589 civilians killed in Ukraine in summer 2024 by Russia's war, UN reports
The number of victims in the summer increased by 45% compared to the spring monitoring by the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.
The number of victims in the summer increased by 45% compared to the spring monitoring by the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights.
China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi cautioned on Sept. 28 against the escalation of the war in Ukraine, amid accusations from Kyiv that Beijing is supporting Russia. Kyiv has expressed skepticism towards Beijing's calls for negotiations, yet Wang reiterated China's willingness to assist in brokering a resolution. "The top priority is
Ukraine and its Western allies should not try "to fight to victory with a nuclear power," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned in a speech at the United Nations General Assembly on Sept. 28. Since the launch of the full-scale invasion, Russia has repeatedly invoked the threat of its nuclear
Editor's Note: The following is the transcript of a speech delivered by President Volodymyr Zelensky at the UN General Assembly on Sept 25. It was published by the President's Office online and is republished here without changes. Zelensky delivered the address in English. Dear leaders, Your excellencies, Today, I want
U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of running a "mafia state" and compared him to a slave owner during his speech at a meeting of the U.N. Security Council on Sept. 24. Lammy, who took over as British Foreign Secretary in July 2024, has
President Volodymyr Zelensky told the U.N. Security Council on Sept. 24 that peace cannot be achieved through negotiations alone, but that Russia must be forced to end the war. Zelensky has been rallying support from Western leaders for his "victory plan" to bring an end to the war, which
"The same small group of seven accomplices, led by Russia, has once again acted destructively, always opposing any global initiatives that strengthen the effectiveness of the U.N. charter," Zelensky said at the U.N. Summit of the Future on Sept. 23.
According to Finnish President Alexander Stubb, any council member engaged in an illegal war "such as Russia is in right now in Ukraine" should be suspended.
"We have seen President Zelensky's peace plan. We think it lays out a strategy and a plan that can work," U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. Linda Thomas-Greenfield said on Sept. 17.
"Since the first day of the Kursk operation, Ukraine's Defense Forces demonstrated full adherence to international humanitarian law as a professional army with high standards and values of freedom and human life," Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha said on X.
This August is the month with the second highest number of civilian casualties in 2024. July was "the deadliest month for civilians" since October 2022, according to a previous report.
"For UNHCR, the priority is to support people who remain in the front-line regions during the winter months, which are likely to be particularly difficult this year given the targeted attacks on energy infrastructure," said Karolina Lindholm Billing, UNHCR representative in Ukraine.
The head of mission for the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, Danielle Bell, reported that Ukrainian prisoners of war held in Russia and occupied Ukrainian territories are systematically subjected to torture.
At least 219 civilians were killed and 1,018 injured in Ukraine in July, making it "the deadliest month for civilians" since October 2022, the U.N. human rights office said in a report on Aug. 9.
Liza Dmitrieva, a four-year-old girl with Down’s syndrome, was walking with her mother to a speech therapy appointment in the central Ukrainian city of Vinnytsia on July 14, 2022. As her mother filmed her playfully pushing her stroller, she didn’t know that those were to be the last
Russia’s foreign minister on July 16 accused the United States of holding the entire West "at gunpoint" and obstructing international cooperation, a claim the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations denounced as "hypocrisy" from a country that invaded Ukraine.
Russia, a permanent member of the council, assumed the one-month rotating presidency on July 1 for the first time since April 2023.
Oleksandr Hladun, deputy director of Ukraine's Demography Institute, called the UN's forecast "pessimistic." "It was probably developed with the war in mind and the absence of any demographic policy measures," Hladun told Ukrainska Pravda in an interview published on July 15.
The United Nations General Assembly adopted a resolution on July 11 demanding that Russia withdraw from the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) and restore full control of the facility to Ukraine.
The Security Council convened on July 9 to discuss the Russian attack in an emergency meeting. Directly after the session, the Russian delegation hosted a celebratory lunch featuring chicken Kyiv on the menu.
Evidence from the scene of the children's hospital in Kyiv indicates "a high likelihood" of a direct hit by a Russian Kh-101 cruise missile on July 8, the U.N. Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMUN) said on July 9.
"We must hold Russia accountable for terror and (Vladimir) Putin for the orders to launch strikes," Volodymyr Zelensky said.
The U.N. General Assembly will continue to support Ukraine's territorial integrity and sovereignty regardless of the outcomes of national elections worldwide this year, the body's president said on July 3, adding that "no country has the right to invade another country."
The document will be mainly focused on the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest nuclear power station in Europe, which has been under Russian occupation since March 2022, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
U.N. human rights advocates believe that Russia violated international law by imprisoning Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich and should release him "immediately."
Each of the 15 members of the UN Security Council, including Russia, holds the presidency for a month. Russia last chaired the organization in April 2023.
"This vote once again demonstrates that Russia can hit the wall as many times as it wants, but the outcome will remain the same: international criminals are not welcome in international bodies," Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba wrote.
The U.S. announced sanctions against Russian Interior Minister Vladimir Kolokoltsev and other top Russian officials on Feb. 25, 2022, the day after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began. Despite being sanctioned, Kolokoltsev does not appear on the U.S. Treasury's list of individuals barred from entering the U.S.
Ukraine's civilian death toll rose to 174 last month, the highest level in almost a year, amid increased missile and bomb attacks on population centers around Kharkiv, the U.N. human rights office announced on June 7.
"He (UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres) will not go. I think we have said that the UN will be represented at the appropriate level and all the parties organizing the summit have been informed," the UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.
"Intentionally directing an attack against civilian infrastructure is strictly prohibited under international humanitarian law," Denise Brown, the UN's humanitarian coordinator in Ukraine, said on May 26.
Wood described the move as "troubling." Pentagon spokesperson Brigadier General Pat Ryder separately said on May 21 the U.S. was monitoring the situation and had a "responsibility to be ready to protect and defend… the space domain."