“As of today, we have at least 137,000 reasons to continue
this work [holding Russia accountable for war crimes — ed.], to see it through
to the end. That’s the number of war crimes Russia has committed, and that’s
only what we know of,” Interfax-Ukraine
quoted Zelenskyy during the United for Justice international conference on
August 11, focused on holding Russia accountable for attacks on Ukraine’s
civilian infrastructure.
According to the president, the number of convictions for
the war crimes committed by the occupiers should be no less than the crimes
themselves.
“…justice knows no borders. It must be valued equally
everywhere. Human life and dignity must be protected, with no exceptions in any
country. This includes nations that can still be visited by today’s global
terrorist... the author of the brutal genocidal war currently being waged,”
Zelenskyy concluded.
Russia’s war crimes: Executions of POWs and civilians
Earlier, it was reported that Ukraine’s Prosecutor General’s
Office is investigating at least 28 incidents since Russia’s invasion, where
Russian soldiers executed unarmed Ukrainian prisoners of war on the frontline.
These incidents resulted in the deaths of at least 62 Ukrainian servicemen.
At the beginning of August, the UN Human Rights Monitoring
Mission in Ukraine confirmed in its monthly report that at least 219 civilians
were killed and 1,018 injured in Ukraine in July 2024. This is the highest
civilian casualty count since October 2022, when 317 civilians were killed and
795 injured.
The UN notes that the harm to civilians in July followed a
pattern similar to previous months: most civilian casualties were caused by
explosive weapons with a wide impact area, with the most affected areas under
Ukrainian government control.
The highest number of casualties was recorded on July 8,
when Russian forces launched precision missile strikes targeting Kyiv, Dnipro,
Kryvyi Rih, and Kyiv Oblast. At least 43 civilians, including five children,
were killed, and 147 others were injured, including seven children.
“A detailed assessment of the impact site, eyewitness
testimonies, and video footage, including recordings made shortly before the
strike, indicate a direct hit on a hospital complex rather than debris from a
missile intercepted by the air defense system,” the report said.