Ukraine refutes Amnesty International's accusations of its army endangering civilians
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The human rights organization Amnesty International stated that the Ukrainian military endangered the civilian population by creating bases and placing weapons in schools and hospitals
This is stated in the Amnesty International report.
Mykhailo Podoliak, the adviser to the Head of the President's Office, responded to this statement on Twitter and Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Facebook.
The President's Office replied that the lives of Ukrainians were threatened only by the russian army.
As noted by Amnesty International, "Ukraine's tactics have violated international humanitarian law as they've turned civilian objects into military targets. The ensuing Russian strikes in populated areas have killed civilians and destroyed civilian infrastructure."
They also reported that from April to July, experts of the human rights organization inspected the sites of russian attacks in the Kharkiv and Mykolaiv regions and Donbas. They interviewed survivors and witnesses and studied satellite images.
Amnesty International emphasized that during this analysis, human rights defenders found "evidence of Ukrainian forces launching strikes from within residential areas as well as basing themselves in civilian buildings in 19 towns and villages in the regions."
According to the human rights organization's report, "most residential areas where soldiers located themselves were miles away from front lines, and viable alternatives were available that would not have endangered civilians."
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At the same time, Amnesty International said they were unaware of any documented cases of the military asking or helping to evacuate civilians from nearby buildings to minimize civilian casualties.
The human rights organization noted that 22 of the 29 schools it visited in the Donbas and Mykolaiv region housed either the Ukrainian Armed Forces personnel or Ukrainian military equipment and weapons.
"Being in a defensive position does not exempt the Ukrainian military from respecting international humanitarian law.
Militaries should never use hospitals to engage in warfare and should only use schools or civilian homes as a last resort when there are no viable alternatives.
The Ukrainian government should immediately ensure that it locates its forces away from populated areas or should evacuate civilians from areas where the military is operating," Amnesty International Secretary General Agnès Callamard said.
At the same time, human rights defenders emphasized that the Ukrainian military's practice of locating military objectives within populated areas does not in any way justify indiscriminate russian attacks.
In response, the President's Office stated that the lives of Ukrainians were threatened only by the russian army. Amnesty International's statements are nothing more than participation in russia's discrediting campaign against Ukraine.
"Today, Moscow tries to discredit the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the eyes of Western societies and disrupt weapons supply using the entire network of influence agents.
It is a shame that an organization like Amnesty is participating in this disinformation and propaganda campaign," said Podoliak.
The OP representative emphasized that "the only thing that poses a threat to Ukrainians is russian army of executioners and rapists coming to Ukraine to commit genocide"
Podoliak emphasized that Ukrainian defenders defend their people and families.
"People's lives are the priority for Ukraine; that is why we are evacuating residents of front-line cities," Podoliak concluded.
Kuleba, in turn, said that he was outraged by Amnesty International's statement and considered it unfair.
"This behavior of Amnesty International is not about finding and conveying the truth to the world. It is about creating a false balance between the criminal and the victim between a country that destroys thousands of civilians and entire cities and a government that desperately defends itself, saving its people and an entire continent from this influx.
Stop creating a false reality where everyone is a little guilty of something. Engage in reporting the truth about what russia is today," Ministry of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba emphasized.
Read Rubryka's daily timeline of war: current news on Ukraine's defense against russia's aggression.
