between August 1, 2020 and January 31, 2021, mines and explosive remnants of war in Donbas killed eight people and injured 28; three more civilians were injured in active hostilities, and two – in a road accident.

Head of the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) Matilda Bogner said this while presenting the 31st report on the human rights situation in Ukraine, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

"From 1 August 2020 to 31 January 2021, active hostilities caused injuries to three civilian men. At the same time, mines and explosive remnants of war killed eight people (seven men and one woman) and injured 28 (20 men, five boys, and three women) over the reporting period. Two other civilian casualties (one injured man and one injured girl) were caused by a road incident with a military vehicle," she said.

Since the beginning of the conflict, HRMMU has recorded a total of 3,375 conflict-related civilian deaths. The number of injured civilians is estimated to exceed 7,000 over the same period.

“Even one death or injury is too many. Zero civilian casualties should be the objective. We urge parties to the conflict to fully respect the ceasefire and comply with international humanitarian law. We also underline the need to strengthen mine awareness work, including for children and young people,” Ms Bogner added.

Moreover, four attacks affecting civilian objects, notably water and sanitation facilities, occurred during the reporting period. While this is much lower than the previous period, OHCHR is concerned that attacks continued to put workers at these facilities at risk.

As Ukrinform reported, over the past day, March 10, the armed formations of the Russian Federation violated the ceasefire in the Joint Forces Operation (JFO) area in Donbas eight times, killing a Ukrainian soldier.

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